CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Officer’s Murder Conviction Upheld

Former California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Peyer’s first-degree murder conviction was upheld by the 4th District Court of Appeal, which rejected every challenge raised by the defense. The court issued its ruling in a 65-page opinion that addressed 10 issues raised by Peyer’s attorney in a lengthy appeal of his June 22, 1988, conviction. Peyer, 40, was convicted of killing Cara Knott, 20, on the night of Dec. 27, 1986, near an off-ramp from Interstate 15 in San Diego County. Peyer’s conviction ended a 13-year career as a CHP officer. He is serving a 25-year-to-life prison sentence. Among other things, the justices dismissed an argument by Peyer’s attorney, Christopher J. Schatz, that prosecutor Paul Pfingst was guilty of misconduct when he portrayed Peyer as a “predator” with an “appetite” for young women like Knott. During trial, Pfingst used the testimony of 31 young women, who said they were stopped at night by Peyer on the same darkened off-ramp where Knott died.