Peterson Hearing Today

Scott Peterson will be back in court today, as attorneys try to determine what evidence will be presented at Monday's preliminary hearing.

But, that hearing could be delayed, because Peterson's lead attorney, Mark Geragos, may be in court on another case.

Meantime, prosecutors have decided not to use evidence from a hypnotized witness at the preliminary hearing.

According to court documents, prosecutors still plan to call the woman to testify if the case goes to trial.

Scott Peterson is charged with the murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.

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MODESTO, Calif. -- On the eve of a court hearing, Scott Peterson's defense team submitted a filing late Thursday claiming that an investigator 'willfully omitted' evidence that allegedly proved the body of Laci Peterson was never in her husband's boat.

According to the filing, the defense believes that the prosecution's claim that Laci Peterson's lifeless body was placed in Scott Peterson's boat and dumped in the San Francisco Bay off the Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve day is pivotal to the case against the Modesto fertilizer salesman.

Kirk McAllister, a member of Peterson's defense team, asked the court for a 'Franks Hearing' on the alleged omission. A 'Franks Hearing' is simply an evidentiary hearing on a motion to suppress evidence based on a challenge to the facts included or omitted from a search warrant.

In the filing, McAllister claims that a cadaver dog named Twist was placed in the boat by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and failed to 'alert' -- to signal that a scent of Laci Peterson had been detected.

"This information was purposely omitted from the search warrant affidavits because it destroys the theory on which the prosecution has based its case," McAllister stated in the filing.

He added that such an omission "fatally undermines a finding of probable cause." McAllister went even further to claim that the "prosecution's own investigation proved that Laci Peterson's body was never in Scott Peterson's boat."

Peterson has been charged with the capital murder of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son. A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled to begin Monday but several reports say that the defense team will ask for at least a one-week delay at Friday's hearing. The delay request comes because Peterson attorney Mark Geragos is currently representing a murder defendant in a Los Angeles trial that has been slow in wrapping up.

Laci Peterson disappeared from the couple's modest Modesto home on Christmas Eve day, triggering a highly publicized search effort. At the time of her disappearance, Scott Peterson has told police he was on a day fishing trip to the San Francisco Bay off the Berkeley Marina.

Laci's partially decomposed body and that of her unborn son was discovered in April by dog walkers on successive days on the shoreline of a park in Richmond, just miles north of the Berkeley Marina. Scott Peterson was arrested in San Diego a few days later with his hair dyed blond and $10,000 in cash in his pocket. Authorities have said they feared he was preparing to flee to Mexico.

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Prosecutors changed course Wednesday and said they will not introduce evidence from a hypnotized witness at Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing on double murder charges.

But prosecutors still intend to call the woman to testify if the case goes to trial, according to documents filed Wednesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.

The decision appears to delay a legal showdown over whether Kristen Dempewolf, who may have resembled Peterson's pregnant wife at the time that she disappeared, will be allowed to testify.

Dempewolf, 33, could be used to counter witnesses who contend that they saw Laci Peterson after her husband said he left for a solo fishing trip the day she was reported missing.

Peterson, 30, is charged with murdering his wife and the couple's son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Laci Peterson, 27, was almost eight months pregnant when her family reported her missing Christmas Eve. Dempewolf, who lives several blocks from the Petersons' home in Modesto's La Loma neighborhood, was at roughly the same stage of pregnancy.

Peterson's attorneys have asked the judge to exclude Dempewolf's testimony, saying investigators failed to follow strict legal requirements for allowing testimony from hypnotized witnesses in a criminal case.

Her testimony is part of a collection of evidence that the defense is seeking to bar from court, including information from wiretaps, scent-tracking dogs, GPS tracking devices and a hair found on pliers in Peterson's boat. A DNA test shows that the hair could have come from Laci Peterson, according to prosecution documents filed in court.

Judge Al Girolami is likely to hear arguments on the evidence issues at Peterson's preliminary hearing, which is set for Monday but may be delayed.

Prosecutors indicated earlier in court that they would call Dempewolf to testify at the hearing.

In more than 450 pages of documents filed Wednesday, prosecutors said they reserved the right to address the issue of introducing Dempewolf's testimony in the future.

They also contend that the defense objection to Dempewolf's testimony must also apply to Diane Jackson, a second neighbor who went under hypnosis for police.

Jackson is not cooperating with the defense, who notified her that she may be called to testify as a witness.

Jackson told police that she saw three suspicious men standing near a tan van parked directly across the street from the Peterson home at 11:40 a.m. Dec. 24, according to a report of her account.

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(CNN) -- Defense lawyers for murder suspect Scott Peterson on Thursday filed court documents seeking to throw out police search warrants and the evidence gathered using them in searches of Peterson's boat.

The documents say police "purposely omitted" the fact that a cadaver dog failed to pick up any scent of a body in Peterson's boat in affidavits to get a search warrant.

Peterson, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Prosecutors believe he killed Laci in their home and transported her body in his boat, later dumping her in the San Francisco Bay.

Both sides will appear in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Friday for a status hearing to discuss preparations in the case, where one court official said it's likely another continuance request may be made in the case.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin October 20. It was originally slated for September but has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts with defense attorneys.

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Defendant's Reply to People's Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Traverse Search Warrants

Thanks Maggie.
I found the latest NE article. I guess Rickamorti wasn't around this week. Credit to: crimenews2000 by poster ibnora

National Enquirer Cover date: October 28, 2003

COVER: NEW LACI MURDER BREAKTHROUGH: THE 300 CALLS THAT WILL NAIL SCOTT!

Cover Photo: Scott on one of his cellphones by the front gate

Story: Amber Tapes will Nail Laci's Husband

by David Wright

Synopsis:

Scott Peterson's lover Amber Frey went to amazing lengths to help police nab (Scott) for the murder of his pregant wife Laci - secretly setting a trap to lure
him into taking a lie detector test that he had been dodging!

The Enquirer has learned the content of almost 300 calls between Scott and Amber.

Amber sought to "trap (Scott) into taking the poly test to 'prove' to her his innocence".

Amber is called the "most important civilian witness in this case" as Craig Silverman, former chief deputy district attorney for Denver, told the NE.

"When the jury hears her and the tapes and realizes how obsessed Scott was with Amber even when he was pretending to lead the search for his missing wife, they'll hate his guts."

Silverman says Amber and the tapes provide a motive for the murder. They show that Scott lies whenever it suits his purpose.

A polygraph sting was set-up in "a flurry of phone calls" between Amber, her police handlers and a leading poly examiner over a 17 hour period ending on February 1st. By that time Laci had been missing nearly six weeks.

Scott didn't know Amber was working with the Modesto police. NE says Amber was constantly "quizzing" Scott during the calls and was "loosely following an FBI script and asking him more and more pointedly whether he had anything to do with Laci's disappearance."

On January 31st, detectives decided to "move things along a little faster". LE asked Amber to try to get Scott to take a lie detector test the next time he called her.

On January 31st at 7:06pm Scott called Amber and they talked for 25 minutes. Six minutes after the call ended, Scott called her again. At this point, Amber told Scott "You keep telling me how much you love me and want to be with me. But I have to know that you had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance." She took a deep breath and then went on: "Will you take a lie detector test and put my mind at rest once and for all?"

NE says Scott hesitated and the call ended at 7:49pm. Within seconds, the logs show that Amber called Det. Jon Buehler and that they spoke for 12 minutes. "Amber and Buehler talked again at 11:40 that night. He passed along instructions and the moment their talk ended she called Scott."

During this call to Scott, which ended at 11:59 pm, she "played her trump card". She told Scott, "If you'll take the poly, I'll come with you and take one to prove that I knew nothing about what has happened", according to NE's source.

Amber knew she had nothing to fear from taking a polygraph, she had already voluntarily taken and passed a police polygraph on December 30th.

After the 11:59 pm call to Scott, she called Detective Buehler at 12:06 am (now Saturday, February 1st) and they talked for 14 minutes. Amber and the detective talked again at 9:01 am on Saturday morning. They both felt confident enough to call a polygraph examiner and set up the test.

After her talk with Buehler, Amber called Melvin King, a leading polygraph expert and former Fresno Police lieutenant, at 9:19 am. Then, she called Buehler again and then Scott at 9:36 am when they talked for 13 minutes. She called Buehler again within minutes of hanging up with Scott. Just before 10 am she called Melvin King again to set up an appointment.

NE's source said the detectives were elated. "Two undercover cops were already in Fresno, ready to bust Scott if he revealed what they hoped for during the polygraph."

Before the test could be set up, Scott got cold feet. "Amber tried to make the polygraph approach to Scott very casually," another insider revealed. "She already knew that when police had asked him directly to take a polygraph, he'd said no."

NE's source said at first he went along with Amber's suggestion about taking the test (hence, the call to Melvin King), then when she called Scott to say she was on the way to take the test, he told her "I would do it but my lawyers say I can't. The police are trying to frame me."

Contacted by NE, Melvin King told them he couldn't comment, that he had been notified he was now under a gag order in the case.

65 of Scott's calls, totaling more than 3 1/2 hours, were made during the period when "the supposedly grieving husband was denying to police that he had ever been unfaithful to Laci."

NE said Scott shared 2 romantic calls with Amber just before he joined the Rochas and Grantskis at the candelight vigil for Laci and her unborn son. The calls were at 11:42 am and 2:59 pm on New Year's Eve. They say that on this date he was still pretending to be a widower and telling Amber he loved her. Amber "had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming "you liar!'".

December 20th was the last time Amber saw Scott and he told her he was going to Maine to spend Christmas with his family there. "So assuming he was there, (Maine), she called him at 8:23 am on Christmas Day to wish him a Merry Christmas." "He romanced Amber during the call as if he hadn't a care in the world."

NE said that "on December 30th, Amber finally found out from a friend that Scott had a pregnant wife who was missing. That's when she went to the police, told them she had been Scott's love since November and agreed to cooperate with them." "The next day she faced her first test as a double agent, making the two calls to Scott before he attended the vigil."

"Amber was under instructions from the police not to let Scott know she knew he had a missing wife - and in both calls he acted lovey-dovey, as if nothing had happened."

Soon after the vigil, Scott "made it clear that he was planning to flee the country". He asked Amber to think about moving to Europe with him and live with him there.

On January 5th, Amber got Scott to admit he was the husband of Laci. Amber blew up at him for lying and letting her think they had a future. Her burst of anger at Scott "dismayed her police handlers, who worried that Scott's phone calls would end and they would loose their best link to the chief suspect."

According to NE, the phone logs show that Amber and Scott didn't talk again until two days later. Then, she called him and it lasted an hour and 20 minutes. "Amber had to talk her head off - but she got Scott 'back on the hook'".

NE says, as they have reported exclusively, Amber and Scott's "frequent phone conversations continued almost until April 18, when Scott was arrested."

It concludes by saying that "Amber had delighted her police handlers by extracting this taped confession from Scott: "I didn't do anything to Laci, but I know who did." And, briefly brings up the irony of Melvin King meeting with Cory Carroll, and talking with Amber.

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