Judical Council Reveals Peterson Venue Choices

KTVU News ^ | Jan 13 2004

[runningbear]

Judical Council Reveals Peterson Venue Choices

Judical Council Reveals Peterson Venue Choices

POSTED: 2:51 PM PST January 13, 2004
UPDATED: 3:46 PM PST January 13, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Judicial Council of California announced Tuesday that the Scott Peterson capital murder trial can be moved to Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo or Orange counties.

Video: Judge Al Girolami Explains The Reasons To Move Trial

The ruling came down after those courts informed the Judicial Council that they were able to accommodate the change of venue without undue burden. The three Northern California counties were the preference of Stanislaus County Superior Court judge Al Girolami, who will announce where the trial will be moved to at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 20.

Santa Clara County Superior Court officials said Tuesday they were preparing for the possibility that the highly publicized trial may be moved from Modesto to Silicon Valley.

Officials believe the best place to hold the high-profile case would be at the courthouse on Homestead Road in downtown Santa Clara. The courtroom currently occupied by Judge Robert Baines seats 71 people in the audience and the courthouse has ample parking, according to Superior Court spokeswoman Debra Hodges.

"It's our mega-courtroom," Hodges said.

Currently the courtroom is hosting a lengthy civil trial brought by former IBM employees against the computer giant. That trial is expected to conclude in March. If the Peterson trial begins before the IBM trial concludes the preliminary stages of the trial would most likely be heard at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, according to Hodges.

If San Mateo the final destination, an empty high school in San Bruno would likely be the trial's location.

"It's all set up," said Bob Arnold, associate superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District. "It's been used for trials on a number of occasions. It has everything, a judge's chambers, a lawyers' area, everything."

Alameda County Assistant District Attorney James Anderson told the Oakland Tribune that Stanislaus County has sent people to Oakland for death penalty trials before; in one such case, four gang members were convicted of murder and two of them later were sentenced to death.

But Anderson said there may be some logistical problems because four capital trials were already in progress or soon will be underway in Alameda County......

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Three counties in region able to take Peterson trial

Three counties in region able to take Peterson trial

Four California counties have said they can take on the Scott Peterson double-murder trial without undue burden: Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo and Orange, according to a court statement released Tuesday.

Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami, who ruled last week that Peterson's trial must be moved from Modesto, will decide the location Tuesday after the prosecution and defense make their cases for the best locale.

Peterson, 31, is accused of killing his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son in December 2002. The case generated so much publicity and public outcry that Girolami ruled Peterson would have a better chance of a fair trial if it was moved out of Modesto.

Girolami said last week that Santa Clara County was his top choice, followed by San Mateo and Alameda counties. Girolami said he wants the trial within driving distance of Modesto.

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Peterson judge favors Santa Clara County for trial

Posted on Tue, Jan. 13, 2004

Peterson judge favors Santa Clara County for trial ALAMEDA, SAN MATEO AND ORANGE COUNTIES ALSO POSSIBILITIES

By Julia Prodis Sulek

Mercury News

Four California counties surveyed by the state have said they can take on the Scott Peterson double-murder trial without undue burden: Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo and Orange, according to a court statement released today.

Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami, who ruled last week that Peterson's trial must be moved from Modesto, will decide the final location on Tuesday after the prosecution and defense make their cases that day for their favorite locale.

Peterson, 31, is accused of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son in December 2003. The case generated so much publicity and public outcry, Girolami ruled that Peterson would have a better chance of a fair trial if it was moved out of Modesto.

Girolami told both sides last week that Santa Clara County was his top choice, followed by San Mateo and Alameda. Orange County is an unlikely venue because Girolami already rebuked a bid from Peterson's lawyer to move the trial to Los Angeles. Girolami said he wants the trial within driving distance of Modesto.

The Judicial Council of California, made up of California judges, surveyed a number of counties to determine ......

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Subsidy for criminal cases eyed

Posted on Wed, Jan. 14, 2004

Subsidy for criminal cases eyed

By Eric Stern
SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO - Lawmakers want to tighten guidelines for reimbursing counties for high-profile murder cases after a proposed subsidy for the Scott Peterson case triggered questions about exploding costs.

By 2005, the state will have spent almost $100 million from a fund giving prosecutors from smaller and medium-size counties virtually unlimited resources to put away some of the state's most infamous serial killers and murderers.

With the state's financial crunch, lawmakers are taking a tougher look at the rarely scrutinized program.

The program was established in 1961 and grew rapidly in the '90s, when lawmakers began carving out pieces of the budget to pay for certain murder cases, maneuvering around cost-control rules.

But the pipeline might be drying up as Modesto-area legislators work on a guaranteed subsidy for the Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office to cover costs of the Peterson case.

Peterson is accused of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.

"There are too many questions with the way the existing system works," said Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairman Darryl Steinberg, D-Sacramento. He stopped an effort last year to subsidize the Peterson case and has called for a review of the program.

"We need to look at it and develop criteria that allow us to.....

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Peterson attorneys to seek freedom for their client

Posted on Tue, Jan. 13, 2004

Peterson attorneys to seek freedom for their client

By Brian Anderson

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Lawyers for Scott Peterson will attempt to persuade a Stanislaus County judge Wednesday that an order holding the accused killer on murder charges was wrongfully issued.

In their request to set aside the preliminary hearing order, defense attorneys are expected to argue that Modesto police botched their investigation of the disappearance and slaying of Peterson's wife, Laci Peterson.

Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos said in a motion filed Dec. 22 that police and prosecutors ignored evidence exonerating Peterson of two murder counts. He called prosecutor's presentation of evidence at a November preliminary hearing a "shabby showing."

The procedure, known as a 995 motion, attacks the legitimacy of the holding order, which Judge Al Girolami issued Nov. 18 after deciding there was enough evidence to show that Peterson probably committed the crimes for which he was accused. The standard to hold someone for trial after a preliminary hearing is far lower than guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, which is required for a conviction.

Stanislaus County Judge Marie Silveira has been assigned to hear the request. If the motion is denied, the case moves forward as scheduled. If Silveira grants the motion, Peterson could be released from jail, an unlikely prospect. Prosecutors would then most likely file the charges again.

Prosecutors also could ask Silveira to send the case back to Girolami for further testimony or hear witnesses herself to correct minor errors in the preliminary hearing record.

Judges rarely grant defense 995 motions...........

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Four counties give OK to host Peterson trial

Four counties give OK to host Peterson trial

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

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(01-13) 17:33 PST MODESTO, Calif. (AP) --

Four counties have offered to host the murder trial of Scott Peterson in the killings of his wife and unborn son, including three in the San Francisco Bay area preferred by the judge in the case, court officials said Tuesday.

Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in Northern California and Orange County in Southern California are possible contenders for the trial that is expected to last five months, including jury selection, said Michael Tozzi, the executive officer of Stanislaus County Superior Court.

Judge Al Girolami will hold a hearing next Tuesday to consider where the case should be moved.

On Thursday, Girolami ruled that the extensive news coverage of the killing required him to move the case out of Laci Peterson's hometown to ensure that her husband gets a fair trial.

Peterson, 31, faces the death penalty if convicted of two counts of murder.

His wife was eight months pregnant when she was reported missing from their Modesto home on Christmas Eve 2002. The bodies of the mother-to-be and the fetus of the boy she was carrying washed ashore in San Francisco Bay four months later, two miles from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing the day she vanished.

The judge said he wants to hold the case within driving distance of Modesto to accommodate .......

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Investigation into CSUS survey may take months

Investigation into CSUS survey may take months

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Associated Press photo Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami ruled last week that the Scott Peterson trial should be moved. Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Orange counties are possibilities.

By Garth Stapley
The Modesto Bee

MODESTO - A university investigation into a faked survey scandal involving the Scott Peterson double-murder case may last several weeks or months, President Marvalene Hughes said Tuesday.

A preliminary inquiry launched Thursday at California State University, Stanislaus, which had been predicted to take a week, has evolved into the full-blown investigation, Hughes said.

“I want the community to have the patience that is needed in order to investigate this case thoroughly and appropriately,” she said.

Judge Al Girolami cited the 10-county survey, overseen by Professor Stephen Schoenthaler, in a decision Thursday to move the Peterson trial out of Modesto. Girolami didn’t know about the allegedly falsified survey data until later that day.

Scott Peterson, 31, is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Also Tuesday:

•Three Bay Area counties could handle Scott Peterson’s double-murder case, administrators of California’s court system said Tuesday. Officials also added a fourth possibility: Orange County in Southern California.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, which assists trial courts when a change of venue is ordered, said Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Orange counties would not be unduly burdened if they took the case.

• Another criminal justice student came forward to The Bee, bringing to nine the number who have admitted claimed fabricating survey responses. All said they were pressed for time during finals and worried about telephone bills because they were required to make dozens of lengthy, long-distance calls with their own phones.

• A national association of pollsters issued a rare official statement, calling the survey a disgrace if the allegations are true.

• Another judge extended until Feb. 10 the authority of Sharon Rocha over the estate of her daughter, Laci Peterson.

Professor remains on job

Schoenthaler continues to teach a course during the current winter term ending Feb. 4, university spokesman Don Hansen said, and is expected to teach other classes when spring semester begins Feb. 16. ...........

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Fallout Continues From Survey Scandal in Peterson Case

Fallout Continues From Survey Scandal in Peterson Case

Garth Stapley - Modesto Bee

MODESTO, Calif. -- A survey scandal in the Scott Peterson case will delay another murder trial in Fresno County whose defendant - an alleged Muslim terrorist - relied on the same survey expert.

Also Monday, the leader of a national surveyors' association condemned the supervision of the Peterson poll.

Stephen Schoenthaler, a criminology professor at California State University, Stanislaus, is scheduled to testify Friday in Fresno regarding a change-of-venue survey that he compiled for a murder case.

But the defendant's attorney said Monday that he will seek a delay of "at least several weeks" while the Peterson poll is sorted out.

"We're looking into what's happening in Stanislaus County right now, as it might affect our case," said Peter Jones, a deputy public defender in Fresno County. He represents Ramadan Abdur-Rauf Abdullah, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the slaying of a deputy sheriff.

Last week, seven of Schoenthaler's fall semester students said they falsified all or part of the surveys that the professor required the students to submit for 20 percent of their grades. Schoenthaler compiled the data and concluded that unbiased jurors were not likely to be found in Stanislaus County.

An eighth student came forward to The Bee during the weekend. Prosecutors have made a public appeal for the students to contact them as well.

Thursday, Superior Court Judge Al Girolami - unaware that some of the polling was fabricated - cited the survey in his decision to move Peterson's trial, probably to the Bay Area............

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Peterson poll, costs on trial

Peterson poll, costs on trial

BY GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: January 13, 2004, 07:17:27 AM PST

A survey scandal in the Scott Peterson case will delay a murder trial in Fresno County whose defendant -- an alleged Muslim terrorist -- relied on the same survey expert.

Also Monday, the leader of a national surveyors' association condemned the supervision of the Peterson poll.

Stephen Schoenthaler, a criminology professor at California State University, Stanislaus, is scheduled to testify Friday in Fresno regarding a change-of-venue survey that he compiled for a murder case there. But the defendant's attorney said Monday that he will seek a delay of "at least several weeks" while the Peterson poll is sorted out.

"We're looking into what's happening in Stanislaus County right now, as it might affect our case," said Peter Jones, a deputy public defender in Fresno County. He represents Ramadan Abdur-Rauf Abdullah, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the slaying of a deputy sheriff.

Last week, seven of Schoenthaler's fall semester students said they falsified all or part of the surveys that the professor required the students to submit for 20 percent of their grade. Schoenthaler compiled the data and concluded that unbiased jurors were not likely to be found in Stanislaus County.

An eighth student came forward to The Bee during the weekend. Prosecutors have made a public appeal for the students to contact them, as well.

Thursday, Superior Court Judge Al Girolami cited the survey in his decision to move Peterson's trial, probably to the Bay Area.

Peterson, 31, is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Prosecutors ........

[Velveeta]

Geragos repeated verbatim to the Judge today the scenario about the dogs walkers telling the Laci look-alike (black pant, black pants) to shut her F *ing dog up. Geragos felt the need to just "say it".

[Velveeta]

John F. Kerry
Mark F. Geragos

yep!

[Velveeta]

Thought bubble above Scott's head: "Dang! Guess I won't be able to keep that date I made for tonight after all!"

Jackie and Lee weren't there today but Susan and Joe were there representing the inmate's family.

I hear ole Susie and Joe arrived together in the 2 seater car! (ba da bump)

Jackie and Lee were seen at Neverland Ranch in time for afternoon Koran study.

[Velveeta]

Or...maybe the theory is that "someone" cut the baby from her womb (no cut marks on the autopsy)and the baby lived for several more weeks. Then what? They killed the baby? Baby died tragically? But the murderers were so kind as to dump him in the bay right next to Laci??

Sentimental satanic kidnapper murders.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Man, Dev....

If Geragos reads this forum, I bet he has nightmares about the details you're able to keep track of.

I pray Distaso manages to ply all of these little threads into a sturdy rope to hang Scott.

You are very good! :-)

Pinz

[pinz-n-needlez]

It's interesting to watch Geragos accuse the state of a mistatement, then defend Scott from it. All the while ignoring the REAL stuff the state is saying. (Christmas Eve isn't at night, the motif is Amber, etc.)

If Lace was 32 weeks at her last appointment, and the coroner says the baby was 33 - 39 weeks, That doesn't prove the baby lived any longer. There is a 2 week leeway with the best of ob calendars... did Laci ovulate early or late in her menstrual cycle? Predicting gestional age is notoriously difficult. And babies develop within a 2 week window even when deemed full-term.

And those foul mouthed dog yellers were talking to a woman with a white top and black pants, it couldn't have been Laci, according to the same coroner! The eyewitnesses also saw a woman wearing black and white.

Please judge, let CTV televise this....

Pinz

[pinz-n-needlez]

er, motif = motive

[Howlin]

I have a question.

I missed all the shows tonight becasue of phone calls, but I got the impression that Geragos has now said that Connor lived some time after Laci died, is that right?

Well, here is my question: how is it that the baby was BORN when she never gave birth?

And how is it that the umbilical cord never fell off?

[Rusty Roberts]

I caught the end of LKL tonight, and Beth Karas from CTV made the point that the "witness" who "saw" Laci at the park with the two men yelling about the dog etc, has been debunked in court. Apparently, the prosecution went back and tracked the nurse's break time and found that there is no way that she could have seen Laci and the dog at the right time according to her break schedule.

When the transcripts are available for LKL, this will be good to read, as Johnny C and The Pixler kept going on and on about this witness and these foul mouthed men, obviously how dangerous they must have been, lol. Zap, they're outta here!

[Howlin]

I heard Cochran going on about the age of the baby. How dumb do they think we are?

[Rusty Roberts]

Yup, it appears the defense is cruisin' fer a bruisin', and Scotty is not liking it one bit, lol.

[maggief]

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Analysis of Scott Peterson Murder Case Developments

Aired January 14, 2004 - 21:00 ET

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0401/14/lkl.00.html

[maggief]

...CALLER: Yes. Hi. One thing that really -- the question is, basically, is that it doesn't seem like anybody really knows much about ultrasounding because there's a huge variance with ultrasounding. I know that, for a fact, my child -- I had four ultrasounds in the pregnancy, and my child was two pounds heavier than what they said he was going to be, which would make him anywhere between four to six weeks older.

KING: Johnnie, any comment on ultrasound in this case?

COCHRAN: Well, I'm not an expert on ultrasound, but I'll tell you this. At the trial there will be experts probably on both sides. And I think that it is a science of which experts may tend to disagree. But you know, from the defense standpoint, what they want to show is that the child was older than the child would have been if he had died on December 23, and as such, continued to live for a period of time, was part of an abduction and then was placed in the bay at a later time. I think that's what Geragos is going to argue. And I'd be surprised if there aren't experts who will back them up on that point. Don't you think so, Nancy?

GRACE: Well, a friend of yours and mine, Dr. Michael Baden, who is very well respected, has spoken directly on this issue and this case, and Dr. Baden says that an obstetrician's estimate can be way off by several weeks when it comes to 32 weeks and on. Why, Larry? Because at 32 weeks, the fetus typically doubles in weight. The caller is absolutely correct. And because this body had been in the water and can be bloated for that reason, I think the only way they're going to be able to tell is to measure the calcium in the bones, bottom line.

PIXLEY: But Larry, Nancy will have to admit also that the fact that this county coroner is the one that made the determination regarding the gestational age hurts the prosecution. It will be the prosecution's own witness, or one of the state's own potential witnesses, who made that determination. Now the prosecution has to undue that with their own evidence and their own experts.

GRACE: That's true.

PIXLEY: And if they come up with somebody, as Nancy is suggesting, then maybe it will all work out for them. But Johnnie's right, there will be competing experts on the issue.

KING: Help me with something. If that child was a different age, would that mean that Scott is not the murderer?

GRACE: If they can prove...

COCHRAN: It could.

GRACE: ... that the child is definitely much older than the 32 weeks it was, the state's got a big, big problem. But frankly, in the condition of baby Conner's body, Larry, and the tests they've done, they're comparing it to an ultrasound, as the caller said, that was done back in September, all right? They're going to have a hard time proving he was over 32 weeks.
(snip)

[maggief]

...KARAS: Well, some people think it's probably going to be in Alameda County, some people say Santa Clara. I think Geragos is hoping it's going to be in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, but that's the most conservative. I'm not sure why he would want it there, except that it's easy for him, it's most convenient for him.

I just want to add, Larry, there has been reference time and again tonight, two eyewitnesses in the park, or one eyewitness, seeing Laci with two men. That witness was dealt with at the preliminary hearing. She worked at a facility near the park, she was on a smoke break when they determined when her breaks were, her timing was way off, like by an hour. So she was already dealt with at the preliminary hearing. I mean, it's a credibility issue. She couldn't have seen Laci at the time she said she saw her.

(snip)

This is Mf'nG's star witness?!?

[Devil_Anse]

He might be saying that the baby outlived Laci, or it also appears he might be saying that Laci was kept somewhere for weeks after she disappeared, and that then both she and the baby were killed.

I guess he'll pick which of the above as soon as he determines which is most convenient to him.

Good point about the baby not having been born... he DID still have the whole cord still attached, with no little tied-off place, didn't he? Well, you SEE, these Satanists just cut out the baby, just sliced her open... yeah, right!

And how about this: let's assume arguendo that Geragos' latest cockamamie story is true. Okay, Laci and the growing baby stay alive for some weeks after Dec. 23. (Being held prisoner by some all-powerful fiend, no doubt.) Then, some weeks after Dec. 23, the bad guy finally kills the still-pregnant Laci, thus also killing Connor. Then the bad guy dumps her in the Bay.

If that's the case, what a huge coincidence it is, how on earth is it, that LACI JUST HAPPENS TO BE WEARING, WHEN SHE'S FINALLY MURDERED, THE VERY SAME PANTS SHE WAS WEARING AT HER LAST RELIABLE LIVE SIGHTING ON DEC. 23??

[Devil_Anse]

I know, makes lotsa sense, doesn't it?

Okay. They cut the baby out and kept him. (Never mind that his umbilical cord, apparently the whole thing, wasn't it? was still attached--guess they took the baby and the placenta out and just kept them together...)

So, see, they sliced the baby out of Laci's stomach. But they did so while she was wearing those same tan pants Amy saw her in on the 23rd, the night b/f she was abducted. And the tan pants stayed on her, with their drawstring tied securely around her waist, in spite of the furious cutting and hacking that was going on on Laci's abdomen...

I think it's fairly well-established that a baby of that gestational age, 7-8 lunar months, can live outside the womb, in this day and age.... BUT doesn't such a baby just HAVE to have extra medical attention, maybe hospitalization, in order to live? Wonder what hospital the satanists checked the baby into? (I'm sure they visited him every day and brought him little stuffed Exorcist dolls.)

[Devil_Anse]

No, pinz, it ain't me! We are all, taken together, Geragos' worst nightmare---those awful people who just wouldn't believe that Susan McDougal didn't remember, who just didn't believe that W. Ryder didn't REALLY steal... just normal, ordinary people. Apparently Geragos abhors people like us.

[RGSpincich]

Orange County is obviously easier for the Peterson family

I hadn't even considered them, your probably right. Although they do have free reign of an over mortgaged house in Modesto.

[Devil_Anse]

I think it was Beth Karas, on LKL, who reminded everyone that there was like a 1-hour discrepancy in that hospital/smoker lady's alleged sighting, too. That is, according to testimony at the prelim. Remember that bit about the taped interview? I have a vague memory of it.

[Devil_Anse]

Yeah, I'm so glad Beth Karas brought that up. I want to go back and re-read that part of the transcript!