Prosecutors favor Santa Clara County location for murder trial

The Contra Costa Times ^ | Jan. 19, 2004 | Brian Anderson

[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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[RGSpincich]

Nice to see Janey working as Jackie's caddy.

[Jackie-O]

Do you think Snotty is a Liberal??

[Devil_Anse]

Nah! I doubt he has any deeply-held political or moral beliefs in either direction.

I mean, a small child has as much chance as Scott, of having serious opinions on such things as liberal vs. conservative. B/C a small child is still self-centered. In that sense, since he is clearly narcissistic, Scott is still a small child or infant. He can't let go of his Almighty Self long enough to think in terms of the wider world, and of things like liberalism or conservatism, or anything in between.

He will continue to polish up the old Image. For example, if he sees liberal men as having a cool, attractive image, then liberalism will be for him. Or, if he thinks conservative men are more masculine looking, for example, then he will strike a pose as a "conservative".

[Devil_Anse]

Yeah--to see the slavishness of Janey towards that woman, year in and year out, one just has to wonder: WHAT has Jackie GOT on her??

[Jackie-O]

I heard that one of Geragross' arguments to move the trial to Orange County today was Jackie's frail health. Talking heads were appalled that he would plea to the court for sympathy for Snotty and his loved ones...this case is about the vicious murders Laci and Connor and the grief and hardship that the victims of this heinous murder are enduring right now!
I wonder if Snotty was grinning thru that argument!

[Devil_Anse]

THAT has got to be the ultimate INSULT!

What the HELL does Jackie P have to do with it?? Is she taking the rap for her son now? He is and was an adult. Many a person goes on trial w/o ANYONE out there from his family.

The idea that the person who is the No. 1 apologist for that mistake of nature, Scott, should have her needs considered at all, is truly an insult. If her health doesn't permit her, then she'll have to stay home or stay in the hospital, and wait for reports from others who attend the trial.

She's a real attention-grabber, always tries to take center stage. Scott's on trial for his life, Laci and Connor are dead, and it's all about HER. Puh-leeze!

[drjulie]

"... last time they tried a death penalty case was 1991, jury convicted defendant and sent him to death row."

At least we know that they can convict and sentence to death there. Of course, JoEllen will scour the county for mush heads - probably women who will think Scott is too cute to be a killer.

[Jackie-O]

Honestly!! If I were Sharon listening to this insulting argument in court today, I would just have to go over and pinch Wacky's feed tube on her tank..DONE, end of argument. No need to worry about Wacky anymore!

[Devil_Anse]

And then IMO, a good move would be to grab the oxygen tank and whack Geragos ever so gently upside the head with it. #CLANK!#

[drjulie]

"They may even hate this pathological serial liar."

It is going to be hard, actually, to find jurors (from the defense perspective). At this point there is absolutely nothing sympathetic about Scott. He's darn hard to like. The defense is going to have an uphill battle. Also, this jury will have to be death penalty qualified. That will be beneficial to the prosecution.

[Devil_Anse]

Note to Geragos: order some sweaters for Scott, so he can affect that Menendez "cool college boy" air.

[drjulie]

"Yeah--to see the slavishness of Janey towards that woman, year in and year out, one just has to wonder: WHAT has Jackie GOT on her??"

You know that is one of the great mysteries of this whole thing. Janey is a daughter-in-law for heaven's sake. I heard somewhere that she is even separated from her husband (Jackie or Lee's son-their family tree is too complicated for me). And to see Janey fawn over Scott - it's just plain gross.

[drjulie]

"Note to Geragos: order some sweaters for Scott, so he can affect that Menendez "cool college boy" air."

Maybe they should get a female defense attorney to sit at the table and act motherly (a little cheek pinching and collar straightening). Where is Leslie Abramson these days?

[Devil_Anse]

I KNOWWWWW... a PREGNANT female defense attorney! Wouldn't pregnancy make her look even more motherly?

Oh, wait... (whap! Another great idea ends up in the circular file...)

As for Leslie, I don't guess she ever recovered from her angst at having had to defend one of those Menendezes for slave wages, in the second trial. (The money was used up, there had been that mistrial, and Leslie tried to withdraw, but the judge said it was way too late for her to withdraw... bwaahahaha!)

[drjulie]

"I heard that one of Geragross' arguments to move the trial to Orange County today was Jackie's frail health."

I think I also read that Geragos offered not to declare Scott indigent if they moved the trial to Orange County. Has that been discussed yet? This guy seems ethically challenged.

[Devil_Anse]

Janey is almost reminiscent of the Manson women, following their cult leader. She's like a "true believer" or something.

[drjulie]

".....a PREGNANT female defense attorney"

LOL - I don't think we'll see anyone THAT motherly. On a more serious note I do think that a pregnant Amber on the stand will be quite powerful - a reminder to the jury that they are considering the case of a pregnant women who was murdered. I can't imagine Geragos would want her testifying before her delivery.

[drjulie]

"She's like a "true believer" or something."

But why??? There's alot more to this story. I have a gut feeling about it - just wish I knew.

[Devil_Anse]

I just don't believe this case will be tried at any time b/f Amber's delivery!

Hey, but you know, if Amber has a months-old infant at the time of the trial, it would be a nice touch if she held the baby while on the witness stand.

Janey P. Baffling. I mean, I knew a family who, after the divorce of their son, saw more of the ex-daughter-in-law than they did of the son. They made it plain to her that they still loved her. And there weren't children, so it wasn't that. They did not reject their son, either--just saw the two of them at separate times, I guess.

One would think that Janey (since she's supposedly divorced from the Peterson son) would move on to a life of her own. I sometimes even wonder if she depends financially on Jackie and Lee. I assume she has children, Lee's and Jackie's grandchildren. Weird.

[Velveeta]

ROFL! Ya got me.