California Supreme Court overturns death sentence of Scott Peterson, in wife's killing

The California Supreme Court on Monday overturned the death-penalty sentence for Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son on Christmas Eve 2002. 

Peterson, after killing his pregnant wife Laci Peterson, a school teacher, dumped her body off his fishing boat into the San Francisco Bay. The victim's body was not discovered for several months. 

In 2005, Peterson was sentenced to death by lethal injection. 

The court ruled Monday that the trial judge in Peterson's original case "made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson's right to an impartial jury at the penalty phase."

However, the court  rejected Peterson's claim that he "received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder."