| Double homicide charge likely March 24, 2003 An arrest in the Laci Peterson investigation is likely to lead to double homicide charges and the possibility of the death penalty. Laci was eight months pregnant when she was reported missing on Christmas Eve. Modesto police recently reclassified their investigation as a homicide case. "There's no question that this case would be charged as a double homicide," said Jeanette Sereno, an attorney and assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Stanislaus. "If there was probable cause to charge someone with Laci Peterson's killing, then there also would be probable cause to charge for the killing of the unborn fetus. "The problematic cases happen when a woman was not visibly pregnant or did not know she was pregnant. But this is an obvious and easy case to charge." Many states have vastly differing laws concerning the killing of a fetus. Some states treat any fetus as a living being; others consider it illegally terminating a pregnancy, a felony offense. In California, the law defines murder as the unlawful killing of a human being or a fetus with malice aforethought. The unborn child must have passed the embryonic stage, roughly between 6 and 8 weeks. Also, anyone convicted of more than one first- or second-degree murder is eligible for special circumstances, which can include the death penalty. SCOTT - DOUBLE HOMICIDE HOME INDEX SCOTT LACI AMBER EVIDENCE-NEWS & STORIES PRELIMINARY HEARING TRIAL NEWS ALIBI-WITNESS LIST |
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