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 ........

[runningbear]

Wednesday's Details

Posted on Tuesday, January 13 2004 at 12:25 PM PST ----

Requests for Media seats in the courtroom have been received and e-mails were sent this morning to those who faxed in a request. Please check the e-mail account you indicated on that form.

What is a 995 Motion? Click here to read the 995 Penal Code law

Wednesday's hearing will be in the same courtroom as before - Department 2. Court begins at 8:30 am. The Honorable Judge Marie Silveira will preside. The court anticipates the hearing to last approximately 1 hour unless unusual circumstances are presented.

Pool cameras are CourtTV and the Modesto Bee. Pool Audio is KFBK Sacramento.

[runningbear]

Pinging.....

[runningbear]

Pinging.....

[MEG33]

Thanks

[Devil_Anse]

I don't get it. Why is Orange County on the list? Solely to placate Geragos? Is there some procedural or other rule in CA that says "if a lawyer is a loudmouth, and files a change of venue motion, he must be given some of what he asks for, even if rightfully opposed"?

[runningbear]

Not sure.. I saw that too. I think Santa Clara is getting it. Based on the recent news published lately. We'll know maybe today?

[Constitution Day]

[maggief]

"The Judicial Council of California, made up of California judges, surveyed a number of counties to determine which ones could handle the Peterson trial. The council submitted its report Tuesday to Stanislaus County Superior Court."

Should this survey be trusted?!?

(Thanks for the pings, rb.)

[Velveeta]

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.

Oh, great.

[RGSpincich]

Orange County? From Modesto to OC would not pose undue hardship? Do they have maps at the Judicial Council.

[Devil_Anse]

I know--I don't get it!

I can say this much, though. Yes, a request to change venue based on publicity "tainting" potential jurors--yes, that might be legitimate, but never have I heard of the requestor being able to dictate where the venue is changed to.

I mean, "forum-shopping" is frowned on by courts. And there are many mechanisms in place, in various contexts, to prevent it. This matter at hand is not exactly forum-shopping, but it's very close, IMO.

[Spunky]

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

Did I miss something? Does this mean that Sharon Rocha got authority over Laci's estate and they are just extending the time she can start that authority?

[Tijeras_Slim]

A bit of free advice for Scotty.

[Velveeta]

From Court TV's online chat transcript with Nancy Grace:
http://www.courttv.com/talk/chat_transcripts/2004/0106grace.html

"Nancy Grace: Apparently, yes, according to the New York Times, a member of the Nation of Islam has moved into Geragos's law offices."

ROFL!! This is too much!

[runningbear]

this sucks, and stinks!!! Geragos is full it!!

[Diver Dave]

From the Opinions page in the Modesto Bee - 1/13/04:

University's falsified survey results another blot on the region's character

By John Michael Flint


The CNN talking head says "In Modesto, California, today..." and you wince. What now?
This now: To the sad list of names forever linked to a Modesto dateline -- think Cary, think Gary, think Scott -- add that of Stephen Schoenthaler and at least eight of his criminal justice students at California State University, Stanislaus (as Turkey Tech prefers to be called these days).

The T.T. Eight have admitted falsifying "results" of a survey on attitudes here and in the Bay Area relating to the Scott Peterson case. When they discovered that Schoenthaler had presented these data to the court as evidence in a change of venue motion, they 'fessed up.

The students, all of whom are anonymous as this is being written, offered two excuses for cheating.

First, they claimed that it was too time-consuming to be dumped on them at the time of final exams. This sounds a lot like sniveling when you consider that there were more than 60 students involved in the survey, and most of them seemed to have managed the task. On the other hand, it isn't safe to assume that those who've admitted the deception are the only ones who did it.

The other student complaint definitely resonates: that they were expected to pay for the long-distance calls out of their own pockets. Given the number of calls required, this could have amounted to a considerable pile of change, especially for those students with little or no change to spare. Having been one such, long ago, I can testify that the prospect would have been daunting, if not impossible.

As news of this latest local stain spread, additional criticism was leveled at Schoenthaler, specifically at the lack of controls involved: students were simply "on their honor" to actually make the calls -- there was no supervision and no call-backs to verify that the people supposedly called really had been called.

When he first heard about his students' admissions, Schoenthaler said it "seems impossible" that he could have missed the fakery. Really? Given the absence of oversight, one has to wonder exactly how the professor thinks he might have caught it.

The T.T. Eight did wrong, no doubt. They cheated, and they'll pay for that. But when they realized the use to which their creativity was being put, they owned up to what they did, knowing it would cost them. They didn't get caught -- they stepped up.

Schoenthaler also needs to answer for his part. To take data collected (or, as it turns out, not) in such a loosey-goosey mannner, and then present it as fact to a court in a case involving a charge of premeditated murder requires a detailed and compelling explanation.

The school will eventually render judgment, the media will move on to the Next Big Thing and it will once again be safe to watch TV. But a bad taste is going to linger.

Leonard Henry Courtney observed (Mark Twain quoted him, misattributing it to Benjamin Disraeli) that there are three types of lies: "Lies, damned lies, and statistics." This episode neatly rolls all three into one.


Flint is a Modesto resident and frequent guest columnist to the Mod Bee.

[Velveeta]

Do you think the Nation of Islam member will accompany Geragos and the Petersons to court today?

It might have been Islamic extremists/satanist-kidnapper-burglar-nazi-homeless-drunken neighbor-artists who took Laci, ya know. ;-)

[Neenah]

Did anyone ever get to the point where you just want to throw your hands up, but you can't because you are at the porcelain on your knees when you hear about our judicial system ??????

[An American In Dairyland]

>>I don't get it. Why is Orange County on the list? Solely to placate Geragos? <<

I don't know if it has to do with Geragos. But if it does, I don't see how Orange County is beneficial to Scott. Orange County is not LA County by any means. My father used to live in Orange County and he always said it was "Redneck Country" meaning it has a very conservative population. Not the kind of population to give Scott a sympathetic or easy pass on killing his wife and baby.

[maggief]

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0401/13/pzn.00.html

PAULA ZAHN NOW

Aired January 13, 2004 - 20:00 ET



...ZAHN: There will be no news cameras in the courtroom when Michael Jackson is arraigned on child molestation charges on Friday. Joining us to look at Michael Jackson case and more, Linda Fairstein, former head of the sex crimes unit of the New York district attorney's office, and she also happens to be the author of a brand new book out today called "The Kills."

It's always good to see you, welcome. Let's start out by talking about the Michael Jackson case. Do you think the prosecution has a sound case?

LINDA FAIRSTEIN, AUTHOR, "THE KILLS": I would hope the prosecution has a sound case. There's a history between this prosecutor and the defendant, and I'd like to make sure he wouldn't go out and try this again if you didn't have the case and the facts.

ZAHN: But as a prosecutor, how do you deal with a videotaped statement, an affidavit by the same accuser who suggested nothing bad, nothing inappropriate happened there?

FAIRSTEIN: As a prosecutor, you'd have to know the reason for this inconsistency. There is nothing more devastating to a case than a tape that will show your witness saying the counterside, the exact opposite of what he or she is saying in court. There has to be an awfully good reason for it, or that too may not survive the direct case of a prosecutor.

ZAHN: Onto the Kobe Bryant case now. This is an area of the law you've had a tremendous amount of exposure to. How do you think that case is shaping up?

FAIRSTEIN: I think the prosecution went out on this way too early.

ZAHN: Why?

FAIRSTEIN: Well, I think most of us were shocked a few months back to find out there were two separate DNA profiles when this young lady turned up at the hospital with her underwear and the medical exam. I thought for a long time, as did many other lawyers in this country, to prevent a victim's sexual history from being an issue at this trial.

ZAHN: That's exactly what this trial will be about, her sexual history, how many partners she had? FAIRSTEIN: If there was a sexual interaction with someone else after she claims she and Kobe Bryant had this event together and before she went to the police, everybody is entitled to scrutinize that. For 30 years I have prosecuted these cases, and I have never had a sexual assault victim who claimed to have been raped and went home and had a sexual encounter consensually with someone else before reporting the rape.

ZAHN: Are you suggesting you do not believe this accuser?

FAIRSTEIN: No, I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting the prosecution should never have charged when they did without knowing there was a second DNA profile and without knowing whose profile that is.

ZAHN: Finally, let's look at the Scott Peterson case. Scott has change of venue. Will that have a major impact, you think, on the outcome of this trial?

FAIRSTEIN: I don't think so. I think -- and in this case, the Peterson case, I think the prosecution and the police have done an extraordinary job in preventing leaks. I assume there's an extraordinary amount of evidence and information found in the search of the home and on the boat that will be the pieces of this puzzle put together. But I think once we get beyond the talking heads, that this is a case -- there will be solid evidence to present no matter what the venue.

ZAHN: Linda, finally, I'm going to put you on the spot here. Verdict scorecard. Michael Jackson, you think a jury will find what?

FAIRSTEIN: I think he's probably guilty. Not sure a jury will find it, but the prosecution mounts the case correctly, perhaps they will.

ZAHN: Kobe Bryant?

FAIRSTEIN: I think we may find he should never have been charged in this case. Maybe successfully by his team have a motion to dismiss before the trial as the evidence unfolds. I think he'd be acquitted by a jury.

ZAHN: Scott Peterson?

FAIRSTEIN: I think Scott Peterson is the easiest of these cases for a prosecutor to try, and I think from the evidence we know -- and I assume there's more -- that he will be found guilty by an intelligent jury.

ZAHN: Looks like a case you might have been comfortable trying yourself.

FAIRSTEIN: I would love to be in the middle of that one.

ZAHN: Linda Fairstein, we always appreciate your insight. Thank you. And we want to thank you all for being with us tonight. Thanks so much for joining us. "Larry King Live" is next. Have a good night, hope you'll be back with us again tomorrow night.