The Peterson family has started a Facebook page to complement its website. The first post is a new Youtube about Scott's timeline for December 23-24.
https://www.facebook.com/Scott-Peterson-Appeal-1579451215635879/
Monday, November 23, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Tunnel Vision
Tunnel vision is repeatedly identified as one of the main causes of wrongful convictions, yet most people don't take it seriously, some even scoff at it. Tunnel vision is not a rogue cop breaking all the rules just because he can. Tunnel vision is systemic, meaning it touches all people involved in criminal investigations and prosecutions -- cops, DA's, lab technicians, and even witnesses.
This is an excerpt from a book written about tunnel vision in the Canadian criminal justice system and efforts to eradicate it.
Honouring Social Justice
By Margaret E. Beare
University of Toronto Press, Dec 8, 2008
“A presentation given by Russ Grabb, a member of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), using a football analogy illustrates what
individual officers must be trained to do.
The caption beside the slides instructs the police that good case
management involves ‘Staying in your lanes,’ otherwise, if everyone follows ‘the
football’ (one targeted suspect), the real action might shift to another part
of the field where no players are focused.
Follow all leads and resist the pressure to focus too narrowly on one
suspect too early in an investigation with the result that other suspects are
ignored or ‘hard’ police work is never done to discover other potential
suspects.
On
paper this is compellingly clear.
However, it may underplay the fact that in wrongful conviction cases,
unlike some other types of major cases, there may be few suspects and an
enormous pressure to convict. Witness
interviews, surveillance, media releases, dog handler (possibly), and
neighbourhood inquiries will inevitable focus down on the likeliest of
suspects. Building ‘the’ case becomes
paramount. If the case is not solved in
the period immediately following the crime (i.e. the blood drenched butler),
the task becomes to put the person you suspect into the frame and fit the facts
as best you can.”
Beare goes on to say:
“However, even putting an emphasis on eliminating the use of these
procedures still does not reach deep enough in order to identify the systemic
reasons why the police, usually
together with other segments of the justice system, have been found to be
repeatedly guilty of:
*blindly relying on eyewitness accounts
*holding back of exculpatory evidence
*perjury
*planting/tampering with evidence
*police notebook collusion
*reliance on ludicrous jailhouse informants
*coercion of witnesses/coercion of suspects
*collusion with forensic ‘experts’ or merely faulty science
These easily identified failings may operate independent of
the very best intentions of any individual officer. Rather than separate factors that result in a
wrongful conviction, winning/game theory, police culture, media relations,
promotions, political interference, and funding issues are all interwoven and
result in tunnel vision. Hence ‘tunnel
vision’ is not one concept to be avoided but rather a term used much too
loosely to apply to a complex network of systemic, structural, and, on occasion, individual factors.
The author continues:
As Justice Marc Rosenberg said in reference to Thomas Sophonow, ‘Wrongful
convictions are caused by underlying systemic problems that won’t be fixed as
long as the miscarriage of justice is treated as an isolated event . . .
wrongful convictions don’t occur in a vacuum.”
Beare argues that "we maintain and support a system that virtually guarantees
a reoccurrence of innocent people spending time in jail.
The fault lies with the gravity of the legal system that
thrives on an impenetrable and false ‘justice script.’ With all of the weight of tradition elite
social status, and political power, this script sustains and is sustained by
three fallacies:
*that the ‘assumption of innocence’ has a currency that can
be depended upon to work to the protection of the accused;
*that justice officials, from police through all of the
performers for the duration of the court process are concerned with truth –
telling it, allowing it to be told, responding to it;
*that the ‘adversarial’ nature of the courts tempers the
power of the state against the accused.
Note: Thomas Sophonow (born March 1953[) is a Canadian who was wrongfully convicted of murder and whose case was the subject of a major judicial inquiry. Sophonow was tried three times in the 1981 murder of doughnut-shop clerk Barbara Stoppel. Sophonow spent four years imprisoned. In 1985, he was acquitted by the Manitoba Court of Appeal.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Featured Fact: Scott's Timeline
Scott's Timeline
Scott was asked about the events of December 24th many times. This timeline is assembled from 18 different sources. These sources include a videotaped interview with the police, an interview with a Department of Justice agent, wire tapped phone calls where Scott did not know he was being recorded, conversations with police officers, a media interview and casual conversation.
This was not a rote story he told over and over from beginning to end. He told various people different pieces of what he did on December 24th and all those pieces fit together perfectly with no contradiction. His story never changed, and over time, many of his statements were proven to be true. Not one was shown to be a lie.
Not only does this timeline show how truthful Scott was about the events of December 23rd and 24th, but it shows the lack of opportunity he had to commit the crime he's been convicted of.
This was not a rote story he told over and over from beginning to end. He told various people different pieces of what he did on December 24th and all those pieces fit together perfectly with no contradiction. His story never changed, and over time, many of his statements were proven to be true. Not one was shown to be a lie.
Not only does this timeline show how truthful Scott was about the events of December 23rd and 24th, but it shows the lack of opportunity he had to commit the crime he's been convicted of.
Read the entire Featured Fact.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
The Top Ten Facts you need to know about Scott's boat
This is another of the Featured Facts written by the Peterson Family.
The Top Ten Facts you need to know about Scott's boat
Click here to read the article.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Featured Facts
In the early years after Scott's conviction, his family wrote a series of Featured Facts that emphasized how the evidence points to Scott's innocence or to give explanations that weren't presented at trial. Since it has been such a long time since these were published, and many may have forgotten about them and others haven't read them at all, we thought we'd post them here serially.
The very first featured fact is titled "Opportunity."
"We cannot address all the other facts of this case until we first address where Laci and Conner's bodies were found. No matter how many facts we feature that point toward Scott's innocence, the question will always be asked, 'But what about the bodies?' . . . So we submit to you: It is a fact that someone other than Scott had the opportunity to put Laci and baby Conner's bodies where they were."
Read the entire Featured Fact.
The very first featured fact is titled "Opportunity."
"We cannot address all the other facts of this case until we first address where Laci and Conner's bodies were found. No matter how many facts we feature that point toward Scott's innocence, the question will always be asked, 'But what about the bodies?' . . . So we submit to you: It is a fact that someone other than Scott had the opportunity to put Laci and baby Conner's bodies where they were."
Read the entire Featured Fact.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Last Brief has been filed
The last brief for Scott's direct appeal to the California Supreme Court has been filed.
| 07/23/2015 | Appellant's reply brief filed | Defendant and Appellant: Scott Lee Peterson |
You will be able to get the brief from the Scott Peterson Appeal website.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Extension of time granted
PEOPLE v. PETERSON (SCOTT LEE)
Case: S132449, Supreme Court of California
Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 2015-06-11
Event Description: Extension of time granted
Notes: The application of appellant for relief from default for the failure to timely file appellant's request for extension of time is granted.
Good cause appearing, and based upon counsel Cliff Gardner's representation that the appellant's reply brief is anticipated to be filed by July 27, 2015, counsel's request for an extension of time in which to file that brief is granted to July 27, 2015. After that date, no further extension is contemplated.
For more information on this case, go to:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1864127&doc_no=S132449
Case: S132449, Supreme Court of California
Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 2015-06-11
Event Description: Extension of time granted
Notes: The application of appellant for relief from default for the failure to timely file appellant's request for extension of time is granted.
Good cause appearing, and based upon counsel Cliff Gardner's representation that the appellant's reply brief is anticipated to be filed by July 27, 2015, counsel's request for an extension of time in which to file that brief is granted to July 27, 2015. After that date, no further extension is contemplated.
For more information on this case, go to:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1864127&doc_no=S132449
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