DNA Dispute In Laci Case

CBS News ^ | Oct 30, 2003

[runningbear]

DNA Dispute In Laci Case

Scott Peterson enters the courtroom in Stanislaus County Superior Court in Modesto, Calif., Friday, Oct. 24, 2003. (Photo: AP)

DNA Dispute In Laci Case

MODESTO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2003

Peterson Hearing Opens

The hair, found in a pair of pliers on the boat Scott Peterson took fishing the day his wife disappeared, matched a genetic sample from Laci Peterson's mother, an FBI expert testified Wednesday, the first day of the preliminary hearing.

(CBS/AP) As Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing resumes in Modesto, California Thursday, disputed DNA evidence will likely be the center of attention.

The hearing will determine whether he must stand trial for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson.

On Wednesday, both sides disputed the type of DNA test that prosecutors say proves a hair found in his boat was Laci Peterson's.

The hair, found in a pair of pliers on the boat Scott Peterson took fishing the day his wife disappeared, matched a genetic sample from Laci Peterson's mother, an FBI expert testified Wednesday, the first day of the preliminary hearing.

For much of the day inside a packed courtroom, FBI lab supervisor Constance Fisher testified about the controversial method of DNA analysis she specializes in that can show a genetic match between a mother and child.

She testified that a one-inch strand of hair found on pliers in the boat did not match Scott Peterson, but did match a swab of DNA taken from the mouth of his mother-in-law, Sharon Rocha.

Defense lawyer Mark Geragos is challenging the admissibility of the testimony, saying the analysis was the subject of a "raging debate" in the scientific community and suggesting that the hair sample may have been contaminated or tampered with by law enforcement.

The technique has not been widely accepted in courts, and it was only ruled admissible once in a California state court, in the case of an accused murderer in San Diego.

With the exception of a brief mention of Laci Peterson's family at the start of the hearing, the 27-year-old substitute teacher's name was never uttered again during the daylong hearing in Stanislaus County Superior Court.

The hearing is expected to last into next week, after which Judge Al Girolami will decide if Peterson is tried on two counts of murder that could lead to the death penalty.

While the proceedings are expected to reveal the broadest and most detailed look at the case police built against the 31-year-old former..............

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Peterson will put on DNA expert

Posted 11/2/2003 11:11 PM Updated 11/3/2003 7:17 AM

Peterson will put on DNA expert

By John Ritter, USA TODAY

MODESTO, Calif. — Could a single strand of hair be the smoking gun in the Laci Peterson murder case?

Scott Peterson's attorney wants hair evidence kept out of the case. By Al Golub, pool

Seems possible after most of last week's testimony centered on that hair. If it wasn't important, why did Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, spend seven hours grilling an FBI scientist on the nitty-gritty of DNA analysis?

And why, after all that, will he put his own DNA expert on the stand this week to try to persuade Judge Al Girolami to reject the hair as evidence?

Only the defense knows. But legal analysts caution that what seems compelling in this preliminary hearing — an early phase of Scott Peterson's battle to beat a double-murder charge and stay off death row — may not be later.

Geragos may believe the hair is a key to prosecutors' theory that Peterson killed his wife and dumped her body in San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve. Prosecutors will try to prove the hair was Laci Peterson's and ended up in the boat after she was dead. A clash this week may be over whether Laci had ever been on her husband's recently purchased boat. If prosecutors can show she hadn't, the hair might seem even more damaging.

Geragos is fighting aggressively to keep the hair away from a future jury. Failing that, another strategy "may be to make the hair seem like a bigger deal than it is," says Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "Then if he can knock the hair out, it sounds like he knocked out the case."

But the hair may not be crucial — even to prosecutors. Their goal is to convince the judge to hold Peterson for trial, not to present their whole case. They may save their best evidence, including blood, witness statements or wiretaps.

In the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder case, a knife prominent in the preliminary hearing barely came up at trial. "It was a big red herring," Levenson says. "This hair could end up the big red herring."

Even if prosecutors David Harris and Rick Distaso consider other evidence more critical to a conviction, they may feel pressure to offer hair as scientific evidence.

"If they go to trial in a case of this magnitude without impressive scientific testimony, some jurors may be disappointed," says Ed Imwinkelried, a law professor at the University of California-Davis. Disappointed jurors could spell acquittal, he says.

Even though the DNA analysis at issue is new to most courts, judges almost always have allowed it as evidence in cases where it has been argued, Imwinkelried says.

Knowing that, Geragos may be trying to get the judge to limit how far a prosecution witness can go in attaching importance to the DNA..............

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DNA at Center of Laci Peterson Hearings

DNA at Center of Laci Peterson Hearings

Monday November 3, 2003 12:46 PM

By JIM WASSERMAN

Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Defense attorneys in the Scott Peterson trial have called mitochondrial DNA evidence questionable science, frustrating experts and putting under a microscope what has become a mainstream tool of American justice.

Mitochondrial DNA, the genetic identification method cited last week in Peterson's preliminary hearing, has been used hundreds of times in the nation's courtrooms, helping convict the guilty and free the innocent, experts say.

It first appeared in a sensational 1996 Tennessee murder trial, but it has been used less frequently in California, which has higher barriers for new evidentiary techniques.

Prosecutors in the Peterson case are using mitochondrial DNA to make a case that a human hair found in pliers in Peterson's boat came from his wife, Laci, whom he is accused of killing last year.

The evidence is key to a possible prosecution argument that Peterson used the boat to ferry his pregnant wife's body to a watery grave on the day she disappeared from their Modesto home. Peterson, 31, is now charged with murder in the deaths of his 27-year-old wife and their unborn son.

Mark Geragos, Peterson's attorney, has attacked the mitochondrial DNA evidence, calling it the unreliable subject of ``raging debate'' among scientists.

Not so, said Dr. Terry Melton, chief executive officer of Mitotyping Technologies in State College, Pa., one of a handful of laboratories in the United States that extract cellular blueprints from evidence.

``It's been around for about 20 years,'' Melton said. ``The armed forces used it to ID remains of Vietnam veterans for 10 years. Now it's being introduced quite a bit in court.''

Experts say mitochondrial DNA - a tiny ring-shaped molecule that's much smaller than the more familiar nuclear DNA that reveals genetic makeup - helped identify victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack in New York. It can be extracted from hair and bones when little else remains of a body. The process takes a few days and typically costs about $2,500, Melton said.

Geragos grilled the prosecution's FBI witness about the science's weak points, prompting admissions of computer glitches and breakdowns in lab equipment. He plans to call his own witnesses to discredit forensic........

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Prosecutor slowly shows Peterson case

Prosecutor slowly shows Peterson case

By GARTH STAPLEY

BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: November 2, 2003, 12:08:14 PM PST

The mystery surrounding the Peterson case lives on. A court-imposed gag order kept evidence securely under wraps for several months, fueling speculation by TV pundits and coffeehouse gossipers.

Did Scott Peterson kill his pregnant wife, Laci, and dump her body in San Francisco Bay? Did Satanists snatch her for an evil ritual? What about his affair, the brown van and hypnotized witnesses?

The wild guessing only added to the mystique surrounding the double-murder case -- one with a Hollywoodlike story-line that started with a seemingly happy young couple about to become parents, and ended in deception and death.

Wait until the preliminary hearing, various media trumpeted. That's when closely guarded evidence will come out, and all will become clear, they assured.

And it is coming out -- but at a trickle, with a heavy dose of droning about mitochondrial DNA. In fact, the first two days of the much-heralded hearing opened with exhaustive technical detail surrounding a single human hair.

Trials begin with opening statements by attorneys on both sides. They lay out in simple terms what they hope to prove, so jurors know what to look for as the evidence unfolds.

But preliminary hearings are different. In this one, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami -- who has reviewed thousands of pages of documents kept sealed from public view -- needed no introduction.

Consequently, the public is being fed details in bits and pieces, with no real context. And observers continue to rely on incomplete media reports and talking heads whose view of the big picture is, at best, obscured.

"The judge knows where it's going," said legal scholar Michael Vitiello, a criminal law professor with Sacramento's McGeorge School of Law. "He doesn't need the same kind of game plan you would have for a jury."

Pine-Sol, dark warehouse

Among the unlinked pieces of testimony offered Friday:

A house cleaner mopped the kitchen floor with water and "a little bit of Pine-Sol," but used chlorine bleach for bathroom floors.

Laci Peterson and her sister, Amy Rocha ..........

Early questions on Peterson's story

Early questions on Peterson's story

By JOHN COTE AND GARTH STAPLEY

BEE STAFF WRITERS

Last Updated: October 31, 2003, 03:33:00 PM PST

3:33 p.m., PST: Scott Peterson showed police a parking receipt from the Berkeley marina on Christmas Eve but didn’t respond when asked what type of fish he went fishing for, an officer testified today.

“He couldn’t say,” Det. Jon Evers said in Stanislaus County Superior Court during Scott Peterson’s preliminary hearing.

The 31-year-old Modesto man is charged with double murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their son. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing in Stanislaus County Superior Court, Judge Al Girolami will determine whether Peterson should be held over for trial.

Evers, who was a patrol officer at the time Laci Peterson disappeared, also testified that Peterson did not respond when his wife’s stepfather, an avid fisherman..........

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FROM THE SHERIFF'S PRESSRELEASE LINK:

"Court on Monday & Doc Online

Posted on Friday, October 31 2003 at 3:04 PM PST ----

ATTENTION: Court on Monday, 11/3/03 begins at 9:00 AM. If you have a pass for seating in the courtroom, you MUST BE IN THE COURTROOM and SEATED by 8:45 am (PST).

A new court document is also now available online at http://www.pressupdate.info. Click on "Court Docs" for the following document.

1. Minute Order: Preliminary Hearing 10/31/03 (ie; Third day court provided overview) PDF (30 KB)

IMPORTANT!!! You must be in the courtroom and seated by 8:45 AM on Monday. Court begins at 9:00 am.

Anyone using the audio overflow room must turn their cell phones off - that means COMPLETE OFF - no vibrating/ringing phones permitted. This room is an extension of the courtroom and the sames rules apply.

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Superior Court, Stanislaus County October 31, 2003

Minute Order: Preliminary Hearing
(ie; Third day court provided overview

[Jackie-O]

This case is nationwide, (like ZZ-Top says) if not worldwide...yes they will be sequestered, just like OJ!

[Devil_Anse]

Well, sorry, but I don't care what other posters I offend, I'm going to have to join the ranks of people who ask: "WHEN has this highly-touted expert, Dr. Henry Lee, EVER made a difference in a case?" He's so equivocal about literally everything. It's all a game, and even with his many degrees and his years of testifying (um, what DOES a person LEARN about his field by testifying, btw?), he resembles a traveling medicine show. His whole manner is a disgraceful cheapening of his obviously thorough and high-level education.

[Devil_Anse]

Oh, okay. Sheesh! They don't strain themselves, do they?

That means we still have tomorrow, Wed., and Thurs.

[Jackie-O]

The hair was 6" or so..broke after collected. My hair splits and breaks all the time. I have hair that is almost 16" long but shed short hair often....

[Devil_Anse]

I don't get it. Used to be, in order to be a star, it was recommended that one not be a fat pig with a big mouth, and also, it was recommended that one have a talent of some sort...

[An American In Dairyland]

Rosie is a star???

[Canadian Outrage]

I agree Jackie. Don't forget to ping me tomorrow (I know you won't). I stayed home and gave myself a perm today and right now, I'm bushed. See y'all tomorrow.

[Devil_Anse]

LOL!! Well at least he's having a good time! Speaking of gross, I kept smelling a smell in my son's room, but couldn't find the source. And of course that means.....uh-oh!!

Well, yesterday evening I picked up an old backpack of his, and out rolled the world's oldest apple. It was not rotten, but it was all wizened and wrinkled. YECCCCCCHHHHHH!!!!

[RGSpincich]

Yeah, his fortune cookie dialect gets old after a while. Especially when you realize it's a show.

[Devil_Anse]

Touché. Well, okay, then why DO they continually inflict her on the viewing public? LOL.

[Jackie-O]

LOL!!! Stop, yer making me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt!!

[Yaelle]

I agree that there would not be enough to build a case around the hair alone. Scott could say that the pliers were kept on the kitchen counter and he just grabbed them and threw them in the boat. I agree that if the hair had the root it would be more damning. But there are ways to explain away the hair. However, this case almost does not need the hair.

[Yaelle]

Would amniotic fluid be the ringer? I don't think so. It might save Scott's life. After all, he is up for double murder. He can't get that if there is some evidence Connor was BORN first and possibly died of natural causes, even if Scott did murder Laci. Or would that still count as a double murder since he did not call medical help for the baby? I don't know. Probably less complicated if there were no amniotic fluid, just something from Laci, proving she was injured at the very least right there in the house. Connor dying as a result of her murder is clearer.

[Devil_Anse]

Boy, this is enough to make people long for the days when hair analysis was just a matter of putting the unknown specimen and a known specimen under a strong magnifier, and comparing characteristics. Seems we are spoiled these days, what with all this DNA!

[Jackie-O]

See ya in the AM Lynn! I'll be looking for ya!

[Yaelle]

Missuh Anseh, it may be twue dat mi edukashuh vewy thorough buh equivocah is how I make mos' my money. Muh easier to be equivocah, dat way my word go eeder way, i get paid fruh whichevah side want me mos'. I spend my time in business classes. I skip mah Engrish classes. You can say wut you wan', I do pwitty well.

[Devil_Anse]

EEEK!! You sound just like him!!

I just wanna say one thing: Henry, stop smiling at inappropriate moments!! Cultural thing? Cultural, schmultural!! (If it's a cultural thing, what's Bill Kristol's excuse??)

[harpo11]

Good thought, but why only one hair fell off when usually many hairs will shed or break?

However, you are right, I have long hair too, and the same happens, breaks at many different lengths.

[cinFLA]

He can't get that if there is some evidence Connor was BORN first and possibly died of natural causes, even if Scott did murder Laci.

Oh yes he can!

[Jackie-O]

Scott would have to take the stand and say that the pliers were kept in the house, anywhere. I doubt that he will..sure MG can imply that with any witness, but the jury will wonder if that was the case, why doesn't he confirm it himself???