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Photo by Dana Yates San Mateo County is offering up its largest courtroom for use in the Scott Peterson murder trial.
Peterson trial comes to San Mateo County
By Michelle Durand, Daily Journal Staff
The sensational Scott Peterson capital murder trial will hit San Mateo County Monday morning but the frenzy that has accompanied the case since his wife’s disappearance is already here.
Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami announced yesterday that Peterson’s trial will move to San Mateo County because it offers the 31-year-old fertilizer salesman the best shot at an impartial jury pool. The county was up against Santa Clara and Alameda counties although Orange County also said it would be willing to host the trial.
The decision was barely released when the buzz began. News trucks and reporters swarmed to the Redwood City courthouse while inside bailiffs talked about what it means and security guards braced themselves for the crowds. Redwood City officials started plotting how to logistically fit the expected cars and how local businesses might be affected. Court administrators began mailing out hundreds of potential juror notices and picking a courtroom for the trial which is estimated to last five months.
Peterson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of Laci Peterson and the couple’s son who they planned to name Conner. Laci Peterson, 28, disappeared on Christmas Eve. The remains of her and her fetus were found near Richmond four months later.
While the trial will decide Peterson’s fate, it will also touch many aspects of San Mateo County.
The venue
The District Attorney’s Office will carve out some room for Stanislaus County prosecutors but will have little other involvement.
“We are happy to provide office space and support,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Administrative support will also be given to the presiding judge who will be appointed today. Judges typically employ their own bailiffs, court clerk and court reporter. If the chosen judge is retired or from another county, a local staff will be .......
Court document cites allegation on past researchCourt document cites allegation on past research
By JOHN COTÉ and GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITERS
Last Updated: January 21, 2004, 06:03:41 AM PST
A professor at the center of a Peterson trial survey scandal ordered a researcher to falsify data on an unrelated poll several years ago, according to a witness cited in a court document.
The allegation did not change Superior Court Judge Al Girolami's decision to move Scott Peterson's double-murder trial out of Stanislaus County. Tuesday, Girolami reaffirmed his decision, and selected San Mateo County as the trial site.
Also on Tuesday, university officials said they are pressing forward with investigations into the scandal. They are targeting at least 65 criminal justice students at California State University, Stanislaus, and their professor, Stephen Schoen- thaler.
"There is nothing I would like to deliver more than a quick, appropriate, fair action," university President Marvalene Hughes said.
Hughes, other administrators and a California State University attorney declined to comment on Schoenthaler's history at Stanislaus State. Incidents include:
Sexual harassment allegations brought in 1990 by two female researchers; one was Justine Pinto.
Schoenthaler's demotion from full professor to associate professor pending investigation into those allegations.
Schoenthaler's exoneration and reinstatement in 1993.
Schoenthaler's $3 million lawsuit against the university and the two researchers in 1996. He said they hurt his research grant and chance at a Nobel Prize by spreading word about the 1990 allegations.
Schoenthaler's attorney, Ernie Spokes of Modesto, said his client fired Pinto many years ago after determining that she falsified data.
Pinto recently told an investigator working with Peterson prosecutors that Schoenthaler directed her to delete data that did not support his projected outcome on a project before 1992, the investigator wrote in a court document.
Investigator Kevin Bertalotto wrote that Pinto came forward after news broke two weeks ago that Girolami, in agreeing to move the Peterson trial, cited Schoen-thaler's survey on potential jurors' opinions about the Peterson trial.
Nine students eventually admitted that they had fabricated data, saying they were short on time and money. The university launched a formal investigation that could take months.
On Tuesday, prosecutors asked Girol-ami to reconsider moving the trial from Modesto, saying his decision was based in part on a "fraudulent survey."
But Girolami said he could not recon-sider, based on unidentified sources who spoke with The Bee but not investigators.
Bertalotto said he had not been able to track down any of the 65 students who compiled data for Schoenthaler. The professor, citing student privacy laws and advice from his attorney, last week refused to give authorities class lists.
Pinto, however, told Bertalotto that she worked for Schoenthaler until "about 1991." He ordered her to omit data that he thought were "anomalies" in research on whether vitamins and supplements increase intelligence, she told Bertalotto.....
Peterson case finds court
Peterson case finds court
By JOHN COTÉ
and GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITERS
Last Updated: January 21, 2004, 06:03:40 AM PST
Scott Peterson's double-murder trial is going to San Mateo County, and a new judge is likely to take over.
After ordering the move to the Bay Area, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami said Tuesday that he would prefer not to accompany the case.
San Mateo County's presiding judge later said the trial will be in Redwood City, the county seat. The city of 75,000 is on the San Francisco Peninsula, about 90 miles west of Modesto.
The presiding judge also said San Mateo County could provide a judge, if necessary.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George is scheduled to announce today whom he will assign to the case, according to a statement from the state Administrative Office of the Courts. The statement came after Girolami's announcement, during a hearing in his court, that the case would move to San Mateo County.
Also during the hearing, Girolami denied a last-ditch prosecution request to hold Peterson's trial in Modesto or Sacramento.
The 31-year-old Modesto man is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
In asking Girolami to keep the trial in Modesto, or move it to Sacramento, Sen-ior Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris pointed to a survey of potential jurors' opinions -- a survey in which students allegedly fabricated data.
Girolami denied the request, saying the survey and testimony from the professor who oversaw it "were not given much weight" in his decision.
"I have moved venue mainly because of the extent of media coverage in this area and the amount of community involvement," Girolami said.
The defense had requested the move, saying Peterson could not get a fair jury in Stanislaus County.
Peterson's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, although prosecutors said in court that they would seek a two-week delay to move files and personnel to San Mateo County.......