on july 21, 2010, it was revealed that hearsay statements indicating peterson killed two of his wives were not reliable enough for a jury to hear at his trial. after presiding over a lengthy hearing, judge white issued a four-page sealed ruling in may obtained by the "daily herald". white ruled that prosecutors proved peterson killed both savio and stacy "by a preponderance of the evidence," but nearly all statements attributed to stacy "do not provide sufficient safeguards of reliability." (the standard of proof in homicide cases is "beyond a reasonable doubt"; "preponderance of the evidence" is the standard for fact-finding on questions of admissibility of evidence, even in a criminal case.) stacy's statements were crucial to the prosecution's case, as it lacked significant direct evidence. in april 2012, an illinois appellate court ruled that prosecutors could use eight statements made by both the victim prior to her death and by peterson's still-missing fourth wife stacy prior to her disappearance, reversing white's earlier decision. peterson's defense had contended that introduction of these alleged hearsay comments constituted a violation of his sixth amendment right to confront any witnesses testifying against him.