Scott Peterson Retrial Battle: Defense Attorneys Start Grilling Juror Richelle Nice Who Denies Bias During 2004 Trial

One of the 12 jurors who convicted Scott Peterson in 2004 maintained on the witness stand Friday that she did not lie about her past to become a juror on the case.

According to The Mercury News report, Richelle Nice testified that she had never been a victim of domestic violence as she was the one who had been the aggressor in a fight with her ex-boyfriend a couple of years ago before she even filled out a jury questionnaire and was picked to become a juror.

"We went to our bedroom. I closed the door and I took off on him... I punched him. I hit him and he called the police on me," Nice said during the first day hearing on Peterson's quest for a new trial.

When police arrived, Nice said they saw her with a bloody cut on her lip. She noted that it was from yelling at her boyfriend through braces that often caught her lip.

In the end, Nice's ex-boyfriend was the one charged and convicted of domestic violence. But Nice insisted on the stand that she was not a victim of domestic violence or a crime victim.

Scott Peterson New Trial

The latest hearing will determine whether Scott Peterson will get a new trial. Based on Peterson's petition for habeas corpus filed by his defense team in 2015, the hearing will focus on his side's allegation that a jury committed "prejudicial misconduct" by failing to disclose that she had been involved in prior legal proceedings.

Peterson's lawyers claimed that Richelle Nice had kept the details of her personal life that could have been a conflict during his initial trial.

Nice is accused of "prejudicial misconduct" for not disclosing that she was the victim of domestic violence and had sought a restraining order in 2000 for fears that her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend would be a threat to her unborn baby.

According to Law and Crime, Nice testified under a grant of immunity from prosecutors so she could testify on the stand without fear of self-incrimination after she had threatened to plead the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions.

In seeking a restraining order against her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend while she was pregnant in 2000, Nice wrote that she "really fears for her unborn child" due to threats from the woman.

Nice on Friday tried to clarify that her fears were about the potential for a fight that could result in losing her child and not a "genuine fear" that someone would actually hurt her child with any specific intent aimed toward the kid.

"She didn't threaten my baby," Nice noted, referring to her former boyfriend's ex-girlfriend.

On the other hand, Peterson's lawyers said the 2000 case is relevant to whether Nice was accurate when she filled out the juror questionnaire.

Peterson's lawyers questioned Nice about stating "no" in the questionnaire whether she had "ever been involved in a lawsuit."

They reminded her that the 2000 matter, in technicality, was a lawsuit. The former juror said she did not know her request for a protection order qualified as a lawsuit, and she "made amends" with the woman she accused and dropped her appeal.

Nice further noted that the jury questionnaire was now "partially true." In particular, she said that before the trial, she did not have "any anger or resentment toward Scott at all." But after the trial, she admitted that she did.

Scott Peterson was first convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder concerning his wife and of second-degree murder of their unborn son. He was sentenced to death in 2005.

The 49-year-old suspect remained on death row until 2020, when the California Supreme Court had overturned his death sentence after finding that Peterson's jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty.

In its ruling, the California Supreme Court said a judge would decide the matter in San Mateo County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo now has the authority to overturn the suspect's conviction and grant him a retrial. She will reportedly base her decision on testimony from several witnesses at the hearing.

The evidentiary hearing is expected to continue until next week, with Nice going back on the stand Monday. After the conclusion of the hearing, the judge will have 90 days to decide if she will grant Peterson's request for a new trial.

Scott Peterson Arrested for Killing His Wife, Laci Peterson, and Their Unborn Son

Scott Peterson was arrested in La Jolla, California on April 18, 2003 - the same day the two decomposed bodies washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay were identified as Laci Peterson and their unborn child, Conner.

Investigators noted that Peterson bought a brand new boat 15 days before Laci disappeared. They also said he could not identify what type of fish he was trying to catch when a police officer asked him on December 24, 2002, when Laci was reported missing.

Investigators also discovered that Peterson was having an affair with massage therapist Amber Frey at the time of his wife's disappearance.

Frey told investigators that Scott Peterson told her that he was not married, and she admitted that they had a romantic relationship. Prosecutors argued that the affair was Peterson's motive to kill his wife, allowing him to be with Frey.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Former Scott Peterson Trial Juror Denies Bias - From KPIX CBS SF Bay Area