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Prosecutors favor Santa Clara County location for murder trial
The Contra Costa Times ^ | Jan. 19, 2004 | Brian Anderson

Posted on 01/20/2004 5:48:01 AM PST by runningbear

Prosecutors favor Santa Clara County location for murder trial

Posted on Mon, Jan. 19, 2004

Prosecutors favor Santa Clara County location for murder trial

By Brian Anderson
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Scott Peterson's prosecutors have urged a Stanislaus County judge to move the upcoming trial to the Bay Area's Santa Clara County, but also have asked that Sacramento County be considered.

In court documents released over the weekend, prosecutor David Harris said Santa Clara County in the South Bay has a large enough jury pool, is close to Modesto and has had less media coverage of the disappearance and slaying of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.

Harris compared Santa Clara County to Alameda, Orange and San Mateo counties, which the state Administrative Office of the Courts suggested could host the trial of Scott Peterson on charges accusing him of killing his wife.

Harris said prosecutors preferred San Mateo second followed by Alameda and Orange counties. He added, however, that Orange should be excluded from the list because costs associated with flying in upward of 175 expected witnesses, among other things, would be huge.

Harris also asked Judge Al Girolami to once again consider holding the trial in Sacramento County. At a hearing earlier this month, Girolami eliminated that location along with other San Joaquin Valley counties, saying there has been too much publicity surrounding the case there.

But new evidence suggested that a poll cited by defense attorneys in their request to change the trial venue was fabricated. Students of a California State University professor who oversaw the study have told reporters for the Modesto Bee that they made up the results.

The study, a class project that accounted for 20 percent of a final grade, had indicated Scott Peterson could not be tried in front of a fair and impartial jury in Central Valley counties, such as Merced, Fresno, Sacramento and Stanislaus.

Professor Stephen Schoenthaler has been subpoenaed to a Tuesday court hearing in Modesto, where the judge and lawyers are expected to address the issue. A final decision on where to move the trial also is anticipated.

Laci Peterson vanished Dec. 24, 2002 and was later.......

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Peterson Prosecutors Make Santa Clara Co. Top Choice

Peterson Prosecutors Make Santa Clara Co. Top Choice
Harris Says Orange County Should Not Be Considered

POSTED: 10:39 PM PST January 19, 2004

MODESTO, Calif. -- Prosecutors say in court papers that if Scott Peterson's capital murder trial can't be held in Stanislaus or Sacramento counties, they would prefer that it be held in Santa Clara County.

A document filed by Stanislaus County Senior Deputy District Attorney David Harris late Friday does not say why he prefers Santa Clara County over Alameda and San Mateo counties, the two other Bay Area counties that Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami is considering as venues for Peterson's trial.

Harris said only that San Mateo is his second choice and Alameda is his third. Orange County also is being considered, but Harris said it should be rejected because it's too far away.

Girolami will hold a hearing in his courtroom in Modesto Tuesday morning on the issue of where Peterson should be tried on charges that he murdered his wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son, Connor, in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 2002. If convicted, Peterson faces the death penalty.

Earlier this month, Girolami said the trial shouldn't be held in Stanislaus or Sacramento counties because the nationally watched case has received so much publicity there that Peterson could not receive a fair trial.

The state Administrative Office of the Courts has suggested that the trial could be moved to Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in the Bay Area as well as to Orange County.

Peterson's defense lawyer, Mark Geragos of Los Angeles, hasn't said which of those four counties is his first choice.

In his court filing, Harris said Orange County is the most distant site of the four, as the possible site in Santa Ana is 340 miles away from the Stanislaus County courthouse in Modesto.

The proposed site in Alameda County, in Oakland, is the closest at a distance of 81 miles, followed by the San Jose site in Santa Clara County at 87.2 miles and the Redwood City site in San Mateo County at 88.4 miles.

Harris said Girolami should reject Orange County as a possible site because of the distance issue, saying that county is "cost prohibitive" and would "pose an undue hardship to witnesses and citizens of Stanislaus County."

The prosecutor said San Mateo seems to have had the least amount of media coverage of the counties being considered, while Alameda and Orange seem to have had the most.

In a separate but related motion, Harris asked Girolami to reconsider his decision to move the trial out of Stanislaus County because of new evidence suggesting that a poll defense attorneys cited in their change-of-venue request was fabricated.

Students of a California State University, Stanislaus professor who oversaw the study have said that they made up the results because of time and money pressures.

The study claimed that Peterson could not get a fair and impartial jury in Central Valley counties, including Merced, Fresno, Sacramento and Stanislaus counties.

However, when Girolami made his ruling he said the primary factor in his decision was media coverage and that the survey was used only in part to help him make his choice.

Harris' motion says an unidentified witness has come forward to tell prosecutors that she has known the professor who oversaw the study for a long time, has worked for him for a number of years and "has personal knowledge of the professor falsifying research data in the past." ..........

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Going Postal
A&E's Between the Lines is a slow-going treat for epistolary geeks.

Going Postal
A&E's Between the Lines is a slow-going treat for epistolary geeks.

By Dana Stevens
Posted Monday, Jan. 19, 2004, at 4:04 PM PT

By what felicitous gift of gab did the developers of Between the Lines (Fridays, 10 p.m. ET) manage to convince the money people to throw down for a four-part miniseries consisting entirely of celebrities reading aloud from the correspondence of famous people? A&E's new series, an investigation of letters throughout history, hosted by Robert Downey Jr., originates from a belief in the power of the written word—not exactly a box-office goldmine. I can see the concept working on PBS or C-SPAN, but this is Arts & Entertainment, the channel whose January lineup has already given us the baffling new reality show Airline, as well as tonight's thoughtful one-hour special Who Killed Laci Peterson? As the national attention span grows ever shorter, the epistolary nerd in me—the one who still sends the occasional paper letter and bids on typewriters on eBay—finds something irresistible about the singularly poky prospect of watching Hilary Clinton don reading glasses and dip into Eleanor Roosevelt's mailbag. (And on a Friday night, yet!)

Unfortunately, like a wallflower ......

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Judge to decide Peterson trial location

Laci Peterson

Judge to decide Peterson trial location

A hearing will be held Tuesday in Modesto, California, to decide where to conduct the murder trial for Scott Peterson. A judge has ruled that Peterson couldn't get a fair trial in his hometown because of pre-trial publicity. He's accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. A court administrator has suggested four other possible locations. Prosecutors prefer Santa Clara County if the judge doesn't reconsider Sacramento. Other possibilities are Alameda, Orange and San Mateo counties. Prosecutors say they have several hundred witnesses and the cost of transporting them to Orange County in Southern California could be nearly 100-thousand dollars. Defense attorney Mark Geragos has said repeatedly that he wanted Los Angeles County, where he practices. ........

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(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: avoidingchildsupport; baby; babyunborn; conner; deathpenaltytime; dontubelievemyalibi; getarope; ibefishing; laci; lacipeterson; smallbaby; smallchild; sonkiller; unborn; wifekiller
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To: Velveeta
Wouldn't THAT facial expression be priceless??? Frankly, Snotts expressions are getting mighty fierce already. I hope he's about ready to self-destruct by the time Amber testifies.
101 posted on 01/20/2004 8:16:52 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: Velveeta
"man in a white coat drops a lung" AND the press rush in and stomp it to death!!
102 posted on 01/20/2004 8:19:10 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: grizzfan
This theory would indeed explain her interest in Scott. Stranger things have happened, especially in a screwed-up group like Scott's family!

But I think that if Janey and Scott had ever been a clandestine "item", that Jackie P. would have been angry about it... I don't see Jackie P. as being the type who would be easy on any woman who had a sexual connection to her precious baby (including, btw, Laci...)
103 posted on 01/20/2004 8:21:13 PM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Canadian Outrage
Using the crisis to maybe get back with her husband? Yeah, that's something plausible too. But, hey, it doesn't seem to be working... uh-oh, looks like Scott will have to go out and kill MORE people if Janey's little scheme is gonna work! LOL!
104 posted on 01/20/2004 8:22:34 PM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Canadian Outrage
Just as he offered a thinly-veiled threat to anyone who would be a witness against Michael Jackson.
105 posted on 01/20/2004 8:23:28 PM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Canadian Outrage
EWWWWW!!! Bluh spattr!

I am gonna QUIT making up bizarre scenarios about Jackie P. and her Condition... (closing eyes, concentrating)

But then I'll just come back on here and read one of someone else's bizarre scenarios, and start dying laughing again!!
106 posted on 01/20/2004 8:26:10 PM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Devil_Anse
if Janey and Scott had ever been a clandestine "item", that Jackie P. would have been angry about it...

Jackie P. wouldn't have known.

107 posted on 01/20/2004 8:27:50 PM PST by Lucy Lake
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To: Devil_Anse; Canadian Outrage
I told mrs d a little earlier today about Geragos' comment that the defendant's mother was gravely ill.

Mrs.d's response... "the defendant's wife is gravely dead."
108 posted on 01/20/2004 8:29:21 PM PST by Diver Dave
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To: Devil_Anse
Well it's EXTREMELY difficult to feel "any" pity for the Petersons. They have done a lot of really awful things since this happened. Like trying to "steal" Laci's part of the real property asset. Then she demanded THAT ring back. That was Scott's you know! GAG Since WHEN do engagement rings get returned under any circumstance and especially one like this. She showed her greedy self CLEARLY AT the beginning of this tragic mess.
109 posted on 01/20/2004 8:31:30 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: Diver Dave
"PERFECT"!! What a sharp answer and oh so true.
110 posted on 01/20/2004 8:33:12 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: Diver Dave
DD - is San Jose within Santa Clara County? The reason I ask is that a fella I know is from San Jose and he has received a Jury summons I think he said. Either that or a Jury Questionnaire!
111 posted on 01/20/2004 8:35:57 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: Canadian Outrage
If I've got my geography right, yes it is.
I heard earlier today that the trial would be held in either San Mateo or Redwood City.
112 posted on 01/20/2004 8:40:46 PM PST by Diver Dave
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To: Diver Dave
Great!! Thanks DD. It would be FABULOUS if Nully (null and void is his screen name here) could make it onto the Jury. He's an unemployed engineer at the moment and he's got a very good head on his shoulders. He's also Conservative.
113 posted on 01/20/2004 9:13:02 PM PST by Canadian Outrage (All us Western Canuks belong South!!)
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To: grizzfan
I wouldn't put it past Snott or Janey! You could be on to something.
114 posted on 01/20/2004 9:20:11 PM PST by Velveeta
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To: Canadian Outrage
ROFL!
115 posted on 01/20/2004 9:22:14 PM PST by Velveeta
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To: Velveeta
Ron Grantski just went to stretch his legs and...ah, ain't dat a shame... man in white coat falls down and drops a lung.

Toooo funny!! I am supposed to be quiet, reading this thread after the family is asleep! Posts this funny should be illegal!!

116 posted on 01/20/2004 10:40:08 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Canadian Outrage
Hi Canadian................Hope this thing gets going I need some diversion from housework.....it is going to be televised on CTV isn't it.............Cameras have been kept out long enough......think any chance them picking a juror in Florida? LOL If a certain Michael Schiavo were to ever be charged with attempted murder I would fight to get on that jury
117 posted on 01/20/2004 11:32:41 PM PST by fiesti
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To: Canadian Outrage
I should have read one post further before spouting off. But true enough. I'd like to set a match to that damn oxygen tank!

LOL BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM scratch the transplant
118 posted on 01/20/2004 11:46:48 PM PST by fiesti
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To: runningbear
Does he look like a happy camper?

Heck no, the police took all his camping equip away from him!!! ROFL!!!

119 posted on 01/21/2004 1:19:37 AM PST by blondee123
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To: Jackie-O
Dosen't your skin crawl every time he sucks on his bucky-beaver teeth?!

OH YES!!!!

120 posted on 01/21/2004 1:21:31 AM PST by blondee123
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