Friend: Peterson was frantic

The Modesto Bee ^ | 12/05/03 | Garth stapely

[runningbear]

Friend: Peterson was frantic

Friend: Peterson was frantic

By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: December 5, 2003, 07:25:21 AM PST

Scott Peterson sounded frantic when he called a friend after Peterson's pregnant wife disappeared Christmas Eve, Modesto businessman Gregory Reed said Thursday. Reed's name surfaced in the intrigue-packed preliminary hearing for Scott Peterson. The hearing ended Nov. 18 with a judge ordering the 31-year-old former fertilizer salesman to stand trial on charges of slaying Laci Peterson and their unborn son, Conner.

Other former acquaintances of the defendant, also mentioned at the proceeding, refused to comment.

Reed and his wife, Kristen, held private Lamaze sessions attended by the Petersons, who lived a few blocks away in the La Loma neighborhood. Gregory Reed previously said the Petersons brought meals and visited after the Reeds' child was born.

"They were good people," Reed said Thursday.

At the preliminary hearing, detectives testified that on the night of Dec. 24, Scott Peterson told them he fished alone briefly that day in San Francisco Bay. Peterson said his wife, who had been planning to walk their dog when he left, was gone when he returned.

Prosecutors contend that Peterson used his pickup to transport the body of his wife to his work warehouse and then to the bay.

Steve Jacobson, a prosecution investigator, testified that Peterson used his cell phone to call Reed shortly after leaving the Berkeley Marina on Dec. 24, and again later that evening. There was nothing unusual about the first call, Reed said.

"I could tell he was driving," Reed said, "but I don't know where. I could hear road noise and feedback.

"A few hours later I did get that frantic phone call. I caught up with him and went over to the house."

Family members, friends and neighbors gathered that night to post fliers and search for the mother-to-be.

Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos of Los Angeles, appeared at the hearing to draw the image of a man concerned at having returned to an empty house. Jacobson confirmed that Peterson made numerous calls the evening of Dec. 24, including several to his wife's mother, Sharon Rocha, and sister, Amy Rocha, and later to 911........

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Taping calls is legally tricky

By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: December 6, 2003, 07:01:58 AM PST

Amber Frey secretly taped her phone conversations with suspected double-murderer Scott Peterson, but such an action is only legal under very specific circumstances. Recording calls is against the law in California -- unless the one taping gets the other person's consent. Another law permits covert recording to gather evidence of certain crimes, including murder.

That's how Frey did it. In fact, she had help from detectives who bought her a recording device and showed her how to use it -- hoping she could extract evidence from her boyfriend.

Peterson, 31, is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 26 on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

In a preliminary hearing last month, authorities suggested that the defendant's romance with Frey may have provided him with a motive to kill his wife.

Frey approached Modesto police on Dec. 30, six days after Laci Peterson went missing, and began cooperating with authorities. Detective Al Brocchini testified that he gave her taping equipment that same day.

Brocchini said he bought some of it at Radio Shack. The store sells a "recorder control" for $24.19 -- with a caution urging buyers to check local laws because taping without consent is illegal in some states.

Questioning from a defense attorney suggested that Frey had begun taping their calls on her own as of Dec. 16.

In any case, she continued recording their calls for about seven weeks. Transcripts from one featured Peterson saying he was "longing to hold onto" Frey; he repeatedly deflected questions about having previously lied about his wife and unborn baby.

Authorities also obtained wiretap warrants for Peterson's cell phones allowing them to record all of his calls. Those recordings were not discussed at the preliminary hearing, though prosecutors reserved the option of introducing that evidence at trial.

Before 1967, anyone in California could tape a phone chat without fear of going afoul of the law. But state legislators that year adopted a series of eavesdropping statutes, including one prohibiting one-party-consent recording.

"To me, it's just offensive that people record conversations, in terms of .......

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Superior Court, Stanislaus County December 5, 2003

Minute Order: Findings on Sealing Orders

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Superior Court, Stanislaus County December 5, 2003

Minute Order: Correction to Minute Order of 12/3/03.....

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[Cloe]

That's true - I've noticed that too. I always wonder who he is talking to - he never seems to look them straight in the eye.I guess that tells us something!

[Devil_Anse]

I think she had to file the wrongful death lawsuit, Cloe, just to be sure she wasn't barred by the statute of limitations. IMO, any argument by the defense that Scott can't get a fair criminal trial, due to the civil lawsuit, would be spurious... so I guess we can indeed count on Geragos to make such an argument!

[Devil_Anse]

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, Vel!

I guess runningbear can be excused from posting articles today... Runningbear, we're letting you off the hook for now, but we expect you back tonight! Hee hee hee! (Better not hold my breath on that one...)

I hope Scott bankrupts himself AND Geragos when the smoke clears from all this litigation.

[Cloe]

I hadn't thought of the statute of limitations - I guess she had no choice. Thanks!

[MinuteGal]

Someone said on TV the other day that Geragos was nothing more than a two-bit, not-too-bright lawyer laboring in daddy's legal firm as a local mouthpiece for the Armenian equivalent of the mafia.

He was catupulted to fame and fortune by the ga-ga media when he sprung Susan McDougal.

Geragos' forte is his threatening mouth and demeanor, plus his ability to play the press like a zither. It's not his intellect.

He'll lose both major cases he's been hired for.....and Whacko and Scotto will rue the day they took him on to save their skins.

Leni

[Devil_Anse]

I think the two of you have summed up Geragos quite well.

I think he will lose the Peterson case. I'm not so sure about the Whacko Jacko cases. There are still people out there who are dazzled by Jacko's money (although we don't really know what his balance sheet looks like), and by Jacko's stardom. Sad that some people would still follow this obvious pedophile, and continue to fill his coffers and further his dubious celebrity.

[Canadian Outrage]

I think Geragoss will lose both cases also!! He's a self-admiring, self-over rated, lying, gasbag!! The "best" thing any Judge can do to this guy is gag him. Once gagged, he no longer knows HOW to try his case. He and Jacqueline dear can bawl in their beer together.!

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

frantic huh? Frantic before or AFTER he doused the place with bleach?

[Lucy Lake]

Winona Snubbed by Defense Attorney

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1044701/posts

[Devil_Anse]

ROFL!! This one's hilarious!

Guess Winona was "naughty" and not "nice", since her case was a LOSS for him! Tsk, tsk!

[Canadian Outrage]

Won't it be nice when we can get back to some "real" discussion on court happenings in this case? I thought today, that this time LAST year, Laci and Connor only had about 48 more hours to live! I wouldn't be surprised if The Rocha family didn't celebrate Christmas at all this year. Just think, every single Christmas from now on for the Rocha family will bring "indescribable" heartache. How completely disgusting. I hope the Prosecution does not forget to let the Jury know this fact.

[Devil_Anse]

Well, well. Your post is certainly welcome. I was just looking at this thread and thinking how dead it was at the moment!

I can't imagine having a Christmas like the Rochas are currently having. Anger is an emotion that doesn't engender the Christmas spirit. And now that it's over, and now that the bodies have come to shore in such a horrible condition, how could they feel anything but anger? In fact, they probably try to stay that way to keep from dissolving in tears. Except Amy. I've seldom seen a sadder face than the one Amy has had since I first saw her interviewed as the sister of the missing woman.

[Canadian Outrage]

The anger is probably more like rage. I think that's the way I would feel. I'll betchya Laci's father, Dennis, would like to exact his OWN form of Justice for Laci and Connor.

[Devil_Anse]

Yes, both Dennis and Brent seem so angry, and the more so, for probably feeling helpless. In the anger department, I think Dennis is like Brent on steroids. Brent keeps a certain dignity about him.

But it was Dennis who apparently saw through Scott even before the murder happened.

[Canadian Outrage]

True!! Is there any further "update" on the Jackie and Lee Peterson story? I know that Jacqueline Peterson's demeanor was very different last I saw. PLUS she couldn't resist sniping at the detectives.! That particular day Lee Peterson was no where to be found. If my memory serves me correctly I don't remember seeing him "in court" or on the court house steps in the last number of court days!

[Canadian Outrage]

I'm heading for bed now. The last 4 days have been brutal!

[Velveeta]

ROFL, thanks Grizz!

[Velveeta]

I thought today, that this time LAST year, Laci and Connor only had about 48 more hours to live!

I thought about that as well. Can't imagine how you live day to day with all that heartache and rage.

[Velveeta]

I've seldom seen a sadder face than the one Amy has had..

You're so right about that!

[Velveeta]

WHAT LACI MURDER? ASKS ATT'Y

December 23, 2003 -- MODESTO, Calif. - Just because Scott Peterson was having an affair doesn't make him a murderer, his attorney argued in a 12-page motion to dismiss charges that Peterson killed his pregnant wife, Laci.
The lawyer, Mark Geragos, even claims there's no proof Laci or her unborn child were murdered.

The motion, which will be argued Jan. 14, two weeks before the scheduled start of Peterson's trial, says that prosecutors laid out an extraordinarily feeble case last month in the three-week preliminary hearing.

It provides the first comprehensive look at the defense's case, because attorneys are under a gag order.

Geragos - moonlighting as Michael Jackson's lawyer - emphasized that that the bodies of Laci and her unborn son washed up separately. He said there was no evidence that either of them were slain.

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/14206.htm

****Geragos is disgusting (JMO)****