Major update in Scott Peterson trial as juror is offered immunity ahead of appeal in wife Laci & unborn son’s murder

A JUROR in Scott Peterson’s murder trial has been offered immunity before testifying in what could lead to a new hearing.

Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder of his heavily pregnant wife Laci and second-degree murder of their unborn son in 2004 and was sentenced to death a year later.

GettyJuror Richelle Nice has been offered immunity before testifying[/caption]

APScott Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder of his pregnant wife Laci in 2004[/caption]

But, his death sentence was overturned in 2020 on the basis that the original trial was “flawed” for several reasons. A year later, a judge ordered a hearing to see if Peterson should get a new trial.

Richelle Nice, who was Juror 7 in the trial that led to Peterson’s conviction, has been offered immunity before she testifies at an evidentiary hearing due to be held later this month.

Without the offer, she said she would plead the Fifth Amendment.

The juror could be held in contempt of court if she takes the stand but refuses to answer questions while being quizzed, The Associated Press reports.

Defense lawyers contend she was biased because she had been a crime victim or involved in a lawsuit, which she did not disclose during jury selection.

They learned that she had been beaten by a boyfriend in 2001 while she was pregnant.

She didn’t disclose that during another pregnancy she got a restraining order against a boyfriend’s ex-partner.

The attorneys claim she “actively” wanted to join the jury to punish Peterson – allegations Nice has vehemently denied.

She told the Modesto Bee in 2017: “I did not lie to get on this trial to fry Scott. I did not.”

The hearing is set to run for around a week before a judge will decide if Peterson gets a new trial within a 90-day window.

In December 2021, Peterson was re-sentenced to life without parole.

Prosecutors said he took his wife’s body from Modesto on Christmas Eve in 2002 and dumped her from his fishing boat into San Francisco Bay where she surfaced months later.

They told jurors that Scott either suffocated or strangled his wife before wrapping her body up in a blue tarp.

Laci was eight months pregnant with their unborn son at the time she was killed.

Her half-sister Amy Rocha ripped Peterson moments before he was re-sentenced.

She said: “It’s been more than 19 years, and there’s not one day where I don’t think about my sister. You took them away from me, I would have loved to be an aunt to Conor as well.

“Because of you, our holidays have not been the same. Every Christmas Eve, I think of the nightmare. It makes me sick to stand in front of you today.”

During Peterson’s first sentencing, Laci’s dad Dennis Rocha yelled: “You are going to burn in hell for this. Your life is done.”

GettyProsecutors said Peterson took his wife’s body from Modesto on Christmas Eve in 2002 and dumped her from his fishing boat[/caption]

EVIDENCE PHOTOHer body washed up months after she was dumped[/caption]