Novelist Michael Peterson gets new trial

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Novelist Michael Peterson will get a new trial in the death of his wife because a key prosecution witness misled jurors about the strength of bloodstain evidence, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Peterson, 68, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson, who was found at the bottom of a bloody staircase in the couple's mansion. Peterson has maintained his wife died in an accidental fall after drinking alcohol and taking Valium.
Four of Peterson's children were in the front row of the courtroom when the judge announced his decision. He blew them a kiss as several members of the family sobbed with joy.
Peterson's attorney, David Rudolf, said it will likely be Thursday before his client can be released on the $300,000 bond set by the judge.
"I think it's a very sad thing when an expert called by the state of North Carolina, who's supposed to be impartial and present technical information to help the jury, becomes an advocate who misrepresents facts and conclusions," said Rudolf, who also represented Peterson in his 2003 trial.
Judge Orlando Hudson ruled that former State Bureau of Investigation agent Duane Deaver misled jurors at Peterson's trial when he testified that his analysis of blood spatter showed beyond any doubt that Kathleen Peterson died after being struck by her husband three times with a blunt object.
The state agency fired Deaver in January after an independent audit found problems in 34 cases where he either misreported test results, withheld results that could have helped the defendant or overstated the strength of the evidence to help prosecutors. In one of those cases, a man spent more than 17 years in prison before being released after a state innocence panel exonerated him.
Deaver was a crucial witness at Peterson's trial, which was carried live on cable television and became a documentary film and a made-for-TV movie.
Over the last week, Rudolf presented witnesses to cast doubt on Deaver's credibility, including three of the agent's former colleagues. Nationally recognized experts in bloodstain pattern analysis also testified that Deaver used antiquated techniques and gave opinions before the jury that could not justified through a scientific examination of the evidence.
The defense also showed that Deaver greatly exaggerated his level of expertise when he was certified to provide expert testimony and was untruthful about working prior crime scenes where someone died in a suspected fall.
"You have a right not to be tried with fabricated evidence," he told the judge. "There is no way to sugarcoat it. Deaver lied to this court and this jury multiple times."
Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline conceded that Deaver's methods were flawed. However, she insisted the discredited analyst had still reached the correct conclusions.
"He's guilty as hell," she said of Peterson, citing autopsy results and other evidence in the case.
Cline said she Peterson will be tried again. However, she said she has no intention of handling the case.
If the case does go to a second trial, the prosecution will not be able to use much of the evidence that helped win a conviction because an appeals court ruled a search warrant issued during the investigation was improper. Police also never found the blunt object.
Hudson, the judge at the 2003 trial, openly questioned whether Cline's office could still win a conviction.
"You've got no witnesses," he said. "You've got no confession."
"I don't think a circumstantial case is a bad case," she said.
Peterson enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. His novels include the 1990 "A Time of War," an in-the-trenches look at the war, and a 1995 sequel, "A Bitter Peace." Peterson was also a regular columnist for the Durham Herald-Sun and mounted an unsuccessful campaign to be the city's mayor.
Once released, Peterson will have to wear electronic monitoring while awaiting his new trial. He will live at a friend's home in Durham.
Clayton Peterson, one of Peterson's sons, said his family is looking forward to a second trial. He offered up his house to help secure his father's bond.
"We are confident he will be found innocent," Clayton Peterson said.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think he probably killed her but is going to get away with it because of these mistakes. Another lady acquaintance of his died "by falling down the stairs" when he was stationed in Germany. Just sayin'....

From the beginning, Peterson maintained that his wife had simply slipped on the stairs in a tragic accident after drinking wine and taking valium. However, according to police who arrived on the scene, the amount of blood spilled across the stairs and on the victim immediately raised suspicions of foul play.
An autopsy report showed that Kathleen Peterson had multiple lacerations to her skull. According to Jim Hardin, who was district attorney at the time, “It’s impossible for me to believe … that could be caused from a series of missteps or a fall down 15 different stairs. I just can’t see that happening. This had to occur from multiple inflictions of blunt force trauma.”

During the 2003 trial, prosecutors said Kathleen Peterson was brutally murdered — hit repeatedly with a fire poker.
They also told jurors that Michael Peterson was having an affair with a man, and that Peterson’s wife confronted him about it and they fought over his bisexuality. That argument, they say, led to her death.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

From a tumble down the stairs?



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A "close friend" of Peterson's that died in Germany. He was seen leaving her home that night....

Liz Ratliff also died under mysterious circumstances. On November 25, 1985, she was found dead at the bottom of her staircase surrounded by pools of blood. Margaret and Martha lived with Michael Peterson but were never adopted by him.

When Elizabeth Ratliff's body was exhumed from a Texas grave and autopsied by the North Carolina medical examiner's office in 2003, it was determined she had been murdered. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Peterson released from jail pending new trial

DURHAM, N.C. — Durham novelist and one-time mayoral candidate Mike Peterson walked out of jail Thursday afternoon for the first time in more than eight years after posting bond while awaiting a new trial in his wife's death a decade ago.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson said that Peterson should be granted a new trial, ruling that a key prosecution witness in his 2003 murder trial gave false and misleading testimony, which deprived him of his right to a fair trial.

"I have waited over eight years – 2,988 days, as a matter of fact, and I counted – for an opportunity to have a new trial," Peterson said upon walking out of the Durham County Detention Center. "I want to thank Judge Hudson for giving me that opportunity, so that I can vindicate myself and prove my innocence in a fair trial this time."

Peterson's first wife and son put up two properties in Durham to meet the $300,000 secured bond that Hudson set for his release. After posting bond, he headed to the home of a friend in Durham's Colony Park neighborhood, where he will be under electronic monitoring until his trial.

He said he plans to spend time with his family before speaking publicly about his case.

No date has been set for the retrial.

Kerry Sutton, a member of Peterson's defense team, said it is possible there might not be another trial.

"I believe we might be able to come to some sort of a resolution that is something short of a trial and put an end to this," Sutton said.

Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the Dec. 9, 2001, death of his wife. Kathleen Peterson was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's upscale Durham home.

Prosecutors were never able to establish a clear motive and didn't find a murder weapon, and Peterson has long denied any involvement in her death.

After an independent review of the state crime lab last year found that blood evidence was misstated or falsely reported in about 200 criminal cases between 1987 and 2003, Peterson challenged his conviction. He argued that former State Bureau of Investigation analyst Duane Deaver misled jurors about blood evidence found in the Peterson home.

Deaver, whom the independent review linked to some of the most egregious cases of falsely reported evidence, was fired by the SBI in January.

Defense attorney David Rudolf relentlessly attacked Deaver's credibility during a week-long hearing to determine whether Peterson's request for a new trial would be granted. An SBI official testified that Deaver was known to be biased in favor of prosecutors, and blood evidence experts said the tests he conducted in the Peterson case were flawed.

Philip Isley, an attorney representing Deaver, said Thursday that he disagreed with Hudson's ruling, adding that he doesn't believe the analyst perjured himself or gave misleading testimony.

Rudolf predicted Wednesday that prosecutors would be handicapped at a second trial because all of the evidence connected to Deaver has been tainted.

"Nothing that happened at the scene once he got there can be trusted, and that severely limits what kind of evidence any blood-stain pattern analyst by either side can say at the next trial,” he said. "It’s going to be a very, very different trial because of that.”

Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline has appealed Hudson's ruling, but she has declined to comment further on the case.

Irving Joyner, a professor at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, said Thursday that he expects a number of defense attorneys to copy Rudolf's tactics and file requests for new trials for inmates whose trials included testimony of blood evidence that can now be challenged.

"The basic thinking is that, if Deaver was able to do that – what he did in the Peterson and other cases – then it’s likely that other analysts did the same thing,” Joyner said. "Other attorneys will be doing exactly the same thing to establish that there existed a pattern and practice in the SBI of misconduct, shoddy and rogue science analysis resulting in the conviction of people."

Rudolf called Wednesday for a special investigator to review all of Deaver's cases with the SBI, noting that his work also helped convict Greg Taylor, who was cleared last year of a 1991 Raleigh homicide after spending 17 years in prison.

Joyner went further than that, saying that the North Carolina Supreme Court or the state Administrative Office of the Courts need to appoint someone to review testimony of blood evidence provided by all SBI analysts in recent years to help rebuild public confidence in North Carolina's justice system.

"People have been losing faith in the system here in North Carolina, and unless there is something done drastically to change that, I don’t know what it is going to mean for the continued operation of our criminal justice process," he said. "Government officials and judicial officials need to do something significant in order to restore the trust of people in the criminal
justice process.”

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Michael Peterson Case
As I do with all cases before I blog about them, I research them to refresh my memory, make sure my facts are straight, and get the most up to date information. This is a case that I have read many things about and have seen movies and documentaries about and all but thought the case was over.... it appears I was wrong.

Undisputed Facts:

1. On December 9, 2001 Kathleen Peterson, wife of author, Michael Peterson died in her home in North Carolina. Michael stated his wife had consumed alcohol and had apparently fallen down the stairs.

2. Upon an autopsy report investigators concluded that Kathleen's injuries were not consistent with a fall down the stairs.

3. In 1985, in Germany, Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her stairs, like Kathleen. Elizabeth and her daughters had been at the Peterson home the night before and Michael had taken them home and was the last person to see her alive. In April of 2003 Elizabeth's body was exhumed for a second autopsy. The second autopsy determined that Elizabeth had been murdered. While Michael was not charged with Elizabeth's murder her death was mentioned in his trial.

4. After Elizabeth's death Michael was granted custody of Elizabeth's two daughters as her husband had died a few years before her. They supported Michael during his trial and against allegations of their mother's death.

5. On October 10, 2003, Michael Peterson was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Kathleen. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

6. In August 2010 it was discovered that forensic analyst, Duane Deaver, had likely falsified, and withheld evidence in many criminal cases. He was subsequently fired in January 2011. Deaver had testified at Michael's trial. It was challenged that when asked to state his experience in the field, Deaver had lied. Based on this evidence Michael's lawyers filed an appeal for a new trial.

7. On December 16, 2011 Michael was released on bail pending a new trial based on the evidence that Deaver had misled jurors. While released from jail, Michael remains on house arrest.

Disputed Facts:

1. Michael has maintain his innocence in the murder of his wife.

2. Michael states Kathleen died from falling down the stairs after drinking wine and taking valium. Prosecutors maintain that, mainly based on autopsy results, was killed by a blunt object (speculated to be a fireplace poker). During the trial prosecutors stated the Peterson's owned a fireplace poker and it could not be found. Prosecutors showed a fireplace poker similar to the one they claim was used in trial. There were some reports that the poker was found in the Peterson garage and that forensic testing showed no evidence. I am unable to completely confirm this fact.

3. Elizabeth Ratliff's original autopsy reported her cause of death as being a brain hemorrhage to which she then fell down her stairs. The second autopsy was done by the same medical examiner that performed Kathleen's autopsy and he determined the cause of death to be homicide. Original police reports had indicated there was not a lot of blood at the scene. Two witnesses, one who found Elizabeth and one who helped clean the scene testified differently at Michael's trial.

4. Widely known forensic expert, Dr. Henry Lee, testified for the defense stating he believed the projected blood splatter at scene of Kathleen's death was caused by her coughing up blood as she died.

5. Prosecutor's theorized that on the night of Kathleen's death, after sharing a few glasses of wine on the porch with her husband she had gone in the house and upstairs to use Michael's laptop computer to check some things for work. They believe that while on Michael's computer she came across some information that he was carrying on with bi-sexual affairs and confronted Michael. The defense consented that Michael was in fact bi-sexual but argued that Kathleen knew this and had accepted it.

6. An "independent" review was made of the work by Duane Deaver and has been reported that he "mislead," "hid evidence," and "exaggerated" things in more than 30 cases. Deaver was considered to be the main prosecution witness in Michael's trial. Deaver's attorney maintains that this was not the case, at least pertaining to the Peterson case.

7. Many years into the case another theory was stated by members of Michael's defense team. This theory states that Kathleen was outside, was attacked by an owl causing the lacerations to her skull, she ran into the house somehow tripping at bottom of stairs and hitting her head. They argue that this theory is plausible as there apparently was evident of a few microscopic owl feathers found. As in most cases there are "experts" on both sides of this theory as to whether it is possible that owl talons created the lacerations in Kathleen's skull.

My Opinion:

I had not kept up on the case and did not realize that Michael had been released on bail this past December. By many reports I have read on this issue there is question as to whether the state will in fact obtain another guilty verdict as it has been estimated that most of their evidence largely relied on the reports and testimony of Duane Deaver.

Just after Kathleen died a filmmaker began filming a documentary on the case, showing behind the scene things with the defense attorneys, interviewing people, going through the trial and later interviewing even the jurors. I have seen this documentary (a six part series) however, I admit that it has been quite some time. If I recall correctly there there often times in which his own defense was discouraged with Michael because of lies that he had told them and later were found out. Again, if I recall correctly, one of these lies surrounded the issue of his sexuality.

Does my gut tell me he is guilty? Yes. Why? Well, for two reasons. One surrounds the death of Elizabeth Ratliff. It is my understanding that her husband passed away in 1983 and there has even been speculation as to if Michael may have had involvement although it was ruled a heart attack. The latter claims are likely more media and rumor based in my opinion. I find it highly suspicious that two women associated with Michael Peterson, in which he was the last person to see them alive were found dead at the bottom of their steps. I just find this highly suspicious especially considering that it has been reported that after her death not only did Elizabeth's children continue to be raised by Michael and his first wife, he received items from Elizabeth's home. One thing that has been reported on often (although I admit I cannot officially confirm, but if it is true it is TOO WEIRD) is that there was a picture at the bottom of the stairs where Elizabeth was found of a black cat that her sister has bought her. It was covered in blood and returned after the death. When Kathleen died there was an exact replica of this picture on the wall at the bottom of the stairs where she was found. Michael's lawyers claim this is not the same picture that came from Elizabeth's home but that Michael had bought his own in 1997. I am not sure I buy that one.

The other reason that I lean towards the guilt of Michael is not only the changing of his stories but of one story specifically. It is Michael's claim that Kathleen knew of his sexuality issues and knew of the homosexual affairs he was apparently having. He has maintained that not only did she know but that she was accepting of them and that they maintained all but a fairy tale marriage. I just cannot see this being the case. Kathleen's family states they do not believe she knew anything about this (unless of course she learned that night as the prosecutors claim) and that if she did she would not have been accepting of it as Michael claims. Michael's and his supporters have stated that Kathleen's family knew little about their marriage life, but I am not sure I believe that either. Regardless of what her family believes or what they may or may not know, few women would accept their spouse having any affairs, regardless of their sexuality. I may have given Michael a little more credit in this area if he would have claimed that they had an open marriage and that they both had affairs but I have never heard this claim, nor any proof that Kathleen engaged in that type of activity. Many people do keep their sexual activities (especially unconventional ones) more quiet, but it appears that no one knew of Michael's preferences or even suspected of such.

Dr. Henry Lee has testified forensically in many trials, including this one. It is his claim that the blood splatter in the stairwell was caused by coughing and apparently attempted to demonstrate this in the trial using ketchup. Dr. Lee has never impressed me. Then again, I think that most experts can be "bought" in the sense that they will testify for whomever is going to pay them for their opinion. While it could theoretically be true the blood splatter could have been caused by Kathleen coughing, there has been no indication that this occurred and or why it would.

I will be keeping an eye on this case and on the next trial to see how this officially ends.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Judge order says Michael Peterson’s rights violated by SBI agent


Michael Peterson holds his 12-month-old grandson Dorian after leaving the Durham County Jail on Thursday, December 15, 2011. Peterson was granted a new trial by Judge Orlando Hudson the day before when Hudson determined that former SBI agent Duane Deaver misled the judge and jury in 2003 with his testimony which helped convict Peterson in the death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson. Hudson set a $300,000 secured bond for Peterson and ordered him to remain at a friend's house under electronic monitoring until his new trial.

A judge on Wednesday ruled that the murder conviction in 2003 of Durham novelist Michael Peterson was obtained with “materially misleading” and “deliberately false” testimony from a State Bureau of Investigation agent who was the most crucial witness in a case that spawned TV movies, books and a film.

Durham Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson had previously said from the bench at the conclusion of a six-day hearing in December that misconduct by the state crime lab agent, Duane Deaver, required a new trial. Peterson was set free on bond to await a new trial.

Hudson’s written order was filed Wednesday and in 39 pages encapsulates what led to freedom for Peterson, who spent eight years in prison in the killing of his wife, Kathleen.

“(T)his court finds and concludes that Mr. Peterson’s conviction was obtained in violation of the Constitution of the United States,” the written order says.

Hudson’s order says that Peterson did not get a fair trial and his rights were violated because Deaver “deliberately and intentionally” misled the court and jurors, particularly about his education, experience and the scientific basis for conclusions he made that Peterson had killed his wife.

At the trial, Deaver was the key witness, with then-Durham District Attorney Jim Hardin telling the jury that Deaver was “very central to the state’s case.” Hardin is now a judge.

Hardin’s co-prosecutor in the case, Freda Black, had told the jury in the closing argument that Deaver “gave you truthful and accurate information.”

That wasn’t so, Hudson ruled.

Deaver, who was fired by the SBI last year amid questions about several cases, did not testify at last year’s hearing. An attorney for Deaver, Philip Isley of Raleigh, said Wednesday that he disagrees with the judge’s order.

“I 100 percent, categorically dispute and disagree with the findings in the judge’s order,” Isley said.

In the hearing last year, a lawyer for Peterson had shown the judge clips of Deaver’s testimony from the trial.

It was then contradicted by testimony from other SBI agents, expert witnesses and documents from the SBI’s files that were not available to Peterson’s defense at the time of the trial.

Hudson’s order found that Deaver gave “materially misleading and deliberately false” testimony about his:

• Education and experience. Deaver overstated his experience and background, the judge found. For example, Deaver testified that he had been involved in 500 cases dealing with bloodstains. The actual number was 54, according to the judge.

• Neutrality. Testimony showed that Deaver shaped his testimony and his work to favor prosecutors, and he “exhibited a pattern of bias in favor of the State and against criminal defendants that was repeated over the course of twenty years,” according to the order.

• Scientific work. Deaver’s experiments and opinions “were not scientifically valid” and not accepted in the bloodstain analysis field, according to the order, which was based on testimony from a range of experts, and SBI officials, at last year’s hearing.

Hudson, who presided over the Peterson trial, wrote that had he known the full story, he would not have allowed Deaver to testify at the trial.

“If this Court,” Hudson wrote, “had been aware that SA Deaver was misrepresenting the scientific basis and acceptability of his opinions, methods and experiments, this Court would not have permitted SA Deaver to testify as an expert at Mr. Peterson’s trial or to offer opinions to the jury.”

Hudson had used the words “perjured testimony” in making his decision orally from the bench last year. The word perjury, which is a criminal charge, does not appear in the written order. Former District Attorney Tracey Cline, who had handled the hearing on behalf of the state, had declined to discuss whether she would pursue any charges against Deaver.

Cline had also already given notice of an appeal, which can begin in earnest now that a written order has been filed.

Cline was later removed from office and replaced by former Judge Leon Stanback, who said Wednesday that his office is preparing an appeal of Hudson’s ruling to the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Efforts to reach Peterson’s attorney, David Rudolf, were unsuccessful.

Read more here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Posted: August 1
Peterson wants out of house arrest

DURHAM, N.C. — Durham novelist and one-time mayoral candidate Mike Peterson says he should be allowed free rein while awaiting a new trial in the death of his wife.

Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the Dec. 9, 2001, death of his wife. Kathleen Peterson was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's upscale Durham home.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson ruled last December that a key prosecution witness in Peterson's 2003 murder trial gave false and misleading testimony, and he ordered Peterson released on a $300,000 bond pending a retrial.

Two conditions of his bond were that Peterson be under house arrest in Durham and remain on electronic monitoring. He recently filed a motion seeking release from those conditions.

Peterson argued that he has never violated a condition of his bond – either before his 2003 trial or since his release last winter. Also, he said, he suffers from a "physical condition" that makes it painful to wear the monitoring bracelet on his ankle.

Prosecutors have appealed Hudson's ruling, and no date has been set for the retrial.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

RALEIGH — The blood analysis done by a discredited State Bureau of Investigation agent in the Michael Peterson murder case was the crux of an hourlong debate between lawyers at the state Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

On one side was Jim Cooney, the Charlotte attorney representing Peterson, the Durham novelist who remains between a state of freedom and captivity on accusations that he killed his wife in 2003.

Cooney argued that Duane Deaver, a blood analyst fired by the SBI two years ago, gave such false and misleading testimony on the stand in 2003 that Peterson’s trial was fatally flawed.

“We have a law enforcement officer who lied, and that is fundamentally wrong, and it violates due process,” Cooney said.

Lawyers from the state Attorney General’s office have asked that Peterson be sent back to prison, arguing that Orlando Hudson, Durham’s chief resident Superior Court judge, got it wrong when he tossed out the 2003 conviction. They contend that there was enough other evidence to implicate Peterson for the murder.

Peterson’s wife, Kathleen, was discovered dead and bloodied on Dec. 9, 2001, at the base of a staircase in the sprawling home the couple owned in Durham’s stately Forest Hills neighborhood.

Peterson, a former Durham mayoral candidate, insists he did not kill his wife; he contends that law enforcement got it wrong.

But prosecutors insist he is guilty.

Peterson was at the hearing Wednesday, flanked by David Rudolf, one of his trial attorneys, and Kerry Sutton, a Durham lawyer.

Lori Campbell and Candace Zamperini, sisters of Kathleen Peterson, sat on the other side of the courtroom as the arguments unfolded about a case that was tried almost a decade ago.

“Is it reasonable to believe, if Michael Peterson’s jury had known then what we know now about Agent Deaver, that it wouldn’t have had any material impact on their four days of deliberations? Of course not,” Cooney said. “Duane Deaver was essentially a fraud, and if they had known he was a fraud during this trial, it of course would have had a material impact.”

Weight of evidence

Robert Montgomery, special deputy attorney general, contended that Durham County prosecutors did not know Deaver was exaggerating his qualifications and experience with blood analysis cases at the Peterson trial. He further contended that prosecutors had no way of knowing that lab results that might have helped Peterson were not passed along, as was the SBI practice at the time.

“There’s no way something that happened in the future could be discovered and disclosed at trial,” Montgomery said.

A ruling to that effect, Montgomery argued, would put today’s prosecutors in the position of having to do extensive background checks of every witness.

Derrick Mertz, an assistant attorney general, also argued that Deaver was merely one of many witnesses who testified during the Peterson trial. He argued that other evidence from the medical examiner and other witnesses conflicted with the defense theory that Kathleen Peterson died from an accidental fall.

“The defendant’s theory that this was an accident is completely implausible,” Mertz said. “Even removing Deaver’s testimony altogether, there was overwhelming evidence that it was not an accident.”

Cooney said the court record from the Peterson case was 14,000 pages, and he used some of that to underscore his point about Deaver’s impact on the trial.

Cooney held up two file folders containing the trial transcript – and the one containing Deaver’s testimony was thicker than the folder containing testimony from all other witnesses.

“Agent Deaver was not only the critical witness, he was by far the largest witness, the most significant witness, the most important witness of this trial,” Cooney argued.

Uncertainty ahead

Montgomery said state attorneys would not defend Deaver’s actions, but they insisted that Peterson got a fair trial.

“There’s no right to a perfect trial,” Montgomery said. “It’s also important to have some finality to cases, and where there does not need to be a new trial, there should not be a new trial.”

It was unclear when the three-judge appeals court panel will rule. It can often take months.

Leon Stanback, Durham County’s acting district attorney, was at the hearing, but did not say what he would do if Hudson’s ruling were upheld.

Peterson declined to comment after the hearing, stating that he was acting on the advice of his lawyers. Under the pre-trial release agreement, he must be in his home from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and may not travel outside Durham, Wake or Orange counties without permission.

Kathleen Peterson’s sisters said they hoped not to have to go through another trial. But if the judges ruled in Mike Peterson’s favor, the sisters said, they would be ready. They added that there was enough evidence, without Deaver’s blood-spatter analysis, to lead a jury to the same decision.

Read more here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]