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tv   Nightline  ABC  February 23, 2024 12:37am-1:07am PST

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this gentleman, rory scovel. i hope christopher nolan gets another look at you. >> i do, too. >> jimmy: you can see his special on max, "religion, sex, and a few things in between." thanks for watching. apologies to matt damon. it really was rude of us to bump him tonight. i hope it never happens again. "nightline" is next. good night, everybody. good night. [ cheers and applause ] scott peterson, one of america's most notorious convicted killers, serving life for the murder of his wife, laci, and their unborn child. >> there were an unbelievable amount of leads and pieces of evidence that pointed everywhere but scott, shocking new questions about key pieces of evidence, including a scrap of bloody fabric. >> it was one of those hairs standing up on the back of your
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neck moments. >> could the wrong man be in prison? >> i think scott peterson murdered his wife and his child. prove me wrong. plus, oscar, her grandmother's nine, nine and ypo wowing the award scene, director shawn wong's love letter to his two grandmothers. >> we bunked down with during covid that daily routine with them was so full of joy and laughter and silliness, leaning into the comfort of home when the outside world was threatening slapstick, child like, infectious, youthful joy juxtaposed by the anti-asian hate crimes that were happening. what nine, nine and ypo can teach the rest of us about getting older and the moment they all found out, they were going to the oscars and we're back on the moon after 50 years, now, dateline will be right back . >> how do i do it all? >>
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>> thank you for joining us tonight. riveting developments in a case that commander the spotlight in the of america's appetite for true crime stories. the los angeles branch of the innocence project pointing to what they say are overlooked and important pieces of evidence in the case against convicted murderer scott peterson. here's my "nightline" coanchor
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juju chang. >> juju: a scrap of bloody fabric. >> it was one of those hair standing up on the back of your neck moments. >> juju: a burnt-out van. >> in my professional opinion, this van was burned to cover up a crime. >> juju: alleged sightings. >> what about the witnesses who said they had seen laci peterson after she went missing? >> juju: all detailed in a new bombshell court filing by the innocence project. >> when i heard they want to show actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence -- my ears pricked up. >> juju: could these pieces of evidencefully scott peterson? the man convicted of the gruesome murder of his pregnant wife laci? in a case that riveted the nation. >> there were an unbelievable amount of leads and pieces of evidence that pointed everywhere
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but scott. >> juju: you think scott peterson was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? >> i think scott peterson murdered his wife and his child. prove me wrong. >> juju: the los angeles innocent project argue is scott is actually innocent, and from the start, authorities zeroed on the wrong man. mark geragos, who defended celebrity clients like winona rider and michael jackson, was scott's defense attorney at trial. >> they weren't focused on actually finding out what happened. they were focused on trying to convict scott. and that was a problem. >> juju: the innocence project claims there were witnesses who weren't properly interviewed who say they saw laci peterson on the day she went missing. >> some of the people who actually saw laci that they should have talked to, they never did talk to. >> juju: they claim a burglary across the street from the peterson home went on the same day laci went missing and wasn't fully investigated. >> their's is some witnesses believe laci peterson interrupted that burglary, then she was killed because of it by
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those who were involved in it. >> we looked at everybody that we could possibly find that we thought could be responsible for this or suspect of this. >> juju: the innocence project also asking for more extensive dna testing of a piece of fabric found in a burnt-out van a mile away, the day after laci's disappearance. >> that van had actually been seen where one of the witnesses saw laci. so there was a connection between the van and a possible laci sighting. >> so somebody's blood is on a mattress in the back of a van that was burned deliberately. who? >> innocence project effort is a combination of old evidence, new evidence, and they reveal a picture that's much different than what we think happened in the peterson case. >> juju: but is all that enough to set one of america's most infamous convicted killers free? laci peterson was 27, and 8 1/2 months pregnant, when she went
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missing on christmas eve in 2002. married for five years, she and her husband, scott, a fertilizer salesman, seemed like the perfect couple. preparing for their first child, who they named conner. >> she was all smiles in her photos, and america was captivated by this story. >> juju: on the day his wife went missing, scott told friends he was going golfing. but later told authorities it was too cold, so instead, he went fishing. heading out to san francisco bay, over 80 miles from home. john bueller was one of the modesto detectives assigned to the case. what was your impression of him over time? >> well, scott was rather aloof. incredible emotional control. one of the best i've ever seen in my life. >> at the outset, her family didn't believe that scott peterson could have done this. and over time, that changed. >> juju: at a candlelight vigil on new year's eve, eight days
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after she went missing, laci's family and friends say scott was nowhere to be found. >> i do remember i didn't see scott the entire evening. he was there, apparently, but i didn't see him. >> juju: what they didn't realize is that while he was at the vigil, scott called his mistress, amber frey, pretending he was in paris. this is unreal. while he is supposed to be looking for his wife pregnant wife with their their child, he is child, he is calling his mistress and telling her that he's at the eiffel tower in paris. who does that? >> the crowd is huge. >> juju: amber frey who met scott a month before laci went missing. >> i really liked him and felt really good about where things were going and our conversations
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and time spent together. >> juju: she says scott told her his wife had died. >> she was very emotional. and said that this would be the first holidays without her. and he was crying at that point. >> juju: it was only when she saw the media coverage of laci's disappearance that amber realized her new lover was a liar. >> and so i went to the other room and called the modesto police department hotline that they had. i was in shock. i mean, i literally was in shock. >> juju: working with the police, amber began recording their phone calls. >> i'm in brussels now. >> oh, yeah, that's right, you took the train to brussels. >> yeah. >> juju: less than a month after laci disappeared, amber went public with a bombshell announcement. >> we did have a romantic relationship. i am very sorry for laci's family.
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and the pain that this has caused them. and i pray for her safe return as well. >> i found her to be very credible. she didn't look like she wanted to be there. she didn't look like she was soaking in the media attention. >> the world turned against him when amber frey came forward. >> juju: for mark geragos, it was the first step in the public convicting his chipt. >> it gives people the ability to suspend any kind of rational engagement with the evidence. all you have to do is listen to scott on the tape recordings telling amber that he's in paris somewhere, and oh my god, he's a liar, he's a cheat, and therefore, apparently, it's a short off-ramp to, he's a murderer. >> juju: as investigators zeroed in on scott, he sat down with my colleague, diane sawyer, in a blockbuster exclusive interview. >> i know that suspicion has
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turned to me because of the inappropriate romantic -- had with amber frey. >> did your wife find o it? >> i told my wife. >> when? >> early december. >> a lot of arguing? >> no, it wouldn't break us apart. >> there wasn't a lot of anger? >> no. >> do you really expect people to believe that an 8 1/2-month pregnant woman learns her husband is having an affair and is saintly and casual about it? accommodating? makes a peace with it? >> well, i -- yeah. you don't know -- no one knows our relationship but us. >> juju: in april, the bodies of laci and their son, conner, were found washed ashore not far from where peterson said he'd been fishing on christmas eve.
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>> there is no question in our minds that the unidentified female is laci peterson. the unidentified fetus is the biological child of laci and scott peterson. >> laci peterson's husband now in custody. >> scott peterson has been arrested. >> juju: charged with two counts of murder, his trial became a five-month media circus. with no direct evidence linking peterson to their crime, prosecutors built their case on circumstantial evidence. >> we're breaking into programming to bring you the verdict in the scott peterson murder trial. >> juju: it took the jury nine days to find scott peterson guilty of first-degree murder for laci and second-degree murder for conner. >> we, the jury in the above-entitled cause find the defendant, scott lee peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of laci peterson.
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>> this is not a case where the jurors somehow got snookered or pressured to convict. >> juju: scott was sentenced to death, but after 15 years on death row, the california supreme court reduced his term to life in prison citing that his jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty. while upholding his conviction, denying him a new trial. scott peterson has always maintained he did not kill his wife. the los angeles innocence project motion is now in the hands of san mateo superior court. >> there's a number of options for the courts here. the most likely one is probably they're going to do nothing. the second most likely would be they hold a hearing, which is possible that a hearing is held to assess, what is the new evidence? and from scott peterson's perspective, the best-case scenario would be that he gets a new trial. >> byron: our thanks to juju. you can watch more of "impact by
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nightline: scott peterson, the wrong man?" now streaming on hulu. choosing joy and celebrating life with his grandmothers, even during hard times. what making nai nai and wai po taught filmmaker sean wang about aging and what it can teach us taught filmmaker sean wang about aging and what it can teach us i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue for some... and stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin;
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"known for her grilling of corporate executives." with "deep policy knowledge." katie porter's housing plan has "bipartisan-friendly ideas to bring homebuilding costs down." and the chronicle praises "her ideas to end soft corruption in politics." let's shake up the senate. with democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. >> juju: welcome back. our next guest is having a dream year in the life of a young filmmaker. within one week he not only premiered a movie at sundance
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but it got nominated for an oscar. his success may be even sweeter because he's sharing the joy with his two grandmothers. they are the central characters in his documentary short. here to tell us more is sean wang. welcome to "nightline." >> thank you for having. >> juju: congrats on your first feature film. it just won a couple of prizes at sundance. a few days later, you got a little oscar stardust sprinkled on you with "nene and wai po." describe your emotions right now if you can. >> i'm just so grateful, honestly. it's such a surreal, special experience. i think it would be really overwhelming if i didn't get to share it with some of my best friends, like my collaborators, my family, the grandmothers are having such an incredibly fun time. and i think -- i feel like our job in all of this is just to make sure they have a fun time. so if they're having fun, i'm having fun. i'll process this one day, but it's so special. >> juju: i was so pleased to meet your grandmothers who are
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the subject of po." >> it's about my grandmothers. they live together, they're kind of roommates, sisters, best friends. the movie really is just a very extraordinary, holistic portrait of their lives together. that's kind of what we wanted to do. we wanted to zoom in on what can be seemingly ordinary and find the sort of extraordinary humanity that exists within these two incredibly special women in my life. >> juju: absolutely. you totally nailed it. let's take a look at a clip from the film. i, i should say. what i mean cc juju do you see
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>> i know this was a covid lockdown project for you, but in many ways the backdrop for that was a lot of the anti asian hate crimes that were happening in that time. anti-asian hate crime happening in that time. how did that inspire you? >> i think like a lot of people, just kind of feeling a little helpless and angry during that time. and i moved home, and it was a sort of transitional period in my life. for the first time in a really long time i got to spend time with my grandmothers and experience a daily routine with them. and that daily routine with them was so full of joy and laughter and silliness. you see in the movie, it's a lot of dancing, lots of farting. child-like, infectious, youthful joy that they bring out of me and i bring out of them.
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and those emotions were sort of juxtaposed by the anti-asian hate crimes that were happening, not just in our country, but especially in the bay area where i'm from, where they live, where we shot the movie. >> juju: and often against elderly. >> yeah, against people like my grandmothers. they were being portrayed as these sort of helpless victims. i was like, no, people like them are so full of life, they're so vibrant, they're so youthful and playful and smart and wise. so we really wanted to make a film that honored them. you know, honored their humanity. >> juju: you really nailed it. you talk about profound issues. life and beyond issues. also, with this hilarity, with this humor and joy. >> that was the hope of the movie was to create a container where all of these tones could exist in one film. it's an honest portrait of the two of them. >> juju: and their immigrant experience. there was the reaction moment to the oscar nomination. it went viral. you were with your grandmothers
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when you got the nod. what was it like to hear that "nai nai and wai po" are oscar nominated? >> going to the oscars with my grandmothers. a sentence i literally never thought i would say. it feels surreal and special. i think one of the greatest joys of this experience is how much fun they're having. to go to the oscars is -- that's a dream come true. >> juju: they walk red carpets at sundance. they partied the night away at the after party. >> we're all getting to do this together, too. i think that's been the greatest joy is film-making in my life is so personal and something i care so much about. to have them be a part of it is so special. >> juju: for the summer ahead, once the oscars are past, got bought at sundance. >> "didi" is my first feature, it premiered at sundance, this summer, july 26th, in theaters.
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keep an eye out. >> juju: thank you for joining us, it's so good to see you again, too. >> byron: our thanks to "nai nai and wai po" is streaming now. when we come back, back to streaming now. when we come back, back to to help protect from hiv. i prep without pills. with apretude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of hiv without daily prep pills. with one shot every other month, just 6 times a year. in studies, apretude was proven superior to a daily prep pill in reducing the risk of hiv. you must be hiv negative to receive apretude and get tested before each injection. if you think you were exposed to hiv or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away. apretude does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections. practice safer sex to reduce your risk. don't take apretude if you're allergic to it or taking certain medicines, as they may interact. tell your doctor if you've had liver problems or mental health concerns. if you have a rash or other allergic reactions,
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in over 50 years. odysseus is scouting terrain ahead of nasa's planned mission two years from now with humans on board. odysseus will spend a week on the south pole to gather information on the lunar surface of the so-called dark side of the moon. there is water and ice there, critical if we want to use the moon as a base camp to one day explore mars and beyond. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. abc news app. breaking news, incredible video. faster smarter. and it can customize to you and your interests. if you love being in the know you're gonna love this experience. >> what all the buzz is about experience

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