Santa Clara University

Class Action Profile

Both Peterson Judges are Alumni of SCU School of Law

Judge Aldo Girolami ’70 (above) and Judge Alfred A. Delucchi ’60

In the California case of Scott Peterson, who is accused of killing his wife and unborn son, both judges are alumni of Santa Clara University School of Law. The first judge, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Aldo Girolami ’70, is shown here on January 9, explaining to the court in Modesto, Calif., why a change of venue is needed. Girolami ruled that Peterson could not get a fair trial in his dead wife’s hometown and ordered the case moved out of the county. Girolami said extensive news coverage of the case, including 8,000 articles published worldwide and more than 150 stories in the local newspaper alone, swayed him to agree with the defense that the trial should not be held in Modesto.

Judge Alfred A. Delucchi ’60, shown above in court in an Oct. 23, 2000, photo, took over the case in San Mateo County in February. Delucchi, who retired from the Superior Court of Alameda County in 1998, has been a trial judge for more than three decades. He has presided over nearly two dozen death penalty trials, including that of Tyron Robinson, who was accused of killing former Black Panther Huey Newton.