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

[cyncooper]

I meant to switch back to Greta to hear an update, but missed it, so thank you very much.

The hearing will continue tomorrow, though? I've switched off news for the evening.

[Jackie-O]

LOL! She's quite abbrasive, no??

[MHT]

I am not as certain as others about the SP conviction. I find it absolutely amazing that there was not a drop of blood on the boat or in the house or on any of his clothes. I get blood all over the place from cutting a finger--and her head and limbs are missing? No knife, no saw, no blood, no bone chips. An inch of hair with a root? Hair yanked with a comb can come out with the root.

Duct tape would be more incriminating than hair--and his "confession" to the girlfriend might be the most convicting yet.

[Canadian Outrage]

Isn't she just a "winner"??? I thought Abrams did a good job of telling that Mark Carbo or something like that, that Lawyers shouldn't be able to promise a bunch of stuff knowing that they cannot deliver. That is exactly what this nerd was saying. eg. The Satanic Theories. Notice the dead silence on that theory these days?? Why he was only hours away from having the real killer arrested!! UGH.

[Jackie-O]

Tomorrow, wed and thurs...waiting for Amber....

[cyncooper]

Thanks!

[Jackie-O]

Most welcome! Waiting for this case to heat up!

[Devil_Anse]

Okay, there's some stuff on TV, finally. The duct tape matter, which RGS first pointed out to us, is all over the place.

I heard, on Greta VS, that the defense mitochondrial "expert" apparently came off as weaker than the prosecution's. And the DA will be calling a--yawwwwwn!--rebuttal witness regarding the mitochondrial DNA issue. And somewhere in there, tomorrow I think, this officer will be cross-examined by McAllister, after they finish the direct of the officer, that is. (Officer... Evers?)

And now Laura Ingle says that it is possible that Scott did indeed keep the secret boat in his secret (second) warehouse.

And supposedly some neighbors of the Petersons will testify. (Kim McGregor? Wouldn't THAT be something?)

[An American In Dairyland]

Ahhh...thanks Jackie. I missed that. I'm not and have never been a Rosie fan so I tend to change channels whenever I see her. :-)

[Jackie-O]

Fieger and Grimm say they think Pros have more up their sleeve linking Snott to the murder, only showing the hair to bind Snott over...need to show this hair to tie Laci to the boat. Baden and all say the judge will allow it it, bind Snott over to trial.
Jeffery- the Amber tapes will predjudice the jury will magnify the importance of the hair.

[An American In Dairyland]

Strangulation doesn't leave blood residue as a general rule. Not saying she was strangled but that would explain the lack of blood.

[Canadian Outrage]

Sounds interesting Dev. On CNN earlier, they had Kimberly Guilfoile-Newsom, the SanFran Prosecutor on. She stated that the Prosecution is methodically undermining Peterson's alibi and they are also showing a pattern of deceitfulness and lies starting right from Night ONE. She thinks, if they call Amber, and she stands up well under Geragos's pummeling, that she is going to do "great" damage to Peterson in all respects, ie: alibi, motive, premedication and continual lying and deceitfulness!! I really like her. She speaks very well.

[Jackie-O]

Thanks Dev, I missed some of that...little man is in here making beaded flag pins and acting like a gross litle boy, putting pins thru the dead skin on his toes! Yuk!

[BOOTSTICK]

What is the possibility of one of Laci's haris being on Scotts clothing, and transferred to his boat? If the State is building their case around someone's wife's hairs being in "their" boat??????!!!!!! GOOD LUCK!

[Canadian Outrage]

Not much blood that we know of. But there is vomit with flecks of her blood!! And perhaps some other bodily fluids. Amniotic fluid would be a real ringer!! In any event, I'm SURE they, the Prosecution, have some tremendously incriminating evidence. They just have been extremely disciplined and professional in keeping it under wraps.!! They need to be commended for that. Also, I wonder if the rest of you think this Jury will be sequestered. I do.

[RGSpincich]

I heard Baden on Fox today say that the defense had to call a relatively unknown to testify against mitochondrial DNA testing because Lee and Weicht(sp?) probably would refuse to do so. It's an accepted method of testing DNA in the forensic community, according to Baden. He says that Lee and Weicht may still attack the method, possesion, handling, etc. at some future date.

[Canadian Outrage]

The chances of her hair being in HIS PLIERS?? - REMOTE!! And you can bet the bank that the hair is NOT their case.

[harpo11]

"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."

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Interesting that the hair was only "one-inch" long. From the pictures of Laci, it appeared that her hair was much longer.

[An American In Dairyland]

Oh I agree about the fluids and vomit. We haven't heard much of any of the evidence yet, IMO. I think there's a good chance that the jury will be sequestered.

[Canadian Outrage]

Thanks for that report RG!! I too can't see Lee or Wecht challenging the validity of Mitochondrial DNA. We just want it to get in and all of the experts and Lawyer talking heads I've heard say that it will make it in.