John Linley Frazier killed five people in Santa Cruz in 1970 and was sentenced to death. Chronicle file photo, 1971, by Peter Brenig
Posted on 02/09/2004 5:25:36 AM PST by runningbear
Two men face murder trials for deaths of pregnant wives
Article Last Updated: Friday, February 06, 2004 - 3:36:15 AM PST
Two men face murder trials for deaths of pregnant wives One gets headlines around the world; the other is largely ignored
By Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY -- Deep inside the Maguire Correctional Facility, a man accused of killing his pregnant wife and unborn child sits waiting for his day in court.
His name is not Scott Peterson.
But like Peterson, he is in his 30s, has dark hair, and will stand trial for multiple counts of murder. Unlike Peterson, when Eddie Rapoza goes on trial -- possibly for his life -- the national media will probably continue to ignore him.
Despite the intriguingly close parallels to the Peterson case, the Rapoza case has failed to capture America's imagination -- in part, some say, because there simply was not enough mystery.
Rapoza, 36, is charged with driving his seven-months-pregnant wife and 4-year-old daugh-ter off a Moss Beach cliff and into the ocean, 150 feet below.
Raye Rapoza, 34, and her unborn child died at the scene. The couple's daughter, Tehani, died eight days later. Rapoza is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20 to have a trial date set, and to see if the prosecution will seek the death penalty.
Meanwhile, the Peterson case is beginning in the same courthouse, under the watchful eyes of media from around the world.
Laci Peterson, eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve of 2002. By the time police found her body -- and that of her unborn son -- more than four months later, images of Laci's pretty, smiling face had been broadcast to living rooms across the country. The fact of her death was undeniable, but the cause of her death remained unknown.
By contrast, the Rapoza deaths came instantly. Investigators reported the blue Dodge minivan, driven by Eddie Rapoza, went over the cliff at Bernal Avenue in Moss Beach at 50 miles per hour. Witnesses reported that Raye Rapoza was still wearing her seatbelt, her head underwater, by the time she was pulled from the van.
There was no need for "missing" posters or search teams for Raye Rapoza. And aside from her name, age, and the fact that she was pregnant, media reports offered little information about the dead mother.
Unlike the Peterson case, there has never been much mystery with Rapoza -- except why the deaths happened. The prosecution contends Eddie Rapoza had accused his wife of being unfaithful and intentionally drove the van off the cliff; Rapoza, who has pleaded not guilty, says his foot stuck on the accelerator, which had been adjusted for his wife.
**America loves a mystery,** said Gabriel, who has worked on the O.J. Simpson, Heidi Fleiss, and Whitewater trials. The missing-person phenomenon of Laci Peterson riveted the nation, Gabriel said, and was compounded by the fact the missing person was a mother-to-be who disappeared on Christmas Eve.
**Look at the initial images,** Gabriel said. **The candlelight vigils, neighborhood searches, the divers in the Bay. That makes for very evocative copy.** ........
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Peterson judge to decide whether to sequester jury Isolating jurors increases their stress level
Peterson judge to decide whether to sequester jury Isolating jurors increases their stress level
Stacy Finz, Diana Walsh, Chronicle Staff Writers
Monday, February 9, 2004
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They were sequestered for 9 1/2 months during the Charles Manson trial.
Two of the 18 jurors -- both married -- had an affair, another had a heart attack and another got divorced.
"We didn't leave as enemies," said 77-year-old William Zamora, one of the 12 people who convicted the cult leader of murder and later wrote "Trial by Your Peers." "But we didn't leave friends."
Zamora said he felt like a prisoner. Television was forbidden. Reading materials were censored, and guards were posted outside each juror's door. Christmas was spent in the hotel.
But after all that, he still thinks juries on high-profile cases like the Scott Peterson trial should be sequestered.
"There are always the people who want to corner you to talk about it, even though you're not supposed to talk about it," he said. "So even though you have to eat, dream and live with the same people morning, noon and night, it's a good idea."
Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, also thinks it's a good idea. He has asked that the jurors chosen to decide the fate of his 31-year-old client be shut off from the world and focus solely on the trial. Peterson is accused of murdering his 27-year-old pregnant wife, Laci, and the couple's fetus. Prosecutors, who are seeking a death sentence for Peterson, have said they want no part of sequestering the jury.
Neither side is talking about the issue because they are under a court- imposed order not to discuss the case. But whether to sequester the jury is one of the topics expected to come up during a hearing today in Redwood City, where Peterson's trial has been moved from Modesto because of all the media attention. And the court will probably have to decide before the lawyers start picking a jury for the case, projected to ........
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Sensationalism's old hat at Peterson case venue Redwood City court has long history of notorious cases
Kelly St. John, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
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John Linley Frazier killed five people in Santa Cruz in 1970 and was sentenced to death. Chronicle file photo, 1971, by Peter Brenig
Joe Hunt acted as his own lawyer in the Billionaire Boys Club case and spent $3 million of county money in preparations. Associated Press File Photo, 1984
Cameron Hooker admitted kidnapping the woman whom he was charged with keeping as a sex slave for seven years. UPI File Photo, 1985
The spectacle of the moment in Redwood City -- the trial of a fertilizer salesman accused of killing his pregnant wife at Christmas -- is the latest in a long line of lurid, bizarre or gripping sagas to unfold in San Mateo County Superior Court over the years.
There is the sick tale of the sex slave, locked in a box, kept captive for seven years. And the sad story of the millionaire's bastard daughter, banished to a Kansas City convent by her father's new wife.
It was in Redwood City that Billionaire Boys Club founder Joe Hunt -- acting as his own lawyer -- dodged a murder charge. And it was there, in the nation's first repressed-memory case, that a daughter said her father smashed a little girl's skull 20 years before.
Toss in Barry Bonds' bitter divorce, and the time a killer came to court with half his head and beard and one eyebrow shaved off, and this is clear: If courtroom walls could talk, then Redwood City's would have a lot to say.
"Every court case is fascinating. There's emotion. There's drama. There's suspense," said San Mateo County District Attorney James Fox, who has been with the office since 1970, before Scott Peterson was even born. "It's interesting the Laci Peterson case has generated another frenzy. But this isn't the only high-visibility change-of-venue case we've seen."
Coincidentally, two of the most infamous cases connected to the county were not tried here.
Patty Hearst was jailed in San Mateo County, but ..........
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Is Geragos going to seek new venue for Peterson?
Is Geragos going to seek new venue for Peterson?
By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: February 8, 2004, 08:13:44 AM PST
The list of oddities in the Peterson double-murder trial could grow, if his defense attorney asks for the trial to be moved again and gets his wish.
Most lawyers are more than happy if a judge agrees to move a high-profile trial out of town. But Scott Peterson's Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos continues to hint about asking for a move to Southern California -- even after having persuaded a judge to move the trial from Modesto to San Mateo County, on the San Francisco Peninsula.
"It's really unprecedented," said Ohio-based trial consultant Daniel Young.
Several people in the legal community could not recall a case in which a defendant sought -- much less obtained -- two venue changes.
"I'm not aware of any," said Gerald Uelmen, a criminal procedure specialist at Santa Clara University School of Law who was on O.J. Simpson's defense team.
Lynn Holton, spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts in California, said her office's records don't go back far enough to determine if it has happened. How-ever, "you could say that it is unusual," Holton said.
Peterson, 31, faces the death penalty if convicted of slaying his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. A judge, citing massive local publicity, last month agreed to move the trial to San Mateo County.
But Geragos never budged from his pro-Los Angeles position. News reports last week of a defense-sponsored poll attempting to gauge potential jurors' attitudes in San Mateo County suggest that Geragos could be trying to line up data supporting a southward push.
Some legal experts think that would be a long shot.
"It's one thing to say, 'Take it from the area where the crime occurred,'" said Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University of Southern California and former Justice Department trial attorney. "But it's unlikely a judge would move it from another area where the crime didn't occur."
If attorneys were allowed to shop endlessly for advantages, the system would spin into "a big mess," said University of San Francisco School of Law Professor Robert Talbot. "It's just a hard road to go down."
Ramon Magana, a Modesto defense attorney who twice succeeded in moving high-profile murder cases, said he never second-guessed either judge's selection of a new locale. In both cases, he already had polled attitudes in other counties; until a few days ago, Geragos' pollster questioned Stanislaus County residents only.
"We did our homework well in advance," Magana said.
Polluting jury pool
Geragos might run a risk by polling potential jurors in San Mateo County, Young said........
something to fodder article
California's Death By Zip Code
California's Death By Zip Code
POSTED: 2:39 PM PST February 8, 2004
UPDATED: 4:37 PM PST February 8, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO -- California now has 638 inmates awaiting death, some of them for more than one murder. It adds up to 645 death sentences -- roughly one for every 54,700 current residents.
But some of the state's counties have condemned many more inmates than others of similar size, according to an Associated Press review of Corrections Department data.
While many counties issue roughly the same numbers of death sentences per capita, the disparities between some are so pronounced that legal experts say capital punishment is being unfairly doled out in California.
The reasons are complex -- for one, crimes happen more frequently in some places than others. But prosecutorial zeal and the attitudes of jurors also are factors. The bottom line, according to the data, is that death penalty sometimes depends on where the crime was committed.
"Capital punishment should not depend on an accident of geography," said defense attorney Robert Sanger, who prepared a lengthy analysis of California's death penalty system in the current issue of Santa Clara Law Review.
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The Cost Of Death In California
For the past 19 years Kevin Cooper has maintained his innocence through countless legal challenges and appeals.
The lengthy battle has been a matter of life and death for the convicted killer. But for the taxpayers, it's been a matter of the harsh economic reality of California justice.
A KTVU analysis shows the price tag run up during the lifespan of a death row inmate runs into the millions of dollars. In Cooper's case his own web site says his legal expenses have totaled $10 million.
More
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Similar geographical disparities are apparent nationwide, and not just at the county level. Texas, for example, has executed 317 people in the modern era, while California has put just 10 to death.
The death penalty is getting renewed scrutiny in California, where Tuesday's scheduled lethal injection of Kevin Cooper, who was sentenced for hacking four people to death, will be the state's first execution in two years.
Often, the debate focuses on questions about race, the reliability of evidence and even arguments about cruel and unusual punishment -- all issues raised by Cooper's defenders. And like other states, California's death row is disproportionately black.
Statewide, about 39 percent of inmates awaiting execution are .........
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(Excerpt) Read more at theargusonline.com ...
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