The defense attorney who represented pop superstar Michael Jackson and convicted murderer Scott Peterson has revealed his biggest regret from two of the 21st century’s highest-profile criminal trials.

Speaking onstage at CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 30, Mark Geragos said he regretted protesting against allowing the two trials to be filmed by the media.

“There were no cameras in the courtroom. I’ve always said the worst thing I did in [Peterson’s] case, and I would say the same thing with Michael Jackson, for both of them, was that there were no cameras in the courtroom,” said Geragos. “Because the public got their information through the ether, and when you don’t have a sequestered jury, that is hard to overcome. People thought he had no emotion.”

Scott, 53, was convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child, Conner. He was handed a death sentence, which was later reduced to life in prison without parole.

Jackson, meanwhile, was acquitted the following year on charges he molested a 13-year-old boy.

Geragos, speaking ahead of an A&E documentary that will premiere in July about the Peterson case, maintains to this day that his former client didn’t murder his wife. He even said Scott remaining in jail keeps him awake at night.

“People often ask me the question, ‘How do you sleep at night doing what you do?,’ ” said Geragos, who has also represented the likes of the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Eric Menendez, as well as Chris Brown.

“What does keep me up at night is when I believe that I’m defending an innocent client. That’s when I lose sleep,” he continued.

Scott and Laci Peterson.

Modesto Police Department/ZUMA Press/Shutterstock

Laci vanished from her home in Modesto, Calif., on Dec. 24, 2002. The disappearance quickly became a massive media sensation and sparked a major search effort.

Laci’s remains were later discovered in the San Francisco Bay in April 2003, and Peterson was arrested soon afterwards at a golf course.

The Los Angeles Innocence Project took on Peterson’s case in 2024. They contend that Modesto police failed to investigate various leads, including reported sightings of Laci and a burglary that occurred across the street from the Peterson home, while various pieces of DNA hadn’t been tested.

Peterson’s bids to get his conviction overturned have been rejected repeatedly, most recently in May. The Innocence Project has vowed to appeal the ruling.