The Changing Tide in the Defense Of Scott Peterson:

Findlaw.com ^ | June 10, 2003 | Jonna M. Spilbor

[DB]

http://www.fallenwall.org/kds.html

[Mr. Bird]

The odds of that are astronomical

Well, they go down a bit when the location is a popular recreation spot as well as an ideal place for anyone to dump a body. I'm not saying he didn't do it, but a defense attorney could probably walk that off. Of course, if he had never been there before that particular day (I don't know), I tend to agree with you.

[DB]

It isn't a "popular recreation spot" on Christmas Eve.

Very few murders involve dumping the body hours a way from where they are taken.

The Modesto area has lots of irrigation ponds and canals to dump somebody in. You don't have to drive far to find a "good" spot.

Again, the odds of being at a particular distant location the day your wife disappears, hours from her home, where she is later found dead is astronomically against.

[MEG33]

I'm with you on that.I think the death penalty was invoked because of two deaths?

[afraidfortherepublic]

She is 6'1" tall, weighing approximately 145 lbs., with brown eyes and long blond or possibly dyed brunette hair.

Roxanne Smart is reminiscent in facial appearance and body type to Amber Frey. Scott may have a "thing" about tall blondes, and his involvement with Laci was just an anomoly. (How's that for wild conjecture?)

[norton]

About finding a "good spot"

Remember that the body was found weeks afterward, very near shore or on it, and the site had been in the news for the entire time.

I don't know if SP is guilty or not but if I were looking for a place to dump a body it would very likely be someplace the papers and internet had associated directly to another suspect.

Regarding an earlier post and FOX news; I'm still watching FOX but the thirty or so minutes each hour of "Laci and her family" coverage is prime time to accomplish other tasks.

[xJones]

Lanza, you are setting a bad example. If you apologize for spelling and grammar errors, all the rest of us sinners should do so, and there isn't enough time or bandwidth for that. :)

[DB]

I was thinking the same thing...

Just didn't want to say it...

[RGSpincich]

Are you hearing me, FOX?

Dave's not here.

[MizSterious]

"all-Laci, all the time"

Sure beats the heck out of "All Hillary! all the time" coverage. If I have to hear that fingernails-across-the-blackboard voice just one more time, I think I'll have to get earplugs, or sew my ears shut, or something. A pox (monkey or any other kind) on her book, and all this coverage.

[Velveeta]

Nice to see you!

[RGSpincich]

but if I were looking for a place to dump a body it would very likely be someplace the papers and internet had associated directly to another suspect.

If it were you...

Quite clever the way you were able to remove the internal organs and open the torso without leaving signs of cutting instruments being used. And that unbelievably believable decomposition job you did was classic, must be that xlarge salt water aquarium you have. One question, did you induce labor and keep the baby frozen until placing it in Richmond? Or was he left inside Laci in the aquarium? And how did you keep the water chilled in the aquarium to the same temperature as the bay waters? /major s

[Jackie-O]

Hi Vel! I've been swamped at work now that the kids are out..have many crews in my building, lots of demolition, rebuilding, etc..
I'll be on and off for the next couple of weeks at work, at home, I'll surely be on.
I was very sadened at the interview with Sharon, Ron, and Amy last night. My heart just shattered for them...

[Devil_Anse]

Thank you, runningbear!

As soon as I started reading this article, I saw "Geragos" and then I saw numbers. I said, uh-oh, it figures, we've got a Clintonista at the helm of the defense, so suddenly statistics have become very important!

Clintonistas like Geragos love statistics b/c statistics can always be falsely manipulated.

I SWEAR, why do people like Geragos and the rest of the Clinton butt-kissers constantly harp on statistics? ("He'th the motht loved prethident ever... 98% of women in America want him to come to their houthe... blah blah blah.") I NEVER believed their B.S. "high approval ratings" that they harped on and harped on, all through the Lewinsky-Clinton b.j. scandal.

Now Geragos will put out non-news such as: "95% think he's innocent", or some such nonsense. You wait. Already they are putting out statistics that purport to "show that Geragos has made a difference." And what would it matter if 95% thought him innocent, if one had the evidence and was as informed as possible about the matter, and had concluded he was not innocent? (I'm talking about jurors.)

There's just no way to trust statistics!! Mark Twain was totally right about statistics!

Why the HELL is it that statistics influence people?? I mean, even if 98% of women in America HAD wanted The Rapist to come to their house wearing only a G-string, for heaven's sake, it wouldn't have made him look any better to anyone who gave it the slightest bit of independent thought!

[Devil_Anse]

Good post! And remember, other than eyewitness testimony--and possibly a very reliable confession--virtually all evidence used in such cases is going to be circumstantial, even blood evidence.

And as for confessions, a general, widely-found principle of criminal procedure is that you cannot convict a man on his confession alone. There must be corroborating evidence. That this is a rule in most places tells us that confessions can be quite unreliable.

(If you think about it, what, really, is a confession, but eyewitness testimony from someone who says he was there? Someone who confesses is saying he is both an eyewitness and a participant.)

[Velveeta]

Judge faces subpoena in Laci Peterson case

By John Coté
The Modesto Bee
(Published Tuesday, June 10, 2003, 6:09 AM)


MODESTO -- One of Scott Peterson's attorneys said Monday he has subpoenaed a Superior Court judge to get information about wiretaps used by investigators probing the disappearance of Laci Peterson.
The move comes after it was revealed Friday that no court reporter was present during meetings between Judge Wray Ladine, a prosecutor and an investigator about the wiretaps.

"I don't know how else you get that information other than doing it this way," defense attorney Kirk McAllister said.

District Attorney James Brazelton is seeking the death penalty against Peterson, 30, for allegedly killing his wife and unborn son.

The absence of a court reporter at the meetings also raised legal questions about the wiretaps, said several defense attorneys not affiliated with the case.

State law requires a court reporter to be present during all court proceedings in capital cases. Prosecutors contend the law applies only to proceedings that take place after a criminal complaint is filed or a grand jury is convened for an indictment.

That hadn't occurred when the wiretap meetings took place.

McAllister said he issued the subpoena Monday and that it likely would be served today.

Defense attorneys also have asked to question prosecutor Rick Distaso and the investigator who supervised the wiretaps, Steve Jacobson.

Ladine, contacted by phone Monday night, said he was unaware of a subpoena and declined to comment. California's judicial canon forbids judges from commenting publicly about proceedings pending in any court.

Peterson was arrested April 18. He has pleaded innocent, and the defense has vowed to find the "real killers." Lead defense attorney Mark Geragos is alleging the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office engaged in "grave prosecutorial misconduct" after authorities intercepted 71 calls between Peterson and McAllister or his investigator.

The defense might seek to have the District Attorney's Office removed from the case over the wiretap issue, according to documents they filed in court.

Prosecutors maintain that investigators listened to less than two minutes of total calls and that the wiretaps were consistent with state and federal law.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/6934121p-7869372c.html

_____________

I hope the prosecution has plenty of evidence *without* the tapes. It appears that the defense is trying their best to have the tapes thrown out.

[cherry]

"My armchair expertise tells me that there better be forensic evidence, because simply being a cheat without an airtight alibi shouldn't be grounds for conviction of murder."

if you also knew that the bodies show up exactly where the suspect had said he would be, would that make the case better?....

[Velveeta]

The interview was indeed a heartbreaker.

[Helms]

Scott Peterson may be a one man Satanic Cult. By the way who is paying Geragos?

[Devil_Anse]

Right you are!!