Prosecutors Decide to Seek the Death Penalty Against Scott Peterson

Prosecutors announced Friday that they would seek the death penalty against Scott Peterson, who is accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

The decision was reached by a special committee of veteran prosecutors after meetings this week with Laci Peterson’s family and Scott Peterson’s defense attorneys.

Stanislaus County Dist. Atty. James Brazelton, who had previously indicated on national television talk shows that he favors the death penalty in this case, announced the decision in a brief written statement. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Peterson pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering his wife, who was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve, and their unborn son. The 30-year-old fertilizer salesman was arrested last week after their bodies washed ashore in San Francisco Bay.

He is being held in a segregated cell at the Stanislaus County jail without bail. He will be ineligible for bail if the court rules the capital murder charge is justified. A bail hearing is set for May 6.

Peterson’s family could not be reached for comment, and his public defenders did not return calls.

Brazelton’s decision came the same day the White House urged Congress to revive legislation that would make it a federal crime to harm a fetus during a violent crime against its mother.

Known as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, the bill was first introduced in 1999 and again in 2001.

“The president calls on the House and calls on the Senate to again pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act,” said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher.

The last time the bill was aired, it passed the House but died in the Senate after a coalition of pro-abortion rights groups crusaded against it, arguing that it was aimed at undermining the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized abortions in all states.

More than half the states, including California, already have laws that allow murder charges to be filed when a fetus is killed during the commission of a violent act. In California, the law also applies even to fetuses that are not viable.

Associated Press contributed to this report.