DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – A Durham novelist awaiting a new trial in the death of his wife is asking that a judge not allow evidence he was interested in gay porn at his retrial next year.
The Herald-Sun of Durham reports a lawyer for Michael Peterson filed a motion also asking that emails between Peterson and a gay escort be kept out his May trial on a murder charge for killing his wife in 2001.
Prosecutors used the evidence to try to show Peterson had a motive for killing his wife. Kathleen Peterson was found in a pool of blood at the bottom of a stairwell in the couple’s home.
Michael Peterson was convicted in 2003 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned in 2011.
