Peterson, who murdered his pregnant wife and unborn son in , was denied bail ahead of a December hearing where he will be re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled Wednesday. But the California Supreme Court tossed out his sentence last year, and prosecutors have decided they no longer want to seek his execution. Peterson is expected to be transferred to the San Mateo County courthouse on Dec. Family members of Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, plan to appear or provide statements to the court at the re-sentencing hearing, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager said on Wednesday.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said since Peterson is no longer facing death, his appellate attorneys should no longer be able to represent him because, by law, they only handle death penalty cases. Michael J. Peterson in this case, which would not be fair to him. Number two, it would send a terrible message in all of our other cases because we spend years developing relationships with our clients … relationships of trust that require them to provide us a great deal of information about not only their social history and their life issues, but also the facts of the underlying offense.
Both sides will come back on November 10 to discuss the waiver issue. In August , a California judge made an announcement about hearing testimony from Peterson's original trial. The San Diego native was accused of murdering his wife and unborn child after she was reported missing back in December of His arrest came in April of when the remains of a woman and fetus were found on the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, only a few miles from where Peterson had said he was on the Christmas Eve she went missing.
Following his arrest, Amber Frey, a Fresno massage therapist, came forward about their affair that started in November of and later testified that Peterson told her he was a widower.
Prosecution claimed that Peterson had used the same cement used on his driveway to make anchors that pulled his wife's body to the bottom of San Francisco Bay. Peterson is currently serving out his conviction in San Quentin State Prison while he awaits word on a retrial. On August 24, , his death sentence was overturned by California's Supreme Court after it was determined that his sentencing was unfair and that jury selection was impartial.
Following his death row sentence being overturned, the California Supreme Court had ordered the San Mateo County Superior Court to reexamine his case all together after a juror did not disclose that they were involved in other legal proceedings. While Peterson awaits a judge's decision on if he should get a new trial, he is expected to be testifying in a preliminary hearing in the Kristin Smart murder case.
Peterson is being called by Paul and Ruben Flores' defense council after they said that the two were friends back when Smart went missing.
Prior to his conviction, Peterson was a potential suspect in her disappearance but investigators could never find a connection.
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