Posted on 12/08/2004 10:19:37 AM PST by Former Military Chick
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A former neighbor of Scott Peterson drew on her own family's experience with capital punishment Tuesday to try to dissuade jurors from sentencing the convicted killer to death.
Susan Medina, who lived across the street from Peterson and his wife, Laci, testified that, when she was a child in the Philippines, her grandfather was murdered and her father later watched as the killers were put to death in the electric chair.
"My father was the sweetest man in the world," Medina told a rapt courtroom in a voice barely above a whisper. "He witnessed it. He was never the same. Never spoke of it."
Jurors, who are to begin deliberating Peterson's fate Thursday, appeared riveted by Medina's account. One female panelist — No. 7 — wiped away tears as Medina's voice cracked with emotion.
The petite woman testified briefly in June in the guilt phase about neighborhood goings-on the day Laci Peterson was reported missing. Her testimony Tuesday touched only slightly on her interaction with the Petersons before defense attorney Pat Harris began questioning her about the potential impact of a death sentence.
Asked by Harris if she thought Peterson's life should be spared, Medina cried softly and then said, "I'm a nurse. I have witnessed the joy of childbirth and the sadness of death. In my mind, I have a mental collage of death. The people that were executed continue to haunt me."
After prosecutors declined to cross-examine Medina, she turned to the jury. "Have a Merry Christmas," she said.
After leaving the stand, Medina, who had been sitting behind Peterson's parents in the defense section before her testimony, approached Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, who sat clutching a tissue in the front row. Medina leaned down, grasped Rocha's hand and spoke softly to her. Rocha nodded and whispered something back.
Medina's testimony was the most compelling of the six witnesses who took the stand on Peterson's behalf Tuesday. They included a former golf coach, a college professor and a business associate.
The jury will hear closing arguments Thursday and then start their deliberations. Once they begin weighing evidence, the panel will be sequestered.
In their deliberations, jurors can consider the character testimony of the defense witnesses as they decide whether Peterson deserves a sentence of death or life in prison without parole for murdering his wife and unborn son in December 2002.
Abbas Imani, who employed Peterson as a waiter for four years, called him "the politest and most courteous person I've ever met in my life." He said Peterson was exceptionally kind to his elderly customers, even serving one woman a meal on a tray in her car when she was too ill to come into the restaurant.
"Everybody is heartbroken," said Imani, who cried into a handkerchief throughout his testimony. "Such a tragic thing to happen to both families, just not believable."
Another witness, Eric Sheras, who lived near the couple in college, recalled Peterson as kind and even-tempered. He said that, when his dog fought with the couple's golden retriever, Mackenzie, Laci Peterson became angry and tried to punch his animal, but Peterson "calmed everyone down."
He described the Petersons as "an average couple" who rarely fought.
Jim Gray, who bought a packing business from Peterson and remained friends with him, told the jury he was "just a super guy" and that he and his wife were "the perfect couple."
"Laci was just a bubble and Scott would see this and cherish it," he said.
Peterson's golf coach at Cuesta College, Hugh Gerhardt, testified that Peterson was a good golfer who showed confidence, but not arrogance. He said that, when his brother went missing while snowmobiling, Peterson immediately called and offered to join the search effort.
Robert Thompson Jr., a college professor who taught both Scott and Laci Peterson in an agricultural economics course, recounted how the couple befriended him, inviting him to dinners and golf outings. He said Peterson, an "A-, B+" student, was memorable among the 10,000 students he taught in his career. "He seemed more mature, more focused, like he was fully formed and well raised. The kind of student who sticks out," he said.
Asked how a death sentence would affect him, Thompson answered, "It would be just like somebody ripped out my heart."
Prosecutor Dave Harris, who had not cross-examined any of the defense's previous 32 witnesses in the penalty phase, chose to ask Thompson a single question: "How has Laci's murder affected you?" Thompson acknowledged that he was close to the mother-to-be as well as her husband and replied, "I miss her terribly."
At the defense table, Peterson was uncharacteristically emotional. He wiped his reddened eyes with a tissue as Thompson and Imani testified.
Throughout the penalty phase, the defense has emphasized the damage a death verdict would do to Peterson's parents. Several witnesses have testified that such a sentence would destroy the family, especially the elder Petersons.
At a hearing Tuesday afternoon to discuss jury instructions, defense attorney Mark Geragos requested that Judge Alfred Delucchi not give the usual instruction to the panel to put aside sympathy for the defendant and his family. He argued that the Petersons qualified as victims because they were blood relatives of Scott and Laci Peterson's unborn child.
Delucchi, however, denied that motion, saying the law required him to give the instruction. It reads, "Evidence, if any, of the impact of an execution on family members should be disregarded unless it illuminates some positive quality of the defendant's background or character."
The panel of six men and six women convicted him Nov. 12 of two counts of murder.
My fav part of Jackie's plea was how Scott was so nurturing. Granted she doesn't think her baby did this crime, but how was he nurturing when he was having an affair and telling Amber his wife was dead? Wonder what "nurturing" actually means in the Petersen family?
LOL!
It's amazing how, once they're convicted..and all the media hoopla is over, they happily for us, disappear from our consciousness...remember Andrew Cunanin, and they guy they kidnapped in Mexico last year after he jumped bail during his trial.. Luskater?...they're confined to a lifetime of misery...
Exactly. Almost every single thing every witness testified about pointed right to some "event" that Laci and Conner won't have!
I damn near died when they talked about Scott saving a drowning rabbit: WATER!
Andrew Cunan is D-E-A-D.
Don't get too excited. It's just a thought I have in the back of my mind. I just can't get the "deny, deny, deny" out
of my mind nor the huge withdrawal by Jackie which went to Scott.
I don't watch Larry King, so I probably heard him say the same thing elsewhere, probably on greta's show. It was jaw-dropping to me when the Peterson's hired him.
Odd. I wonder why the judge would allow the defense to clearly present testimony and questioning that the jury would be specifically instructed to disregard?
I try to imagine Scott's reaction to receiving the death penalty. So controlled..except for a properly inserted tear, will the real Scott appear? Watch his eyes!!
I know, I know...he was a good boy...queue the violins please...
This being California, it's not gonna happen. We have over 600 convicted murderers on Death Row, some of whom have been there for 20+ years. In this case, I'd almost rather see Scott get a life sentence with no chance of parole, thrown into the general prison population where he will become the girlfriend of 20 tattooed bodybuilders.
Because it's all Geragos has? He's giving him almost everything he wanted; there will be no appeal granted for this case.
Sharon Rocha has alot more grace and dignity than I do. I would have not have let this woman touch me.
Merry Christmas.
How inappropriate. I'm sure the Rocha's Christmas will not be very merry again this year.
The people that were executed continue to haunt me."
If the man who brutally murdered my cousin's 21 year old daughter EVER goes to trial (his attorney keeps delaying things), and he gets the death penality, I will dance on his grave. I'm haunted by the victims, and the loved ones they left behind.
Does anyone know what happens to Laci's home? Does Geragos have a lean on it?
Champagne on eBay?
Even if he doesn't get executed for a long, long time, getting sentenced to the DP still means he LOST! That's good enough for me.
This auction is for a HAND WRITTEN NOTE, given to me by Scott Peterson. The bottle in the photo is not included since it full. Can be emptied and included. Can provide other information as to authenticity. I'm keeping the proceeds myself. No alcohol can be sent or sold here. This case has become quite notorious, I'm only offering a piece of history forsale here, It is in my mind no different than all the interest that most people have shown in this case.
According to Judge Napoliano (FOX), Geregos has asked for TWO hours to address the jury tomorrow. In an effort to plant doubt into just one juror's heart/mind, I suppose he will undoubtedly return to his theory of a cult's kidnapping Laci. But will he reveal the name of the REAL killer as he promised at the trial's beginning? His grandstanding and ineptness has been staggering.
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