Judge keeps Peterson hearing open

CNN.com/Law center ^ | August 14, 2003

[Yaelle]

Gives Peterson lots of time to experiment with new dyes and hairdo's!!

I would like to hear John Douglas's comments on this behavior of Scaughty's. No doubt it points to extreme narcissism, to a pathological point.

He planned to kill his wife Dec. 24 -- he got the Mailbox the day before. So of course that evening before he does the deed, he thinks "Gotta look good for the local papers tomorrow when I play the distraught hubby of a missing wife!" and goes to get his hair cut, with Laci, by her sister.

He gets to the jail with his preppy outfit and chlorinated towhead, and the first thing he asks them is not "May I make a phone call?" but "Can I get a haircut?" After all, the press will be taking pictures.

And since being incarcerated he has tried more hairstyles than Tori Spelling.

It's all about the Scott. He will still be wanting a blowdry as they inject him with the deadly shot.

[Canadian Outrage]

You nailed it!! I totally agree with you last three posts!!

[Yaelle]

Thanks, C.O. I wish we could see the monster's face as the witnesses testify at the prelim but we still have a chance to in trial, and we can't risk Geragos winning on a technicality. The thought of Scott out golfing like OJ makes me shudder.

[Sandylapper]

I wonder sometimes, if Peterson has really realized that it is a distinct possibility that he may be found guilty and either sentenced to death or Life in Prison without the possibility of parole - EVER!!

I seriously doubt it, but I think Lee and Jackie know the gravity of the situation.

Another thing I saw on CTV today--there seemed to be consensus that prosecution should have gone the grand jury route vs. the prelim. At this point, I think I agree. What about you?

[Devil_Anse]

In the judge's order giving his reasons for barring cameras, I believe he said something like 21 seats for media. The stuff is posted on this thread somewhere. It was posted by runningbear.

[Yaelle]

That's a significant amount. There will be steep competition for the best and the fastest coverage. If we have to use the media, it's good to keep them on their toes. We here at Laci Central will soon know which bread has the butter.

[Devil_Anse]

Some of those talking heads seem quite certain that the judge won't continue it again. Meanwhile, the prosecution will be hustling to get the discovery to Geragos, and will be assuring the judge that they have complied. I think they are complying. So I think the judge will take their side on the question of whether another continuance is needed. So I don't think it will be continued again.

[Devil_Anse]

Also, it's standard operating procedure for a different judge to hear the trial, than the one who hears the preliminary. Part of this comes from the idea that a judge who has heard part (but not all) of the evidence, might become sort of "tainted", as far as being impartial during the actual trial. I mean, at the end of the hearing, Judge Girolami (is that his name?) will have to rule: "Yes, there's enough evidence for now", or "No, I'm dismissing this." Once he's stuck his neck out that far, how could he then hear the trial?

So the thing should proceed on to a new judge after the preliminary. (Assuming it's not dismissed... fat chance.) SO, if YOU were Judge Girolami, wouldn't YOU be likely to deny a continuance, b/c granting one would mean this mess would STILL stay on your docket; denying a continuance means BYE-BYE to it!

[Devil_Anse]

You said it! His preoccupation with his hair is beyond bizarre. Remember, when this first happened, he was seen (when they could catch up with him) only with the cap and THE SIDES OF HIS HEAD WERE SHAVED. So none of his hair could be seen on TV. Obviously, it must have been Amy who did that haircut with the shaved sides.

It's as though he had it cut that way on purpose, in the hope that if he were filmed, Amber wouldn't recognize him. And as you say, he did it the very night before he first hit "the big time" by reporting his wife missing that next afternoon.

Did you ever read Clinton's mother's book? It's a fairly thin book. You wouldn't believe how much time she spent in that book, talking about her personal physical attributes. I mean, she spent, I think, most or all of the first chapter talking about her eyebrows, and her eyebrow makeup.

As you say, a sort of pathological narcissism. I see that similarity btw her and Scott. The preoccupation with "how do I look".

Have you ever had the misfortune to make an offhand comment to a narcissist about his/her looks? I mean, one can make the most GENERAL, INNOCUOUS comment, and the narcissist will absolutely STICK on that point until they've squeezed every shade of meaning out of what you said. It's SO important to them.

[Devil_Anse]

Heaven help any of them if their cellphone rings while in the courtroom. It sounds like this Judge Girolami can remember the days when everyone wasn't surgically attached to a cellphone, and when cameras weren't everywhere. He's probably one of those judges who has a sign on his door saying, "ANYONE BRINGING A CELLPHONE INTO THIS COURT WILL BE SHOT", or something like that.

Yes, when the reporters start reporting, I imagine we'll be getting as many reviews of their styles as we get recaps, on these threads. I even imagine there might be heated arguments with proponents for this reporter, opposing proponents of that reporter. Oh, well, in the midst of it all, we'll get all the tidbits from the testimony.

[Devil_Anse]

Yaelle, wouldn't it be just spectacular is they actually found the skull or one of the missing limbs, WHILE the preliminary or the trial was going on??

[Velveeta]

PROSECUTORS HYPNOTIZE LACI LOOKALIKE

By HOWARD BREUER and DAVID K. LI

---

August 20, 2003 -- The prosecution in the Laci Peterson murder case hypnotized a dog walker who resembles her in hopes of poking holes in husband Scott Peterson's defense, sources told The Post yesterday.
Cops believe Scott murdered Laci last Christmas Eve, before driving her body to Berkeley, Calif., and dumping it into San Francisco Bay. The defense has claimed witnesses spotted the pregnant woman walking her dog in Modesto at the time Scott Peterson allegedly murdered her.

To cut off the defense, prosecutors hope to show those witnesses were mistaking dog-walking Modesto resident Kristen Dempewolf, 34, for Laci, sources told The Post.

Both women were at about the same stage of pregnancy on Christmas Eve. Dempewolf delivered her baby at a Modesto hospital in early January - around the same time Laci Peterson would have given birth to son Conner.

Dempewolf's name surfaced on Monday, when unsealed court documents listed her - misspelled as "Deppenwolf" - as a witness interviewed under hypnosis. Investigators hypnotized Dempewolf so she could specifically recall when and where she was walking her dog on Christmas Eve, sources said.


Prosecutors need to discredit witnesses who reported seeing Laci walking her dog on Dec. 24 so they can defend their theory that Scott killed Laci in their home "on or about and between" Dec. 23 and 24 and dumped her body near San Francisco.

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/3670.htm

[Devil_Anse]

WOW!!! Thanks, Vel!!

I think the prosecution deliberately misspelled her name in that document b/c they knew it would be released, and they hoped to give her a few more days of freedom from the mobbing press. LOL! Needless to say, as soon as Sandylapper pointed out that name in the pleadings, I was looking it up on Anywho.com--and finding absolutely nothing, since the name was misspelled.

[Sandylapper]

Prosecutors need to discredit witnesses who reported seeing Laci walking her dog on Dec. 24 so they can defend their theory that Scott killed Laci in their home "on or about and between" Dec. 23 and 24 and dumped her body near San Francisco.

Thanks a million, Vel! Good info. The bad news is that there is not good, hard evidence in the home that she was murdered there. I was hoping that LE was "holding out".

[Sandylapper]

They probably did misspell her name on purpose. This woman must not be the DA we talked about. I think/thought her baby was born in October.

[Velveeta]

I thought I had found some "breaking news", but (as usual) Runningbear had the scoop on today's thread 5 minutes before I did. I'm convinced she never sleeps!

I wonder if this is the woman that Vivian Mitchell thinks was Laci. Would love to know what she looks like!

[runningbear]

LOL....

I had some thoughts on this earlier, but lost it in my daily duties at work....lol...

[runningbear]

Here is some breaking news I heard as I was going home today:

Breaking News: Defense team seeks to close Peterson's preliminary hearing to public

Breaking News: Defense team seeks to close Peterson's preliminary hearing to public

By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: August 20, 2003, 12:31:39 PM PDT

Scott Peterson's defense team went to the state's 5th District Court of Appeal today in an effort to have Peterson's preliminary hearing closed to the public. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami rejected the defense motion for closure last week, and now the defense is asking the appellate court to overturn Girolami's decision.

"If the preliminary hearing occurs without this court's intervention, the prejudice to Mr. Peterson and this investigation will be irreversible," defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote in documents filed with the 5th District court in Fresno.

The defense contends that closing the hearing is necessary to protect Peterson's right to a fair trial by an impartial jury, and asks the appellate court for "immediate intervention."

Peterson's hearing on double murder charges is scheduled for Sept. 9. At such hearings, the prosecution presents at least some of its evidence, and judges then consider whether the evidence is sufficient for trials.

Peterson, 30, of Modesto could get the death penalty if convicted in the slayings of his 27-year-old wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.

In denying the defense motion for a closed hearing, Girolami said the defense had not met the high legal threshold to exclude the public from a normally open proceeding.

Girolami also said "the harm expected is speculative and not unlike that in other high publicity cases."

Media attorneys noted that other high profile murder cases - including the prosecutions of O.J. Simpson, actor Robert Blake and Yosemite sightseer killer Cary Stayner - all have included open preliminary hearings.

Girolami decided Monday that he will not allow television ....... pending follow ups maybe tomorrow...

This case is getting stranger. I think Geragos is cooked! ;o)

Why else would he ask for close hearings, after he couldn't get full disclosure hearings? After all, it is the defense asking for delays, not the prosecution!

[RGSpincich]

there seemed to be consensus that prosecution should have gone the grand jury route vs. the prelim.

Brazelton wants the prelim so that he can put some real evidence out there to debunk the goofy defense theories. At least that's what he said a month or so ago.

[Canadian Outrage]

This is good news to me. I think Geragos "knows" Peterson killed his wife and baby and he "knows" that LE has good evidence and he's extremely desperate to keep it out of the public domain. I have always had a feeling that Amy Rocha's visit to the Peterson home with the Police produced something very valuable AND I have a suspicion that something in the way of clothing that they found on Laci's corpse was also telling eg> PJ'!!