Written by Leah Gleason
I recently watched a Netflix documentary “The Staircase.” This documentary follows the trial of a North Carolina man named Michael Peterson. Michael Peterson is accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson by pushing her down the staircase in their home and hitting her with a fireplace blow-poke. While this is the prosecution’s theory, Michael maintains his innocence throughout the trial and appeal.
This documentary follows the case from shortly after Michael’s arrest through the appeal process and ends shortly after his Alford Plea in 2017. During the first trial, Michael is convicted of the murder of Kathleen and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Peterson and his attorneys appeal and case all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which affirmed the court of Appeals decision. This exhausted Peterson’s right to appeal.
After an extensive process, including a hearing for a retrial and almost 100 months in prison, Michael Peterson entered an Alford Plea to voluntary manslaughter. The Judge sentenced Michael to the maximum 86 months in jail with credit for time previously served.
An Alford Plea is a guilty plea entered because sufficient evidence exists to convict the Defendant of the offense, but the Defendant asserts their innocence. This type of plea is named after the United States Supreme Court case North Carolina v. Alford. An Alford Plea is available in most states but does not come up very often. During my time practicing in criminal defense, I have never heard of this type of plea being used.
Now, in regards to the outcome of the case. While I’m no expert on this case by any means and I only know as much as the documentary showed, I’m currently not convinced that Michael Peterson killed Kathleen. Without spoiling too much, I think the investigation was not the best and the prosecution’s theory was a bit farfetched. However, I would highly recommend watching the documentary yourself and determining for yourself what happened.