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(FOX40.COM) — Modesto resident Scott Peterson was supposed to spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2002 murder of his wife and unborn child, however, that sentence could soon change if an advocacy group has its way.
• Video Above: Scott Peterson’s lawyers asking for new DNA testing
Peterson’s case caught national attention after his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, went missing on Christmas Eve 2002. Four months later, the bodies of Laci Peterson and their infant son, Connor, washed up to a Bay Area shore. Scott Peterson was convicted in 2004 for their murders and sentenced to death – which was later changed to life in prison.
For over 20 years, Scott Peterson has maintained his innocence and in January 2024 his case was picked up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, a group that defends inmates it believes to be wrongfully imprisoned. The group suggests that DNA evidence, suspicious activity in the area when Laci went missing, and the likelihood of another suspect, could exonerate the convicted killer.
Scott Peterson was convicted in 2024 based on “overwhelming” circumstantial evidence and although he has been incarcerated for decades, innocence groups have been successful in getting hundreds of convictions overturned with the help of DNA testing.
Here are some inmates who got out of jail after receiving support from groups like LAIP:
Los Angeles Innocence Project
After 38 years behind bars for a robbery-homicide and sexual assault in Inglewood, the Los Angeles Innocence Project reported that DNA evidence exonerated Maurice Hastings. Hastings was convicted in the 1980s and released in 2022 with the help of LAIP.
In Hasting’s case, LAIP argued that DNA from the scene was never tested – similar to how the group said crucial evidence from Peterson’s case has not been examined.
“I have been incarcerated for over fifteen years for a murder that I did not commit,” LAIP said Hastings wrote to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 2000. “The most compelling of the evidence that has not as of yet been examined is the DNA evidence which will conclusively show that I was not the person involved with the deceased at the time of the crime.”
After DNA testing was performed, the specimen led to a convicted sex offender and Hastings was subsequently released from prison after nearly four decades served.
The Exoneration Project
The Exoneration Project has helped close to 200 people prove their innocence and be freed from incarceration, according to its website. Some clients who were exonerated include Frank Drew, who spent 24 years in prison for homicide; Harold Staten who was incarcerated for 38 years for arson and murder; and Darien Harris who was reportedly convicted for a fatal shooting at a gas station after a blind eyewitness’ testimony. He was incarcerated for 12 years before the sentence was thrown out.
Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, according to its website. It aims to challenge racial and economic injustice, and to protect basic human rights “for the most vulnerable people in American society.”
One of the most notable cases is Marsha Colbey who was wrongfully convicted of capital murder in 2007 and sentenced to life after she reportedly gave birth to a stillborn baby.
Colbey went into premature labor and unexpectedly delivered a stillborn baby while at home alone. Her efforts to revive the child were unsuccessful, and she buried him in a marked grave near her home, according to EJI. Initial forensic reports stated the baby was born alive which led to a murder charge, but four years later, new testing showed evidence of life was inconclusive. She was released from prison in 2012.
Innocence Project
The Innocence Project, not to be confused with the Los Angeles Innocence Project, has been successful in freeing nearly 300 inmates since its inception in 1992.
Clients include Kirk Bloodsworth, who was reportedly the first person in the U.S. to be exonerated from death row. He was wrongfully convicted of the assault and murder of a 9-year-old girl in 1993 but released nine years later through DNA evidence.
Steven Avery was also an Innocent Project client, who inspired the Netflix documentary series, “Making a Murder.” Avery was convicted in 1985 for sexual assault and attempted murder. He was exonerated in 2003 through DNA evidence – but only remained free for two years.
After filing a $36M lawsuit and attempting to expose corruption in local law enforcement, he was charged with murder. Avery’s case has been controversial, and his legal team continues to advocate for his innocence.
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Veronica Catlin
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