▲ Full-term wife killer Scott Peterson
The death sentence for an American criminal who murdered Mansak's wife was overturned after 16 years.
The Supreme Court of California in the United States overturned the death penalty for Scott Peterson, who was serving in prison for murdering a pregnant wife on the 24th (local time), CNN reported.
The California Supreme Court reconfirmed that Peterson's crime was guilty in its ruling today, but withdrew the death sentence, saying, "There was a clear and significant error in the jury selection process," which sentenced Peterson to death.
Peterson was arrested in 2002 for murdering his seven-month pregnant wife and sentenced to death in 2004.
In a survey conducted to form a jury at the time, the State Supreme Court questioned that some prospective jury members who expressed their objections to the death penalty itself were excluded from the final jury.
It was pointed out that the preliminary jury negative to the death penalty presumed that the actual jury verdict would have opposed Peterson's death penalty, and that what was excluded from the jury was not fair.
The state Supreme Court said, "The prosecution will have the option to seek the death penalty again," demanding that jury selection and verdict procedures be followed.
In response, the prosecution said that "the state Supreme Court decision is being reviewed and will be discussed with the victim's family."
Meanwhile, California has not carried out executions since 2006, and Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order withholding executions last year.
(Photo = AP, Yonhap News)