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Laci Peterson Murder Case

Laci Peterson Murder Case

Was Laci and unborn murdered?

Case Murder Peterson Laci

To understand this case better you may also want to look at a thread on the General Board called 'Coffin Birth'.

Well he has pleaded not guilty. What do you think?

Laci Peterson Murder Case History & Civil Business Politics

This case, from another perspective.

Used By Permission

From:  The Pro-Life Infonet
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt
Subject:   Scott Peterson Case Impacts the Abortion Debate
Source:   Tribune Media Services; April 21, 2003

Scott Peterson Case Impacts the Abortion Debate
by Cal Thomas

[Pro-Life Infonet Note:  Cal Thomas is a long-time nationally
syndicated columnist and the author of several of books. His
latest is "The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas."]

The arrest of Scott Peterson by Modesto, Calif., police on
charges that he murdered his wife, Laci, and their "unborn child"
presents some interesting legal questions beyond his guilt or
innocence.

Prosecutors say Peterson is being charged with double murder so
they can seek the death penalty. The California Penal Code lists
"special circumstances" murders, defining that to include the
murder of more than one person by the same individual. The
definition of "murder" is "the crime of unlawfully killing a
person" (Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary). Definitions will
be important in this case.

No one would deny that Laci Peterson was a person under the law.
But what about the unborn child/baby/fetus/product of conception
she was carrying? In order to make the "special circumstances"
part of the law stick and allow the state to seek the death
penalty under its provision, that entity Laci Peterson was
carrying would have to be deemed a "person" under the same legal
definition that applies to her.

It is here that the dictionary and the law part company. The
dictionary defines a "person" as "a human being; individual." But
the Supreme Court has rewritten that to assign personhood (and
thus the law's protection) only after the redefined baby is born
and takes its first breath. There are some who wish to withhold
personhood until the child can be given certain tests to make
sure it "measures up" and has the potential for contributing to,
not taking from, society. But that will come later, after the
proper social conditioning has been achieved.

Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she disappeared last
Christmas. Nearly all babies can survive outside the womb at that
point in their development. The last few weeks before birth allow
the baby to increase in size. Police say when she and the baby
were found, the baby (already named Connor) was apart from his
mother, though the umbilical cord was still attached to him. By
some legal definitions, Connor should then be considered a person
because he was outside the womb, or at least "viable." By others,
he might have been required to take a breath before the law would
protect him.

In reporting Scott Peterson's arrest last Saturday, the
Associated Press found itself in a rhetorical conundrum. At first
it used the generic word "bodies" to refer to Laci Peterson and
the child. Then it referred to "infant son" and later "fetus" and
"biological child" and, still later in the story, "the couple's
baby."

>From the statements of family members, Laci Peterson wanted her
baby, but her desire did not confer personhood on the child,
according to court rulings. A woman can legally kill her baby
until the child's body has fully emerged from her body. But if
Laci Peterson wanted her baby, can the law be on her side and
impose the ultimate penalty on the one who illegally took that
child's life? The answer to that question will make this trial
compelling beyond whatever other facts emerge.

The Peterson case is going to be a tough one for the pro-choice
lobby. They have a special interest in limiting the definition of
"person " to those already born. Any jury is likely to be
sympathetic to the dead woman and her dead baby and reject a
political argument. The pro-choice lobby will jump into this case
at its peril. More than two dozen states, including California,
have adopted "fetal homicide " statutes. Prosecutors have often
sought double homicide charges when an unborn baby is killed.

An indication of the predicament faced by pro-choicers came from
the head of the National Organization for Women's Morris County,
N.J., chapter, Mavra Star, who said, "If this is murder, well,
then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they should call it
murder." Some do, but the law doesn't, though it once did.

If Scott Peterson is convicted of double murder and sentenced to
die, that will mean a California court will have determined that
the second victim in this case was, in fact, a person before the
law.

See what I mean about this being an interesting case?

Case Murder Peterson Laci

This is quite an interesting case.  I have read some on it and heard about on it on some of the news commentary shows.  I think that Scott Peterson really did kill his wife and his unborn child.  I also think that they should charge him with a double murder.  Although, I is my personal belief, that a fetus is a living being at the time of conception, many others do not.  But if memory serves me correctly, she was far enough along in her pregnancy for her unborn child to have a heartbeat.  Therefore, it is a living being, even if the child isn't born yet.  I remember hearing about the police finally arresting him for Laci's murder.  He had completely changed his appearance and many people speculated that he was going to leave the state and possibly even the country.  Personally, I hope they find him guilty for it and stick him in a jail cell for a very long time.  

Case Murder Peterson Laci

Yes, she was actually in the end of her pregnancy. (7 or 8 months pregnant) so whether the fetus is consider a person or not, in my opinion he should be sentenced to death penalty just because of the cruelty in killing a woman who is pregnant! Terrible!!!!

Laci Peterson Murder Case

If he is found guility I think the death penalty would be applicable for murdering his wife - whether she was pregnant or not.

Whether he is guilty is a different question.  While circumstantial evidence points strongly to his guilt; I think an opinion would be premature until all the evidence is out in the open.

Laci Peterson Murder Case

This is somewhat true.  But I would find it a little hard to swallow for him to be innocent.  So, of what they news commentary shows talked about just seemed too much of a coincidence to me.  I would really be surprized if he was found not guilty.  But I still think that they throw him in jail for like a thousand years, or give him the death penalty.

Laci Peterson Murder Case Politics Business Civil & History

I don't know if he is guilty or not, but we often forget that just because someone is charged with a crime doesn't mean they did it. It is possible Scott is innocent. So far, this juror was leaning towards acquittal.