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Scott Peterson Jury Continues Deliberations

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Nov 04, 2004 at 12:37:12 PM EST
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Deliberations in the Scott Peterson murder trial began yesterday afternoon and continue today. The jury is sequestered. Bad omen for the defense: The Judge gave the jury the option to decide on second degree murder in addition to first degree murder. The difference is that second degree murder doesn't require the prosecution to prove premeditation. Mark Geragos strongly objected to the charge, wanting all or nothing.

My view: There is no evidence of murder in this case, let alone a heat of passion type murder. There is no cause of death, no time of death, no murder weapon, no identifiable crime scene and no witnesses. It's a circumstantial case. The prosecution proved Scott was a liar and a cad, not a murderer. Geragos was right.

Juries like to compromise. The question now is whether some jurors who would have voted "not guilty" if murder one was their only option will now compromise on murder two to avoid a hung jury. A murder two conviction spares Peterson from the possiblity of the death penalty, but an acquittal was more likely when there was only the murder one charge. It will be a good ground for appeal if Peterson is convicted.

For those of you who don't see the politics in the case, remember the "Laci and Connor Law" designed to "protect unborn victims" passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. It's just another chipping away of a woman's right to choose, and another step towards overruling Roe v. Wade. It shamelessly capitalizes on Laci Peterson's murder to push the radical right's definition of personhood into federal law. It provides that a child's life begins at the moment of conception. As TalkLeft says often,

Legislation should never be passed in response to a singular event, no matter how horrific. Act in haste, repent at leisure.

It's a bad law, and now we have to live with it. Check out the definition of "in utero."

Introduced by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), the proposed Unborn Victims of Violence Act defines "a child … in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb." In other words, the child exists from the moment of conception. The House passed similar legislation last month. As with nearly every aspect of the abortion debate, Americans are deeply divided on when human life begins. However, courts and most states generally accord more rights to a fetus considered viable outside the womb.

TChris pointed out another political use of the law, although this one we agree with.

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