“Everyone was so worried”: Laci Peterson’s family express ‘relief’ as Scott Peterson is denied new trial

On Tuesday, December 20, a California judge ruled that murder accused Scott Peterson would not receive a new trial.

According to the Modesto Bee, in 2002, Scott Peterson reportedly killed his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, before dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay. In 2004, a jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder with special circumstances, and second-degree murder for the killing of his unborn child.

As per the Associated Press, Scott Peterson, now 50 years old, claimed that his original 2004 trial was unfair, as he allegedly had a biased juror. However, a judge ruled that the trial was just and that no retrial would occur.

In response, the family of Laci Peterson expressed their relief.

They told the paper:

"It's a tremendous relief to everyone who loved Laci. Everyone was so worried that they were going to have to go through the pain of a trial again, and no one wanted to deal with that."

Scott Peterson is currently incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison on murder charges.

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Officials respond to the judge's decision on Scott Peterson's request for a retrial

According to People News, Peterson's defense team's attempt at receiving a retrial was based on the alleged bias of Richelle Nice, who was referred to as Juror No. 7 during the course of the proceedings.

Peterson's defense team claimed that Nice had lied about the fact that she had been a victim of abuse in the past. Nice reportedly stated that when she was chosen as a juror for the trial, she did not consider her past trauma.

However, while Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo determined that Nice had perpetrated misconduct by lying about her past as an abuse victim, that did not mean it warranted a retrial.

Massulo said:

“The Court concludes that Juror No. 7’s responses were not motivated by pre-existing or improper bias against (Peterson), but instead were the result of a combination of good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering."

Pat Harris, a defense attorney who represents Peterson, discussed his disappointment with the decision.

Harris said:

“We believe this sets a bad precedent for future cases where jurors purposefully commit misconduct but nevertheless know it will be excused by simply shrugging it off with ‘I forgot."

He continued:

"Jury questionnaires and the attorneys who read them depend on the honesty of the answers in order to get a fair trial. It will make it difficult if jurors believe they can lie and there will be no repercussions.”

Laci Peterson's family released a separate statement about the decision.

A family source told People News:

"This is the best news we could've gotten. It really felt like next year was going to be very difficult, reliving the whole thing yet again. Now that's not going to happen. This was the best Christmas gift ever."

Nice still maintains that she had no unfair bias against Peterson during the original trial.