The California Supreme Court unanimously overturned the death penalty for Scott Peterson, on Monday.
Scott Peterson was convicted for killing his pregnant wife Laci, and their unborn child in 2002.
Justice Leondra Kruger, the state’s highest court said the death sentence must be removed because the trial judge wrongly discharged prospective jurors who expressed opposition to capital punishment but said they would be willing to impose it.
“Before the trial began, the trial court made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson’s right to an impartial jury at the penalty phase,” Kruger wrote.
Instead of just dismissing the prospective jurors, the judge should have permitted them to be questioned so their views could have better been explored, the court said.
According to DailyMail
California's Supreme Court has reversed the death penalty for Scott Peterson who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son 18 years ago.
The state's highest court on Monday overturned Peterson's 2005 death sentence but upheld his murder conviction.
Prosecutors may try again for the same sentence if they wish in the high-profile case.
Peterson was found guilty in 2004 of killing his 27-year-old wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son Conner on Christmas Eve two years prior.
Her husband led the search for her for months but was arrested after Laci's badly decomposed body and the fetus of their son washed up on a San Francisco shoreline in April 2003.
Peterson, who authorities say dumped the bodies off the side of his fishing boat, has been on death row since 2005.
In the ruling on Monday, the court said Peterson's death penalty conviction was being removed because the trial judge made 'clear and significant errors' in jury selection that meant Peterson did not receive an impartial trial.
