Judge Won’t Dismiss Charges Against Scott Peterson
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 14, 2004
Modesto, CA (LifeNews.com) — A judge ruled on Wednesday that the charges against Scott Peterson in connection with the death of his pregnant wife and her unborn child will not be dismissed.
In rejecting a motion by the defense, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Marie Silveira disagreed with their claims that prosecutors have not found enough evidence against Scott Peterson.
Laci Peterson was killed nearly a year ago and officials eventually found her and her unborn child Conner’s bodies washed up on the shores of San Francisco bay in April.
Scott is being charged with their deaths and he has pleaded innocent.
Another juge, Al Girolami previously ruled that the trial can be moved out of Modesto County, so Scott can receive a fair trial away from the Petersons’ home town, where the case has generated significant publicity.
Prosecutors want Girolami to reconsider his decision. They say he was influenced by a survey conducted by California State University students showing people in other parts of central California as less biased than those in Modesto. However, some students have admitted they fabricated the results.
Four other California counties, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in Northern California and Orange County in Southern California, have offered to host the Peterson murder trial, according to Michael Tozzi, the executive officer of Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Prosecutors are using an unborn victims law in California to charge Scott with killing Conner. Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, and her family have written members of Congress backing a federal law that would allow prosecutors to charge criminals with killing or injuring unborn children in situations like Laci’s death.
