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

[Sandylapper]

I don't know who reported the bleach orders. Guess I thought it came from the NE or one of the tabloids. Some kind of a leak, I suppose.

[Sandylapper]

I don't know for a fact that Scott filled out expense reports, and Tradecorp. reimbursed him, but I would think they did. Your experience is quite different from mine! Every organization I've ever heard of gave their sales reps airline travel, ground travel, (some even had company cars), car rentals, mileage if using own car, lodging, food and beverages, entertainment (clients), and I'm sure some etcs. I've forgotten. Is there some reason you don't think Tradecorp. was paying his travel expenses?

[Devil_Anse]

I think we're getting into the difference btw a rep (contractor; not an employee) and a salesman (can be an employee). This stuff was heavily discussed in the early part of the year.

I just have not seen/heard of people in sales who didn't ultimately have to pay their own business expenses. Sales people are constantly made to justify themselves and the "privilege" of holding their position. This doesn't matter much to the highly successful sales person, b/c that person is making money hand over fist and so they aren't worried about paying expenses. But from what I've seen, it's different for the sales person who is starting out and hasn't worked up a head of steam yet.

I once was set to work for an insurance/investment company, selling. I was told that I should have about 3 months worth of money put aside to cover my living expenses, b/c I wouldn't see any profit for about that amount of time. (As it turned out, I didn't take that job.)

I just really think Scott would have faced "chargebacks" and stuff like that--where he would have maybe been given a stipend, which he'd have to pay back b/f they'd give him his commission. I don't think he had any free-flowing expense account that he never had to account for.

[Sandylapper]

If I seem distrustful of MPD, it's because they have conducted this case so secretly. Please don't tell me, Anse, that there was never anything they could say for fear of jeopardizing their case, or somebody's life. It's not Muna or Carroll I trust, I think it's the King tie-in that makes me believe there's something to the story. If there's nothing to all this, why suddenly do they all appear to be "gagged"?

[Devil_Anse]

To tell you the truth, while I know King really is gagged b/c he's been subpoenaed, I think the reason Muna and Carroll have shut up is b/c they ran out of B.S. to throw out there!

I just have decided that the whole Muna/Carroll thing is a bunch of baloney, done b/c Carroll wanted to make a few fees off giving info to tabloids, while Muna took what Carroll said at face value and figured "what I don't know won't hurt me".

But I am one of the ones who, when they said Elizabeth Smart had been taken by polygamists or polygamist wannabes, said "no way!" So I am well aware that I might be wrong about this! If this plot thickens in that direction, I will be as excited about it as you will be!

[Sandylapper]

In companies I have known, sales reps filled out monthly expense reports. Company paid air travel (where the company made reservations and purchased airline tickets for salesmen, et al,) was listed on the expense reports and accounted for by ticket stubs. If a salesman had rented a car, receipt for same was attached. Same with lodging, meals, entertaining, you name it. If it was a reimburseable expense, they got a check. They could take clients out to dinner and drinks--but they had to list the clients' names, place they went. That's about all I know about sales reps, except that they received a handsome salary, also.

[janette]

Excellent!!!!!!

[Sandylapper]

I dunno, Anse, but what would it hurt for Stanislaus DA to tell us that there is absolutely nothing to the story? Just a week or so ago, Geraldo was trying to get a pic of Carroll and Scott, but that got shut up in a hurry! I suggested then that if Geraldo could get a pic, surely Stanislaus Co. had one, too. You may be right; it's BS, but until I hear a firm denial from the DA, I say sumting not ri.

[Devil_Anse]

Remember, we are incidental to what the Stanislaus authorities are doing. They can't afford to concern themselves with what the public is thinking, except of course for possible potential jurors--and even in that case, from what I've seen, DA's spend a lot less time dealing with finer points like media ploys to "potential jurors" than do defense attorneys. Especially media hounds like Geragos.

[Sandylapper]

For that reason, proving/disproving the existence of their plot does not change it for me from trying to find out if Scott alone killed her.

Maybe we just disagree here, Anse, because I want them all exposed and tried. I'd hate to think that Dirty and Skeeter were still walking around "Scott-free" for helping to kill Laci and the baby. I want the whole truth to come out.

[Sandylapper]

Hey, have you been to today's thread? There are already over 200 posts there!

[at bay]

Excellent analysis. What was "missing" today was any supporters for Snotty. Laci was the popular one, Snott had no friends. His jealousy, coupled with an ultimatum from Laci caused him to kill, and yes I believe he has killed before. The "even if you think I did it, etc." blurb that he came out with so often was a carefully constructed, pre-meditated statement that gives one an insight into his thinking process. He is an ice-cold narcissistic killer.

[Velveeta]

Is that a documented fact, Vel? That the boat was definitely at the "secret warehouse"?

The storage facility on Woodland St. is fact. That the boat was definitely stored there is thusfar, unverified.

Something in Scott's tone to Sharon prompted her to tell Ron Grantski to call 911. Sharon felt something was very wrong immediately. (Mother's intuition, perhaps?)

Regarding not calling his family, this one is very curious to me. Sharon, Ron, and scores of Laci's friends and family are crying and searching for Laci. There's the possibility that Laci's been kidnapped. Helicopters with infrared heat sensing, searchers on horseback, dogs. This is also Jackie and Lee's grandchild. Why didn't he call to tell them there was an emergency going on in his life? Maybe a "stand by in case there's a ransom call" warning to his family? But he didn't even bother to call. We know from Sharon that he spent ALOT of time that day talking on his cell phone.

I just find it very curious that his family wasn't notified, as if this was something that wasn't their problem because it was Laci's side of the family.

[Velveeta]

I believe he's cold enough to have killed before too. Something about how he ran back to CA from Arizona doesn't sit right with me.

[Sandylapper]

Thanks, Vel! The reason I asked about the storage facility is that "storage facility" was the term I had in mind vs. warehouse. Some of those aren't quite large enough to house a boat and trailer. I'm not sure if I ever heard what was stored there.

"Something in Scott's tone", was, I thought his choice of using the word "missing".

It sounds like to me that after MPD was called, he was quite busy, searching (supposedly), talking w/people (friends, police), until midnight. At some point, he did notify his parents, but obviously it wasn't a high priority for him. I'm not taking up for him because he probably did kill Laci, but under the circumstances and facts as we've heard them, I think he was on the "hot seat" from the git-go. Evers testified Scott was visibly upset, yet they were asking him questions about "fishing". Surely, Scott began thinking at some point time, "hey, these guys are questionning me for the purpose of using what I say against me".

[Cloe]

I am sure we will find out about the phone calls - in time.
I can understand your having doubts - I,too,am a bit worried about what we have seen as evidence so far.There just has to be a lot more then we are aware of right now.
I think we just have a very few pieces of the big picture.

[Lucy Lake]

as if this was something that wasn't their problem because it was Laci's side of the family.

Good point. IMO, this is further proof of premeditation; already Scott had emotionally detatched himself from Laci, so it wasn't his problem, either. Other than the inconvenience he assumed would happen for a few weeks while everyone searched to no avail, then he could 'get on with his life.'

[Yaelle]

I love seeing it all so neatly laid out in black and white. Thanks; it shows how ridiculous his story is. Even if her body never was found, his story is so full of it that a jury could have convicted him.

*SP says he told Laci he was going fishing in a boat that he says WAS going to be a surprise for her the next day

And what a great Christmas gift a small aluminum boat is to a nauseous, bloated third-trimester pregnant wife, and even a mom of an infant!! Neither would set foot in it EVER, trust me.

because it was too cold to golf, but plenty warm enough to fish.

Nothing more needs be said there. And sturgeon don't need bait; you can just throw in strands of human hair and they fly up and flop into the boat.

*Says he left at 9:30am to stop at the office and then go fishing. (Actually stopped at secret warehouse first to pick up the boat and then went to his office warehouse)

I don't understand the two warehouses. Did Scott own one? For how long? What about the lights not working but the fax machine working? What was he supposed to have done at the "real" office? Push fertilizer around like he was doing talking to the cops? Because if there is one thing Precious Scaughty can do right, it's shove the... fertilizer.

*Says he launched around 12:00 and fished for a couple hours.

Which all the real fishermen say is nonsense if you want sturgeon. All he did at this time was run back up to the Marina and get that ticket. Thought he was soooooo clever.

During that time, he calls his dad when he's supposedly out on the lake and never says "Hey Dad, I'm fishing".

He was probably in the car when he called Daddy. He probably hadn't talked to anyone all day and wanted to feel "normal" for a second after so many hours of dirty deeds.

*Gets home around 4:30-5:00pm. ... At this point, this innocent man knows that it's highly unusual for the dog to be in the yard with it's leash on.

When he finds the dog in the yard, he knows someone in the world may be worried about Laci. But why panic YET? Gotta clean all the STUFF first. Gotta HURRY. Also, carting around a body all this time, making the anchors, twisting the wire... and being unable to go through any drivethroughs with your dead pregnant wife in the back... a man gets kinda HUNGRY! "What do we have in the fridge, Laci? Oh yeah, Laci's DEAD! AH HA HA HA HA, forgot there! Whoops, that's not funny. Gotta remember to think the word MISSING. Not dead, you idiot, MISSING. Mmmmm, pizza!" He DOES NOT call ANYONE in HIS family. Did he call his brothers? NO. Did he call his sisters? NO. Did he call his parents? NO!

I too would find it easier to lie in front of everyone else in the world than my own family. Especially for Scott to lie to his saintly mother. After all, he sort of did this for her. So he got some practice on the others first.

This man's gotta fry. He just has to.

[Velveeta]

Yeah, he was on the hot seat from the git-go. No doubt about it.

I truly hope there would be evidence that SP did not do this. It would be a consolation of some sort to think that a crazed, tattoed, van-wielding, meth addicted, satanistic horrid monster snuffed out these lives..... Rather than a preppy young man who "looks" so normal and clean cut.

[Velveeta]

As he told Amber, he'd be with her in mid-January. {shudder}