Posted on 02/02/2004 5:47:12 AM PST by runningbear
The people v. Scott Peterson By Michelle Durand, Daily Journal Staff
In a perfect world, Laci and Scott Peterson would be together today, anticipating the first birthday of their son Connor in one week. Instead, Laci and Connor are dead and Scott Peterson is facing a possible death sentence if convicted of killing his family.
The case has all the makings of a thrilling page-turner: an attractive substitute teacher, happily expecting her first child when she mysteriously disappears on Christmas Eve; the doting husband who is having an extramarital affair in the weeks before his wife goes missing; the other woman who said the husband claimed to be a widower; the four months of searching that ends when remains of mother and fetus are washed up on a shore; and a pending criminal trial that has been filled with its own legal wrangling.
The drama of Laci and Scott Peterson — at least in the public eye — began more than a year ago and 90 miles away with a missing person’s report in Modesto. Now, the story is poised to wrap up here, in San Mateo County, beginning this morning in what is expected to be the most sensational double murder trial since O.J. Simpson.
The happy couple
Laci Denise and Scott Lee Peterson were married for five years at the time of her disappearance. The couple met in San Luis Obispo, married in 1997 and opened a popular restaurant. When they decided to start a family, they returned to the town where 27-year-old Laci was raised, and Scott took a job as a fertilizer salesman. Laci received credentials as a substitute teacher but was staying home in the months before the Feb. 10, 2003 due date of her baby.
The male fetus, which the couple planned to name Connor, was eight months old and eagerly awaited. According to friends and family, the Petersons converted a room in their Modesto home into a nautical-themed nursery. Loved ones also told police they never saw the couple fight and spoke about how in love they appeared.
On Dec. 24, 2002, Modesto police received a phone call from Scott Peterson reporting his wife missing. Peterson said he last saw her that morning when he left for a solo fishing trip to the Berkeley Marina. Upon returning home, he found her cell phone and purse in the house but not her.
Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, told police she spoke with her daughter briefly the night before and had no cause to worry. Rocha said Laci never mentioned Scott’s fishing trip. She also dismissed any idea that her daughter would leave on her own, claiming she was happy about her marriage and her baby.
Police interviews revealed that the drapes on the house were never opened that day, that the Petersons’ dog, McKenzie, was found unattended in the street by a neighbor, and that suspicious looking men were spotted in the park where Laci was thought to have walked.
Within days, a volunteer center was established at the Red Lion Hotel and thousands searched for the woman, including those who only knew her as the dimpled expectant mother in a photo released to the media. Laci’s family stood by Scott, saying there was no possibility he was involved in her disappearance. However, those family ties were soon to unravel.
Suspicion mounts
While both sides of the Peterson clan supported Scott, police worked to verify his fishing trip alibi and searched the fertilizer warehouse that he kept his boat in. Police seized his boat and the truck. They also took two computers and Laci’s SUV from the Peterson home.
Although they did not claim Peterson was a suspect, Modesto police assigned an officer to trail him. The officer reported that Jan. 5, Peterson drove to the Berkeley Marina in a rented car, stared off into the water and then returned home.
Shortly after, police tell Laci’s family that a $250,000 life insurance policy had been taken out on her and that they thought Peterson was having an affair. Scott, who rarely spoke with the press following his wife’s disappearance, initially denied the charges but the Rocha family began distancing themselves. It wasn’t until Peterson’s mistress, Amber Frey, addressed the media that he admitted the relationship. However, Scott Peterson said his wife knew about the affair and said it was not a situation that would have driven them apart.
The other woman
Amber Frey was a 28-year-old massage therapist when she was given Peterson’s phone number by her best friend, Shawn Sibley. Sibley had met Peterson during a fertilizer conference and he reportedly asked to be set up with her friends.
Frey, a single mother, met Peterson Nov. 20 and the two began an intimate relationship that included socializing with her family and friends. Frey said he also met her toddler daughter. Frey said Peterson told her he had “lost his wife” and that the upcoming Christmas would be his first alone. .......
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Peterson case timeline
Oct. 23, 2002
Scott Peterson asks a friend, Shawn Sibley, at a fertilizer conference to be set up with a friend.
Nov. 20, 2002
Sibley gives Peterson the phone number of Amber Frey, a 28-year-old massage therapist from Fresno. Peterson tells her he is single.
Dec. 9, 2002
Frey learns Peterson is married; he tells her he lost his wife and that this is the first holiday he’ll spend as a widower. The same day, Peterson also buys a fishing boat for $1,400 cash.
Dec. 15, 2002
The last dinner Laci had with her parents, Sharon and Ron.
Dec. 23, 2002
Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, spoke with her daughter briefly by phone during the evening and told police later that she seemed fine.
Dec. 24, 2002
Laci Peterson reported missing at 5:48 p.m. by Scott after he allegedly returns from a solo fishing trip to the Berkeley Marina. He tells police he last saw his wife that morning when he left their Modesto home. Her purse and cell phone are found inside the home.
Peterson’s dog, McKenzie, was found by a neighbor wandering the streets of Modesto. The neighbor put the dog in the backyard.
By 11 p.m., three Modesto detectives search Peterson’s fertilizer storage warehouse where he kept his boat.
Dec. 26, 2002
A volunteer center is opened at the Red Lion Hotel in Modesto and thousands of flyers are circulated. A $100,000 reward is offered by friends and family and another anonymous $25,000 reward is offered through the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Award Foundation.
Dec. 30, 2002
Frey contacts police about her relationship with Peterson and agrees to secretly tape their phone conversations.
Jan. 2, 2003
Modesto police announce they suspect foul play in Laci’s disappearance and begin trying to verify Scott Peterson’s whereabouts.
Jan. 5, 2003
According to the police assigned to Peterson, he drives to the Berkeley Marina and stares out at the water for a few minutes before driving back to Modesto.
Jan. 17, 2003
Laci’s relatives say that Scott Peterson was having an affair. Police also say that he took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife. The volunteer center closes.
Jan. 24, 2003
Amber Frey confirms an affair with Scott Peterson to the media and said she did not know he was married.
Jan. 28, 2003
Peterson admits the affair with Frey but said his wife knew about it.
Feb. 5, 2003
Scott Peterson tries selling his wife’s SUV to purchase a new truck as a replacement for the one seized by police. The car dealer later returns the vehicle to her family........
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Quentin Kopp retiring, but sticking around courtroom
Article Last Updated: Saturday, January 31, 2004 - 3:39:30 AM PST
Quentin Kopp retiring, but sticking around courtroom
By Tim Hay, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY -- After five years on the bench in San Mateo County, Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp is retiring this Friday.
But his retirement is more of an administrative paper-shuffling than a substantive change -- Kopp isn't going anywhere.
The former state senator and political iconoclast has been tapped for the Assigned Judges Program, meaning he will continue to judge cases as needed, as well as help other local judges. He probably won't even have to give up his office.
"It doesn't make sense at my age to continue to contribute to the retirement system and not utilize any of the benefits," Kopp said Monday. "This gives me more flexibility.
"I love what I'm doing," he added. "I like the law, the decision-making process, the analyzing of the fine points."
Kopp is 75. He said he will likely continue to work full-time and earn 92 percent of his current salary.
Asked when and if he might really give up the judiciary, Kopp said: "I suppose there will come a day when my mind isn't functioning. But I have the untested view that the more you use your mind, the less apt you are to suffer the mental ravages of age."
Kopp picked quite a moment to retire. His courtroom will be the venue for the Scott Peterson murder trial, the biggest case San Mateo County has seen in decades. And his son, Sheppard Kopp, is working on Peterson's defense.
"I'm pleased he has the chance to participate in major cases," Kopp said.
Asked if he wished he could preside over the trial, the judge said, "Yeah, I wish I could. But I'm not qualified, because I've never tried a murder case. I wouldn't want to experiment on this one."
Several news agencies have asked him to come on board as a commentator for the duration of the trial.
Kopp will be displaced from his office while the trial goes on, but will probably return to it when everything is finished.
A fixture in the local political scene, Kopp was appointed to the bench in San Mateo County in 1999, and has been active with the grand jury and the state bar association.
Before 1999, Kopp served three terms as a state senator, first elected as an independent in 1986. ........
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Networks pushing for trial coverage
Cameras in the courtroom up to Peterson's judge
Networks pushing for trial coverage
Cameras in the courtroom up to Peterson's judge
Michael Taylor, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, February 2, 2004
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The second act of the Scott Peterson case is scheduled to open in Redwood City this morning, and the topic likely to be argued most strenuously is whether the traveling media circus will be allowed to put cameras in the courtroom for the duration of the trial.
It's a volatile issue, and both the prosecution and defense have already said they don't want the trial to be televised. But that doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen.
Court TV's chief anchor and managing editor, Fred Graham, said his network, which is the principal broadcaster of trials in the United States, will have attorneys in court today to argue on behalf of a consortium of TV powerhouses, including Court TV, CNN, NBC and CBS.
"Right now," Graham said, "it's a very muddled situation." He said no one from the network has been able to contact retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi, who was named last week to hear the case, and so it is not yet clear whether the trial will be televised or simply restricted to pen-and-pencil reporters and sketch artists.
Delucchi could decide on the issue today or could take it under advisement.
Also on the agenda will be whether still photography will be allowed in court, but experts say the debate centers on television cameras, which are seen as having far greater impact on trials. Peterson, 31, has been accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. He faces the death penalty if convicted. The case has drawn enormous attention around the country -- attention that drew a parade of satellite trucks, computers, vans, technicians, reporters and camp followers first to Modesto, to cover Laci Peterson's disappearance and the first act of the legal skirmish, Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing, and now, on a change of venue, to Redwood City for the trial itself.
And when it comes to the issue of cameras in the courtroom, the arguments are as loud on each side as they are on the issue of whether Peterson killed his wife or is not guilty.
"The benefits of having a camera present in a courtroom are considerable, " said Michael Grygiel, an Albany, N.Y., attorney who represents media clients and has had extensive experience arguing to have cameras allowed in courtrooms. The judicial process is a "branch of government that people have the right to observe directly. Cameras afford that opportunity for people who otherwise can't be present." ..........
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Posted on Sun, Feb. 01, 2004
High-stakes juggling act
LAWYER MARK GERAGOS TRYING TO WIN JACKSON, PETERSON TRIALS ALL AT ONCE
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Mercury News
Faster than Scott Peterson can be moved from Modesto to the Redwood City jail, more powerful than Michael Jackson's bodyguards, able to juggle the two highest-profile criminal cases in the country at once -- it's Mark Geragos! (Rhymes with asparagus.)
The celebrated defense lawyer is out to rescue both the notorious fertilizer salesman and the King of Pop. But he hasn't saved either one yet -- and some say this two-headed legal monster is more than even a superhero can handle, or should.
There's a chance, some say, that he can harm his clients by representing both. What if some jurors in Peterson's double-murder case are turned off by Geragos because he represents someone accused of child molestation? Or, what if some Jackson jurors are disgusted that Geragos defended a man accused of murdering his pregnant wife and her 8-month-old fetus?
Nonetheless, the ubiquitous Geragos is running full speed ahead thanks to his ability to quickly shift gears, his devoted entourage and the occasional use of a private jet.
He'll be in court Monday with Peterson for his client's first appearance in Redwood City since his case was moved out of Modesto.
When two cases collide
Michael Jackson hired Geragos nearly a year ago -- two months before Scott Peterson was arrested -- to guide him through the molestation allegations of a 14-year-old boy. But it wasn't until Nov. 18, the last day of Peterson's preliminary hearing in Modesto, that the two cases collided.
On the second floor of the Stanislaus County courthouse, above the pack of TV cameras waiting outside, the aggressive yet charming defense lawyer grilled a Modesto detective about the 241 cell phone calls between Peterson and his mistress both before and after Peterson's wife, Laci, disappeared on Dec. 24, 2002.
But in the midst of his cross-examination, Geragos suddenly felt a buzz on his hip. It was his pager.
He glanced at the text message: Police were searching Neverland Ranch. Michael Jackson was in trouble. He needed Mark Geragos.
Within hours of the judge binding Peterson over for trial that day -- and a quick news conference in front of the Modesto courthouse -- Geragos was on a plane to Santa Barbara County, then another to Las Vegas for a late-night meeting with Jackson to arrange his surrender. The next morning, footage of Geragos accompanying Michael Jackson into the sheriff's office was beamed around the world.
``I suppose it was hectic, going from one public spectacle to another,'' Geragos said in an interview with the Mercury News outside a Modesto courtroom the day Peterson was moved from Modesto to Redwood City. ``I try to divorce myself from the circus that surrounds this and focus on the legal issues.''
It's hard to find a lawyer who can recall anyone other than Geragos ever taking on two such high-profile cases at the same time.
``It's pretty unusual,'' said Robert Philibosian, a former Los Angeles County district attorney who directed the prosecution in the Hillside Strangler case. ``In the O.J. Simpson case that I covered for ABC, we had a dozen defense attorneys running around. They were all concentrating on one case at one time. Of course it was the O.J. case.''........
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First hearing scheduled for today
Article Last Updated: Monday, February 02, 2004 - 3:39:59 AM PST
First hearing scheduled for today
By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY -- Deciding his own fate as the presiding judge in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial is one of many decisions Judge Alfred Delucchi will make in today's highly-anticipated hearing.
Delucchi, a retired Alameda County jurist, was appointed to the case last week by Chief Justice Ronald George of the California Supreme Court.
Delucchi replaced another retired judge, Contra Costa County's Richard Arnason, who was disqualified from the case by the prosecution.
The judge's fate will rest in his own hands because of a motion filed by Peterson's defense attorney, Mark Geragos. Geragos argues that the prosecution's disqualification of Arnason was filed too late to be valid. Delucchi is expected to deny the defense's motion and remain on the bench. Scott Peterson, 31, is on trial for the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, and the couple's unborn son. Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, and her body and the body of the unborn child washed ashore in Richmond four months later. Peterson has pleaded innocent to both counts of murder, and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
If Delucchi denies the defense's motion and keeps himself on the case, he will set a date for the beginning of pre-trial motions. Both sides have recommended that further hearings be delayed until Feb. 17. Geragos filed a motion Friday requesting a continuance because of another murder trial he is working on in Pasadena.
Delucchi will also decide whether to grant a request by Geragos that the jury be sequestered. Sequestering a jury -- or keeping them under guard to shield them from outside influences -- is extremely rare, and attorneys who have tried cases before Delucchi say he is unlikely to do so.
The judge will also determine if cameras will be allowed in the courtroom. In previous death-penalty trials on which Delucchi has presided, he has allowed cameras, but only for important trial stages like the reading of the verdict.
Another issue to be decided today is whether a questionnaire should be submitted to County citizens to determine if a fair trial can be had here. The trial was moved to Redwood City after a Stanislaus County judge ruled Peterson could not receive a fair trial in Modesto.
Defense attorney Geragos wrote in a motion filed last week that he will file two more motions this week requesting Peterson's statements to the media be excluded from evidence. Peterson granted interviews in which he acknowledged having an affair with a Fresno woman named Amber Frey........
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Peterson Case To Start With A Flurry Of Legal Motions
Peterson Case To Start With A Flurry Of Legal Motions
POSTED: 7:35 PM PST February 1, 2004
UPDATED: 10:18 PM PST February 1, 2004
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's double-murder case goes to court Monday with lawyers for both sides planning to discuss a series of legal issues, including the choice of a judge, whether to sequester future jurors and even a possible delay owing to another murder trial.
Though it will be the first formal court date in the highly anticipated trial, the session will likely be more about procedures than bombshell revelations in the case of the former fertilizer salesman accused of killing his pregnant wife.
Peterson, 31, could face the death penalty if he's convicted of two counts of murder for the deaths of Laci Peterson and their unborn son. In April, their remains washed ashore two miles from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing on Christmas Eve 2002 when his wife vanished.
The case was moved from Modesto, the Central Valley town where the couple lived, because of publicity, but the trial is still drawing extraordinary attention. Reporters have descended on this San Mateo County bedroom community, and county officials have opened a media center about a block from the courthouse and asked television stations to pay $51,000 to reserve a sidewalk spot next to the building.
Since the trial is expected to take as long as six months, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George appointed retired Alameda County Judge Alfred A. Delucchi to oversee the case, but even the identity of the judge is a point of contention.
Another retired judge, Richard Arnason, was initially appointed to hear the case, but prosecutors exercised their right to challenge the selection and require another choice.
But Peterson defense attorney Mark Geragos insists that prosecutors did not properly file their demands to remove Arnason, and Geragos has vowed to dispute the prosecution challenge.
Among the other motions expected to be discussed Monday are whether to sequester jurors and whether the trial should be postponed because defense lawyer Mark Geragos is due in court in Los Angeles County on Tuesday in the case of accused murderer Brett Williams.....
(Excerpt) Read more at smdailyjournal.org ...
Did O.J. kill this ? (pun intended)
Because he (the Judge) can't charge us like he is OBSCENELY doing to the press ??!!!!
I am totally disgusted with Garagos...lawyers in general...politicians...pundants...and adolescent millionaires on half time shows.
ROFLMAO!!!
LOL, thanks for my laugh for the day!
Just learning how to do this... remembering Laci and Connor, they will never be forgotten!!!
You made a perfect first choice of pictures. Poignant. Bittersweet.
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