Posted on 10/14/2003 5:36:21 AM PDT by runningbear
Theories unfold as hearing nears in Peterson case
Posted on Sun, Oct. 12, 2003
Theories unfold as hearing nears in Peterson case
By Julia Prodis Sulek
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
MODESTO - Nazi Low Riders named Dirty and Skeeter, an old Satanic cult called the Order of the Lion, and bizarre paintings of decapitated women and floating fetuses. These are the latest surreal elements in the Laci Peterson slaying case.
Who could have guessed that the death of this pregnant homemaker who watched "Martha Stewart Living" each morning and had a wine-of-the-month club membership would be intertwined with such seamy images?
But no theory, it seems, is too farfetched for a case that feeds tabloid headlines and talk-show debates. Two especially macabre scenarios have bubbled to the surface as the Oct. 20 preliminary hearing approaches.
One centers on a jailhouse informant who passed a lie-detector test after claiming two gang thugs were hired to kill Scott Peterson's wife. The other resurrects a decade-old quadruple homicide outside Modesto by devil worshipers who believed the purest sacrifice is the killing of a newborn baby.
One scenario could send Peterson to the death chamber. The other could set him free. Could either be true? Or has a thirst for the sensational spawned titillating tales when the reality may be something far simpler: a cheating husband killing his wife to be with his mistress?
The prosecution is expected to push that more simple theory when it lays out its case for the first time at Peterson's preliminary hearing in Modesto. But, until then, the focus has shifted to bald, tattooed gangsters and robe-clad Satanists.
The Nazi Low Riders
It was only two weeks ago that Cory Carroll, a Fresno jail inmate, issued a startling statement: Scott Peterson used him to set up a murder-for-hire.
According to Carroll's lawyer, Frank Muna, it started in early November last year at a Fresno strip club called City Lights. After seeing Carroll's prison identification card when he paid for a drink, Peterson struck up a conversation. They spent the next several hours together watching the dancers, shooting pool and bar hopping.
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Passage of 'partial-birth abortion' ban could encourage other life-protecting legislation
Passage of 'partial-birth abortion' ban could encourage other life-protecting legislation
By Karen Addy Herald Columbia Bureau
(Published October 13‚ 2003)
COLUMBIA -- S.C. legislators and lobbyists predict that right-to-life legislation pending in the General Assembly could gain momentum if the first federal abortion ban in U.S. history becomes law.
"Every time lawmakers pass life-protecting legislation, it encourages other life-protecting legislation," said Holly Gattling, executive director of S.C. Citizens for Life.
Pro-choice advocates claim South Carolina already is in the forefront of national efforts to limit the reproductive rights of women and girls in favor of fetal rights.
Co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the federal ban would send doctors to prison for performing late-term "partial-birth abortions" except in instances where the mother's life is threatened. The ban is more restrictive than one passed by the S.C. Legislature in 1997, in that it does not allow doctors to use the procedure to preserve the mother's health.
All six U.S. House members from South Carolina voted in favor of the "partial-birth abortion" ban earlier this month; the Senate is expected to vote soon.
Trey Walker, spokesperson for the state Attorney General's office, said federal regulations normally replace similar state laws when stipulations are stricter. Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, one of the original sponsors of the state's 'partial-birth abortion' ban, and Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, said the federal vote would bolster the state law.
Opponents say the federal bill's broad wording could be applied to other types of abortion, and they predict the bill will not survive challenges to it in court. Three years ago, the Supreme Court struck down Nebraska's version of the 'partial-birth abortion' ban.
But South Carolina's law has never been challenged, Walker said.
According to Clair Boatwright, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, 10,124 South Carolina residents aborted pregnancies in 2001, the most recent figure available. The procedures were performed in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Of that group, 5,028 were white and 5,045 were women of color. The majority were in their 20s and early 30s.
The 2001 total included 306 York residents, 67 Lancaster residents and 79 Chester residents.
Nationally, approximately 90 percent of women who terminate their pregnancies each year do so within 12 weeks of conception. Scientists say a fetus reaches "viability," the point when it potentially can survive on its own outside the mother's womb, at between 24 and 26 weeks gestation........
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Frey, family shared feelings
By GARTH STAPLEY
and JOHN COTÉ
Published: October 12, 2003, 08:26:03 AM PDT
As observers across the world earlier this year waited for word on the missing Laci Peterson, secret, emotional bonds apparently developed between her loved ones and her husband's lover.
Amber Frey, who emerged Jan. 24 with a bombshell revelation of her romance with Scott Peterson, the next day began calling friends and family of Laci Peterson, according to partial telephone records.
By March 14, Frey had reached out 53 times to people close to Laci Peterson, totaling nearly 6 1/2 hours of telephone time.
Well-placed sources say Frey hoped to assure Laci's loved ones that Frey did not know that Scott Peterson was married when they began dating Nov. 20. Frey also shared with them her hope, sources say, that the missing pregnant woman and her baby would be found safe.
It was not to be. The bodies of mother and son were recovered in mid-April along the shore of San Francisco Bay.
Peterson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to double-murder charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Peterson talked with Frey in February about him taking a lie-detector test, according to two sources. The phone records show that Frey called a respected polygrapher in Fresno, but the test never occurred, sources said.
Frey, a 28-year-old Fresno massage therapist, continued talking with Peterson for almost four weeks after she publicly acknowledged their romance, phone records reveal.
She appeared at the same time to have a direct line to authorities, who were secretly wiretapping Peterson's phones. Frey reported to her police handler immediately following many of her conversations with Peterson, the records show.
"I hand it to Amber for doing the right thing," said Ron Grantski, Laci Peterson's stepfather.
Most of the people connected to Laci Peterson who were called by Frey declined to comment. Grantski said they do not want to violate a court-imposed gag order preventing potential witnesses from discussing the case.
Frey did not return calls seeking comment.
Grantski indicated that some of the conversations with Frey included details of the investigation.
"A lot of it does pertain to the case," Grantski said. "It'll all come out in court; at least I hope it will."
Grantski declined to comment further.
More than half of Frey's phone time with Laci Peterson's family and associates was spent with Lori Ellsworth, a close friend of the then-missing woman. She spoke with Frey at least 20 times totaling nearly 3 1/2 hours, phone records show.
Ellsworth declined to comment.
Expert sees emotion behind calls
Frey dialed three phones used by Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha, nine times over the six-week period. She called Laci's sister, Amy Rocha, twice in February.
Frey called the home number of Grantski and Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, twice, and dialed Rocha's cell phone twice, once talking for 22 minutes..........
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Peterson case delay possible
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: October 11, 2003, 02:04:31 PM PDT
Scott Peterson's defense team will ask a judge to postpone his much anticipated preliminary hearing, sources close to the case said Friday.
Peterson's lead attorney, Mark Geragos, was looking to push back the Oct. 20 hearing because a Los Angeles murder trial in which he represents one of the defendants is behind schedule, sources said.
After two weeks of testimony, prosecutors in that case still have five to seven more witnesses to call before the defense can begin, said Darrell Mavis, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.
"We've qualified the jury through Oct. 31, and that's what we're sticking by," Mavis said Friday.
A formal motion to delay Peterson's double-murder hearing had not been filed as of Friday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Court Executive Officer Michael Tozzi said there was a "strong likelihood" a request to reschedule will be made at a procedural hearing Friday.
The defense is seeking to push the hearing to Oct. 27, a source said.
Modesto attorney Kirk McAllister, part of the Peterson defense team, said Friday that a gag order in the case prevented him from commenting. Geragos could not be reached.
It was unclear how Judge Al Girolami would rule on a request to delay the hearing, where prosecutors are expected to lay out some of their evidence against the 30-year-old fertilizer salesman.
Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the couple's son, Conner. Laci Peterson was almost eight months pregnant at the time prosecutors contend she was killed.
Girolami previously had said a Sept. 9 date for the preliminary hearing was "set in stone." After pushing that to Oct. 20, the judge said, "It will be highly unlikely that it will be continued again."
But a defense request could be difficult to turn down because of delays in the Los Angeles murder trial of Karen Terteryan, 21, and Rafael Gevorgyan, 18, alleged members of an Armenian gang.
Prosecutors contend that Terteryan and Gevorgyan fatally beat and stabbed a high school senior, Raul Aguirre, when he intervened in a fight between the defendants and his friend.
Geragos represents Terteryan, who faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Gevorgyan faces a possible term of 25 years to life.
The trial was delayed two days because a sickout by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies engaged in contract negotiations left the court without bailiffs.
Regardless of when Peterson's hearing begins, it will be heralded by an army of television trucks converging on downtown Modesto.
Modesto police officials unveiled their plan Friday to handle the media crush. The plan calls for closing off a handful of streets near the courthouse, starting Friday night if the preliminary hearing proceeds on Oct. 20.
"We realize parking is a premium in that area," said Lt. Dan Inderbitzen, who heads the Police Department's traffic unit.
A mobile police command post will be set up and five or so additional officers will patrol outside the courthouse, Inderbitzen said.
A firetruck will be on hand when fuel tankers are brought in to refuel the diesel generators that power satellite trucks, officials said.
Television companies will pay for the extra personnel and equipment, which also could include a generator, portable toilets and garbage bins.............
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New link to Prelim hearing Court info:
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
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