Richelle Nice is at the center of Scott Peterson’s appeal for a retrial. Nice was among the jurors who sentenced Scott to death for the murder of his wife and unborn child. Peterson’s lawyers argue that Richelle was biased against the accused and that she lied to get on the jury.
Nice earned the name ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ for her red hair during the trial. She appeared in court in February 2022 and broke down as Peterson’s attorney asked whether she profited from a book about the case. “I didn’t get rich!” Nice shot back before she started crying.
Nice swapped her famous red hair for brunette locks with blond highlights
Nice no longer sports the red hair that made her stand out during the trial. She swapped the red hair for brunette locks with blond highlights.
Richelle has no presence on social media under her name, so we know little about her life now. In 2017, she appeared in the Hulu miniseries The Murder of Laci Peterson.
Richelle agreed to testify after prosecutors offered her immunity
Peterson’s attorney Cliff Gardner pointed out that Richelle was uncooperative and inconsistent when answering the juror questionnaire. Gardner also told the court that in 2015, Richelle refused to talk to prosecutors or the defense, indicating she had something to hide. She only accepted to testify in 2022 after she was granted immunity.
“She refused to testify unless she was given immunity from prosecution,” Gardner said. “This is as far from cooperating witness, I think, as you can get.” Gardner added that Richelle’s reference to Scott as ‘little man’ in their correspondences after the trial showed her bias against him. He said:
“She gave Conner a nickname, called him ‘Little Man.’ She took the extraordinary step after conviction and after having put Mr. Peterson on death row, [of] beginning correspondence with a series of letters. Each of them has various focuses, but one of the focuses of every letter is his ‘Little Man.’”
Prosecutor David Harris conceded that Nice made mistakes filling out the jury questionnaire but argued that the errors didn’t make her a liar. Harris explained:
“She’s inconsistent on her answers. But being wrong does not necessarily make it or make her a liar. It just might be she’s really bad at filling out forms.”
Experts opine that it’s unlikely that the judge will overturn the conviction based on Richelle Nice’s conduct. “I believe here that even if you had a juror who did not properly answer on the questionnaire, that in and of itself is not enough to get a sentence overturned,” attorney and former homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News.