Posted on 11/17/2004 5:34:03 AM PST by runningbear
As Peterson's lawyer prepares for penalty phase, he also faces ethics attack
As he tries to save Scott Peterson from death row, Mark Geragos may have another worry: disciplinary action from the California bar.
On Friday, the same day a Redwood City jury convicted Peterson of capital murder, a Florida civil lawyer mailed a formal complaint against Geragos to the state bar alleging the high-profile Los Angeles attorney violated ethical rules with the display of a fishing boat near the courthouse during deliberations.
The lawyer, John Thompson, is not connected to the Peterson case and learned of the boat only though media coverage. The bar, however, accepts complaints from anyone who purports to know of wrongdoing by attorneys regardless of their relationship, or lack of one, to the case at hand.
Thompson, whose practice focuses on indecency claims, asserted in the complaint that, by placing the boat in a parking lot Geragos owned a block and a half from the courthouse, the defense attorney broke a bar rule prohibiting lawyers from contact with jurors.
Story continues ........
No end to sense of loss
Penalty phase of trial introduces dark chapter for families in legal battle
REDWOOD CITY — It's one of the most difficult periods for parents to endure. Waiting to address their child's killer in court and learn his fate, or waiting to know whether their offspring will be sentenced to death.
Laci Peterson's family is now in that tumultuous period; knowing the man convicted of murdering her and her unborn son will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Scott Peterson's loved ones are now praying for his life.
"I don't know how the Petersons get through it," said Ron Grantski, longtime companion to Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha. "They don't have near the support we do, and it's hell for us."
With testimony scheduled to begin Monday in ........
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OAKLAND, CALIF. – From the moment last April when Scott Peterson was taken into custody on charges that he murdered his pregnant wife, legal analysts feared that the overwhelming media coverage would shape the final verdict. Now, it is becoming clear that it almost certainly did - but in a way that few expected.
The question of whether round-the-clock scrutiny by television shows and newspapers influence juries is as open and nebulous as ever. What the Peterson trial has shown - in a way that perhaps no other trial has shown before - is that the made-for-TV vigils and talk-show interviews generated by high- profile cases can of themselves become evidence that determines a case........
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Stanislaus Co. lawyers get high marks for victory
REDWOOD CITY -- It was a classic come-from-behind, underdog story, done to death in Hollywood cinema but rarely seen played out in real life.
When Stanislaus County prosecutors came out of the courtroom after reaching two successful guilty verdicts in the Scott Peterson double murder trial Friday, they were cheered like rock stars by the crowd waiting outside.
But as Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton told reporters, "it's not over yet." The punishment for Peterson, which includes the possibility of the death penalty, still remains for jurors to decide.
However, it is hard not to believe that the prosecuting team did not share some of the same feelings expressed by Howard Varinsky, the trial consultant who helped prosecutors pick jurors and said on television afterward, "I feel vindicated.".......
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Laci and Conner's saving grace
When a California jury convicted Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner, on Friday, the celebrity trial that involved no celebrities came to a pleasing, if overdue, end. Any double-murder trial is serious business, but at times it seemed as if the five-month ordeal played out like a bad soap opera. That said, we disagree with Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, who told USA Today that the trial "doesn't have any inherent significance" and was "just a tabloid tale." In fact, the reverberations of the Peterson trial began nearly a year ago and will be felt for some time..........
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Jurors' lives back to normal for now
Panel takes a break before penalty phase of the trial begins.
REDWOOD CITY -- The 12 jurors who convicted former Modesto fertilizer salesman Scott Peterson on two murder charges have a week to themselves between the guilt and penalty phases of the trial.
And though they are still under judge's orders not to seek any outside information about the trial -- the subject of intense national attention -- or even discuss it outside the jury box, they are expected to spend the next few days returning to their normal lives.
But avoiding news about the trial may be difficult for the jury, which had been sequestered from Nov. 3 until last Friday. .........
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Guilt Beyond a Visceral Doubt?:
Questioning the Verdict in the Scott Peterson Capital Murder Case
Lawyers call it the "Friday factor" -- jurors' inclination to come to a verdict on Friday afternoons. It's unscientific but powerful, and it seemed to be at work on Friday, November 12. That afternoon, one particular jury -- sequestered and sworn to decide the fate of double-murder defendant Scott Peterson -- surprised the nation by announcing it had reached a verdict.
As readers very probably know, Peterson, now 32 years old, was charged with the murders of his wife, Laci, and his unborn son.
The case had been submitted to the jury nine days earlier. But that didn't mean the jurors had deliberated for nine days. Instead, a very unusual turn in the case, two of the original deliberating jurors had been unceremoniously ousted and replaced by alternates during .......
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Next step: the sentencing
Jurors to be put through wringer in penalty phase
REDWOOD CITY -- After jurors announced a guilty verdict last Friday, the focus on the Scott Peterson murder trial has shifted to the penalty phase.
Beginning next Monday, jurors will tackle the difficult task of deciding whether Peterson deserves the death penalty for killing his wife Laci and unborn son Conner nearly two years ago. And in contrast to the more detailed, lengthy guilt phase, the final penalty stage of the trial should be a more emotional experience for all involved.
"The evidence is not so much factual as it is emotional.........
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Geragos faces complaint over "boat stunt"
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - A Florida attorney has filed a complaint against Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, for parking a replica of his client's fishing boat two blocks from the courthouse last week.
In a complaint filed Friday with the California Bar Association, attorney John B. Thompson accuses Geragos of trying to "engage in nonverbal communication" with jurors deliberating Peterson's guilt.
"I believe (Geragos) violated the bar rules. I think he went over the line," said Thompson, who has filed complaints against radio "shock jocks," graphic rap music and violent video games. "When Geragos acts like a jackass, it hurts not just lawyers, it hurts the legal system in this country."
Last week, Geragos displayed the open boat, which contained several homemade concrete anchors and a dummy in coveralls with duct-taped extremities, on a parking lot he owns in Redwood ........
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Peterson Likely Planning Appeal
Even though Scott Peterson still hasn't learned what his sentence is for killing his wife and her fetus, it's likely he and his family are already planning an appeal.
There are several issues an appellate court could review in deciding whether to reverse or affirm the guilty verdict. CBS 5 legal analyst Judge LaDoris Cordell says one of the most common reasons verdicts are reversed are mistakes in the jury instructions.......
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Few changes for Scott after verdict
REDWOOD CITY -- On the day his life changed forever, Scott Peterson's routine remained exactly the same.
"He just waits," said Undersheriff Greg Munks.
Shortly after the verdict was read, Peterson was shackled and led to the fourth floor of the San Mateo County courthouse and across a gangway to Maguire Correctional Facility.
It is where he has resided for the past eight months and where he will stay for the next several weeks, alone with his conscience ........
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PINGING....posting some legal news bits on varies aspects from the trial/case.
PINGING....posting some legal news bits on varies aspects from the trial/case.
PINGING....posting some legal news bits on various aspects from the trial/case.
Is "John Thompson" Jack Thompson?
John Thompson? This can't be the same John Thompson nutcase that used to terrorize various FReepers (with his idiotic threats to sue a FReeper for laughing at his ignorance) back in the Klinton years?
I had that same thought yesterday, unknown or unverified as far as I know. I am sure a freeper will post is he or ??? ;o)
good thing I missed that. I don't know, possible!
IF you know you will lose a case, the next best thing is to sabotoge your own case to make your client's appeal stronger. maybe.
That guy was my former Sunday School teacher...
Morning, runningbear. Thanks for the ping.
Question that may have already been asked/answered but I've been off for a few days.
Regarding the appeals process: Does the state of California cover the costs for an appeal? Because I would think the Petersons et al. are totally tapped out and have no financial resources left at their disposal? And I wonder if Geragos will be the atty that handles the appeal? Anyone heard?
For all you long time freepers, Bat Jack has made the news again.
California will cover the costs of the appeal -- if he is indigent. But if he is indigent, he SHOULD only get someone from the public defender's appellate division to represent him. In any event, Geragross would have to collaborate somewhat, but someone else should write the brief, whatever the money situation. Geragross is a trial attorney, not an appellate one.
Now, what's-his-name, convicted murderer Donald West...(?) ran out of money mid-trial and -- though they tried to keep it quiet -- California let him keep and started paying for his fancy-smancy lawyer. They paid a bundle.
But since Scott in not in the middle of trial or middle of the appeal, California hopefully (& I would think so) would not agree to continue to pay Geragross.
However, since this case is so high profile I would not be surprised if California agreed to pay for a fancy private lawyer.
Don't be surprised if Geragos tries his hand at being an appellate lawyer after failing miserably at being a trial lawyer.
Thanks for all the pings, runningbear. Sure have appreciated your day to day reporting!
Thompson also tried to put himself right in the middle of the Elian Gonzales case.
Thank you very much, Amore, for a very thorough explanation!
sw
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