August 24, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBY: MIKE GUDGELL, JIM VOJTECK and MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — The California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty sentence for Scott Peterson, who was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife in a highly publicized case, based on judicial error.

Scott Peterson, 42, was convicted in 2004 of one count of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Laci Peterson, who was nearly 8 months pregnant at the time, and one count of second-degree murder for killing their unborn son.

Laci Peterson, 27, disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002. The bodies of Laci and her unborn son were found in San Francisco Bay in April 2003.

In a written decision dated Monday, the court upheld Scott Peterson’s guilty judgment.

“Peterson contends his trial was flawed for multiple reasons, beginning with the unusual amount of pretrial publicity that surrounded the case,” the court said. “We reject Peterson’s claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder.”

But the court did note that “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.”

The court said it was required to reverse the death sentence after determining that the trial court “erroneously dismissed” prospective jurors who said they opposed the death penalty, “even though the jurors gave no indication that their views would prevent them from following the law.”

“We are grateful for the California Supreme Court’s unanimous recognition that if the state wishes to put someone to death, it must proceed to trial only with a fairly selected jury,” Cliff Gardner, Scott Peterson’s appellate attorney, said in a statement.

The Stanislaus County prosecutor, Birgit Fladager, can decide to retry the penalty phase, though a decision will not likely be made until the court decides on Scott Peterson’s pending habeas petition.

“[While] we are disappointed that such a biased jury selection process results in a reversal of only the death sentence, we look forward to the Court’s review of the new forensic and eyewitness evidence of innocence,” Gardner said in the statement.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the decision.

Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson’s mother, also declined to comment.

Laci Peterson was last seen at home in Modesto, California. Scott Peterson reported his wife missing on Dec. 24, 2002. His mistress, Amber Frey, secretly worked with police to help convict him. A jury unanimously found him guilty of murdering his wife and unborn child, and a judge sentenced him to die by lethal injection. He has been on death row at the San Quentin State Prison.

In a 2017 A&E documentary series, “The Murder of Laci Peterson,” Scott Peterson described the moment he heard his guilty verdict.

“It was crazy, just this amazing, horrible, physical reaction I had,” he said. “I couldn’t feel my feet on the floor. I couldn’t feel the chair I was sitting in. My vision got a little blurry.”

California’s last execution was in 2006, under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last year Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on executions while he is in office.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 24, 2020 • No Comments • National News

iStock/carlballouBY: BILL HUTCHINSON

(SIOUX FALLS, S.D.) — A nationwide manhunt for a man and a woman suspected in a string of shootings in Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana that left two people dead and three wounded ended with their arrests Monday morning in South Dakota, authorities said.

Timothy Sargent, 42, of Akron, Ohio, was taken into custody by state troopers in Sioux Falls, according to the Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force. Also arrested was Savannah Emich, 20, who had allegedly been on the run with Sargent and is a suspect in one of the shootings that left two people wounded near a state park in Indiana, officials said.

“The task force here in Ohio worked around the clock with its local partners and law enforcement across the county to locate and apprehend this pair of violent individuals,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a statement.

The three-state shooting rampage began on Aug. 17, when Sargent allegedly shot and wounded a 29-year-old man on a section of the Towpath Trail in Akron, police said. The victim, who was living at a homeless campsite on the trail and was acquainted with Sargent, was shot multiple times and helped police identify Sargent as the suspected shooter, according to Akron police.

The following day, Sargent is suspected of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Rebecca Tomlinson, 22, whose body was discovered near a set of railroad tracks in Akron, according to police.

Sargent also is suspected in the slaying of a 62-year-old man who was shot on the morning of Aug. 19 while driving a car on a highway in Milton, West Virginia, according to authorities.

Hours after the West Virginia shooting, police believe Sargent and Emich, also of Ohio, drove to Indiana. On the night of Aug. 19, police believe Sargent and Emich opened fire on an SUV occupied by a family of three near the entrance to O’Bannon Woods State Park in Corydon, Indiana.

The driver of the SUV and his wife were wounded and the vehicle crashed into a tree, according to Indiana State Police. A 16-year-old girl, sitting in the backseat was not harmed, police said.

A motive for the shooting rampage is under investigation.

Sargent and Emich were being held in South Dakota pending extradition back to Ohio, authorities said.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.