Scott Peterson Court Hearing Today to Decide If He Gets New Trial for 2002 Murder

Scott Peterson will return to a California court on Wednesday and learn whether he will get a new trial over the 2002 murder of his wife and unborn child.

According to Today, Peterson is set to attend court virtually from San Quentin State Prison for a new status hearing to learn whether he will be handed a new trial over his conviction of killing Laci and their unborn son, Conner.

Peterson's legal team has said his previous trial should be thrown out over juror misconduct, claiming one had lied about her history of domestic abuse in order to be selected and, ultimately, convict him.

Peterson was convicted on two counts of murder in November 2004 and was placed on death row in 2005.

But in 2020, Peterson saw his sentence reduced to life without parole by the California Supreme Court, who said there were "significant errors" in the jury selection process.

His sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, who is married to his older brother Joe, spoke to Today about the evidence she hopes will get him a fresh trial that will ultimately exonerate him.

When asked whether she believed Peterson would be exonerated if given a new trial, Janey said: "Absolutely. I'm confident Scott will never be convicted again."

She later added: "There's evidence that shows Laci was alive after he left for the day."

Peterson, 48, a former fertilizer salesman, had claimed to have been fishing in San Francisco Bay when Laci vanished from their Modesto home on Christmas Eve in 2002.

Her remains were found some months later in the bay.

A cornerstone of Janey's evidence is that neighbors spotted Laci on the morning she disappeared and that she came across a burglary.

She has speculated that Laci was kidnapped and killed after she witnessed the burglars entering a house across the street.

Prosecutors previously said her timeline of events does not line up and police said the break-in happened two days after she vanished, according to CBS13.

What Janey could not explain is why Peterson told Amber Frey, a woman he was having an affair with, that Laci had died.

Frey said she did not know he was married when they first dated and that he made the claim after she confronted him about it, growing suspicious he was married.

Janey added: "There is nothing I can say to justify or explain that statement, but also there was no evidence that he had anything to do with what happened to Laci."

Newsweek has contacted Janey Peterson for comment.