Dr. Facebook Fever
12-13-2004, 03:01 PM
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 4:56 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2004REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -
The jury that found Scott Peterson guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son decided Monday that the former fertilizer salesman should die for his crimes.
Peterson, 32, showed no visible reaction as the sentence recommendation was read.
The six-man, six-woman jury reached its unanimous decision on its third day of deliberations, having spent about 11˝ hours considering whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison – the only two options available to them after finding Peterson guilty of killing his 27-year-old wife, Laci, and her fetus on or around Christmas Eve 2002.
Their bodies were recovered almost five months later on the shore of the San Francisco Bay, near the spot where Scott Peterson said he was fishing alone on the day his wife vanished.
Judge Alfred A. Delucchi will formally sentence Peterson, 32, on Feb. 25. He has the option of overriding the jury’s recommendation, though that would be highly unusual.
The verdict came hours after the jurors asked to review 13 pieces of evidence presented during the trial, including autopsy photos, aerial photos of the area where the bodies were recovered and a photo of a smiling Laci Peterson sitting in a chair taken just 10 days before her disappearance.
Peterson was convicted on Nov. 12 of first-degree murder for killing his wife and second-degree murder for the death of his unborn son, whom the couple planned to name Connor.
Defense attorneys called 39 witnesses over seven days in the penalty phase of Peterson’s double-murder trial. Prosecutors called just four of Laci’s family members, all on the first day, Nov. 30.
Automatic appeals
Peterson still has multiple chances to avoid execution.
He will sit on death row for more than five years before being appointed an attorney for his first and mandatory appeal to the California Supreme Court.
After exhausting his state appeals, Peterson's case would move to the federal courts, usually with a new appellate attorney. His case would go to district court and then to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has overturned more California death sentences than it has allowed.
Peterson maintained that he left his wife at their Modesto home around 9:30 a.m. on the morning of her disappearance, setting out on an impromptu fishing trip. When he returned around 5 p.m., his wife was gone and the couple's dog was in the backyard wearing a muddy leash, he told police.
NBC News and news services
Updated: 4:56 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2004REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -
The jury that found Scott Peterson guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son decided Monday that the former fertilizer salesman should die for his crimes.
Peterson, 32, showed no visible reaction as the sentence recommendation was read.
The six-man, six-woman jury reached its unanimous decision on its third day of deliberations, having spent about 11˝ hours considering whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison – the only two options available to them after finding Peterson guilty of killing his 27-year-old wife, Laci, and her fetus on or around Christmas Eve 2002.
Their bodies were recovered almost five months later on the shore of the San Francisco Bay, near the spot where Scott Peterson said he was fishing alone on the day his wife vanished.
Judge Alfred A. Delucchi will formally sentence Peterson, 32, on Feb. 25. He has the option of overriding the jury’s recommendation, though that would be highly unusual.
The verdict came hours after the jurors asked to review 13 pieces of evidence presented during the trial, including autopsy photos, aerial photos of the area where the bodies were recovered and a photo of a smiling Laci Peterson sitting in a chair taken just 10 days before her disappearance.
Peterson was convicted on Nov. 12 of first-degree murder for killing his wife and second-degree murder for the death of his unborn son, whom the couple planned to name Connor.
Defense attorneys called 39 witnesses over seven days in the penalty phase of Peterson’s double-murder trial. Prosecutors called just four of Laci’s family members, all on the first day, Nov. 30.
Automatic appeals
Peterson still has multiple chances to avoid execution.
He will sit on death row for more than five years before being appointed an attorney for his first and mandatory appeal to the California Supreme Court.
After exhausting his state appeals, Peterson's case would move to the federal courts, usually with a new appellate attorney. His case would go to district court and then to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has overturned more California death sentences than it has allowed.
Peterson maintained that he left his wife at their Modesto home around 9:30 a.m. on the morning of her disappearance, setting out on an impromptu fishing trip. When he returned around 5 p.m., his wife was gone and the couple's dog was in the backyard wearing a muddy leash, he told police.