Retired judge chosen to preside over Scott Peterson murder trial

The San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Wednesday, January 21, 2004 | Kim Curtis

[Devil_Anse]

Here's hoping that whatever jail they house Scott in up there has a really nice ocean view.

I notice this judge went to Berkeley; graduated in 1945? I know a college professor who was from that area and who went to Berkeley, and he has often told us that Berkeley was a much different place in the 50's... so I'm assuming it was different in the 40's from what it now is known for.

[Howlin]

Just annouced: this judge appointed yesterday has been removed.

REMOVED!!!!

[MizSterious]

Thanks for the ping. Saw some discussion of this on Court TV this afternoon--the panelists seemed baffled by this move.

Off topic for this thread, but I'm not finding anything on FR or on Yahoo about a new development in the Michael Jackson case: it appears his minions are now threatening that fellow Masada who has spoken favorably of the young boy.

[maggief]

Whew! He's out!!!

http://www.ktvu.com/news/2785639/detail.html

Peterson Prosecutors Challenge Arnason Appointment

POSTED: 12:33 PM PST January 22, 2004
UPDATED: 3:30 PM PST January 22, 2004

MODESTO, Calif. -- Prosecutors in the murder case against Scott Peterson exercised their authority Thursday to remove the judge appointed to preside at the trial, contending he is biased against them.

Video


Video On Demand: Ted Rowlands Reports On Prosecution Challenge




Under California law, the prosecution and the defense each have one opportunity to remove a judge without having to give a reason. A new judge will be appointed by California's chief justice.

Peterson, 31, is accused of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, just before Christmas 2002 and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. Her remains and those of the fetus she was carrying later washed ashore.

Prosecutors acted a day after retired Judge Richard Arnason, 82, was named to oversee the Peterson case when it is moved from central California to the San Francisco Bay area.

The case is being moved after a Modesto judge ruled Peterson could not easily get a fair trial in his dead wife's hometown.

Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso said Arnason "is prejudiced against the interest of the party, so that I believe I cannot have a fair and impartial hearing."

Video


Video On Demand: Jury Experts Says San Mateo Favors Prosecution





Prosecutors refused to comment on their reason for removing the judge, said a receptionist in the Stanislaus County District Attorney's office. Peterson's defense lawyer did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The tactical move will postpone the case that was scheduled to start Monday, said Lynn Holton, spokeswoman for the state's court administration.

Holton said it will take State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George until next week to find another judge for the case.

A hearing is scheduled Friday in Modesto to discuss the transfer to a courthouse in Redwood City and future court dates.

Arnason was selected in part because of his experience handling major trials.

[MEG33]

That is news!I was concerned about his age and the length of the trial.

[Howlin]

Maybe the next one will give us a break and LOVE cameras!

[Howlin]

The one who introduced the boy to Jackson? When Geragos said that even though the prosecutor had asked other to come forward nobody had, I thought to myself, who would, after that speech Mark made about going after anybody who spoke ill of Jackson tooth and nail!

[MEG33]

I just read the Modesto Bee article.It was the prosecution's one challenge and they used it.

[Howlin]

On the judge? I did not know you could do that!

[MEG33]

One each challenge allowed.The prosecution said they "could not receive a fair and impartial hearing" with this judge.

[MizSterious]

Yes, that is the fellow. He gave a press conference about the threats, which aired on CTV. He seemed really nice, but also pretty scared. Jackson is a piece of work.

[Velveeta]

2/3 National Enquirer - courtesy of Rickamorti at Purgatory

SECRET WITNESS; SCOTT TOLD ME HE WANTED TO KILL LACI!

'MY INFORMATION IS THE SMOKING GUN'

BY DON GENTILE

NEW PICTURE; DUMPY LOOKING, 45 YEAR OLD, PEGGY GAGNON, IN FIJI T-SHIRT
WITH GREASY HAIR

SYNOPSIS

2 Months before Laci vanished, her husband hit on a housewife in a Death Valley bar- and she says he told her he wanted to kill his wife.

They even discussed weighing down a dead body with anchors and dropping it in the ocean, housewife Peggy Gagnon told the NE.

Weeks before the body washed ashore, Penny went to police and told them about the shocking conversation she had with Scott.

"I think my information is the smoking gun," said Penny. The NE confirmed that Penny has been interviewed several times by Detective Al Brocchini, one of the investigators on the case.

Penny told the NE that her 'scary encounter" with Scott occurred in October 2002.

"I was a member of a Jeep club," she said. "We'd been on one of those camping trips to Panamint in Death Valley and I was coming home. I lived in Long Beach at the time."

Penny stopped at a small bar and restaurant in Death Valley around noon, she ordered food and a drink. Scott was already at the bar. He came and stood next to her and she noticed he was handsome. He told me his name. He said it was Scott Peterson. "I told him it was a neat sounding name." "My grandma likes the name Scott. She always wanted me to name my kids Scott. So whenever meet a Scott I always remember his name."

Penny introduced herself and wasn't ready for what Scott said next. Scott came right out and asked Penny, "You want to have an affair?" She told him
she was a good Christian woman and that wasn't her thing.

Then she said, Scott told her in a calm, matter of fact voice: "I'm married. "She's six months pregnant and I want to kill her." Said Penny: "It sounded so off the wall to me, it didn't really sink in right away what he was saying."

"I said, "Why do you want to kill her? There's always divorce." Penny says Scott's answer surely interested investigators. "Scott said, "She's going to have this kid and if I divorce her, I'll have to pay for it for the rest of my life," Penny disclosed.

"Then he asked me, "IF you were going to kill somebody, how would you do it?" It seemed like just a stupid conversation. I mean, you don't talk about stuff like that if your really serious."

" So I told Scott, I've wanted to kill my ex-husband a few times, not that I was serious." I told him if I would kill him, I'd get a boat and drop him into the ocean with weights or anchors around his knees or something." "That's how."

Penny said the man left the bar after the talk of murder.

She sat there a few minutes, then thought it might be good to get his license plate number.

"But when I went outside he was gone".

Peggy soon forgot the strange encounter. But as the news of Laci's disappearance burst onto the nightly news, she spotted a familiar face on TV. "It was this guy Scott!"

Her husband Donald remembers it was a few days after Christmas, as he and his wife watched the news, when a report about Laci came on.

He told Detective Brocchini that when his wife saw Scott, she immediately recounted the story of the man she met in the bar. But three months passed before Penny got up the courage to call the police.

"I was scared. I thought Laci would turn up or Scott would confess," she said. "And for some reason I thought I could be charged as an accessory for suggesting a way to kill someone."

"On March 6, 2003, five weeks before the bodies of Laci and her unborn son washed up in the Bay, Penny finally called police in Modesto.

Brocchini called her back that day for the first of her several interviews, assuring her that her fears about an accessory charge were unfounded.

Penny added: "I told police I'd take a lie detector test- and testify at Scott's trial!"

[Canadian Outrage]

Somehow I just can't see "any" Judge being reluctant to impose the death penalty in a case as brutal as this one. Just wait until he sees the "pictures" of what is left of the beautiful Laci Plus a bloated little baby boy.!!

[Queen Jadis]

This guy looks like he has one foot in the grave.

[Canadian Outrage]

Yipee!! I took one look at this Judge and I just had a "feeling"!! Thank God. I hope they get a real tough on crime Judge and one that hates Geragos!!

[Canadian Outrage]

I figure Girolami should have STUCK WITH the case. He knows the case best and I'm sure he could afford to rent a hotel room for the week days and go home each weekend. These Judges are WELL PAID and in fact, the accomodation would probably have been paid as expenses.!! Just hope that Geragos doesn't remove the next Judge, however, IF he does, I'll bet that just might bring Girolami back in. Girolami said if they couldn't get a Judge he would do it. He doesn't appear to like Geragos very much.

[joyce11111]

I am relieved by the Judges removal, simply because of his tolerant behavior in previous cases.
Whew! I am so happy the Pros. did this!

[joyce11111]

... He doesn't appear to like Geragos very much...
I had felt that Judge G caved in to the defence one too many times and I saw him as another Judge Ito.

[joyce11111]

New Peterson judge ousted by prosecutors

HERE IS WHY I DON'T LIKE THE NEW JUDGE...........



Judge Richard Arnason










By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: January 22, 2004, 01:46:12 PM PST


One day after he was appointed to hear the trial, Judge Richard Arnason apparently is off the Peterson case.
Prosecutors today challenged the appointment of Arnason to hear Scott Peterson's double-murder trial.

In a one-page document filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court, prosecutors contend they "cannot have a fair and impartial hearing before said judge."

Under state law, a new judge will be assigned. The defense and prosecution are allowed one such challenge each per criminal case.

Arnason's bailiff said he would have no comment.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George tapped Arnason Wednesday for the trial after Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami said he didn't want to follow the case to San Mateo County.

The prosecution move to remove the judge could delay Peterson's trial, scheduled to start Monday. That date was already in doubt as attorneys and court officials sought extra time to move operations to San Mateo County.

Girolami earlier this month agreed to a defense request to move the case, ruling that massive publicity endangered Peterson's ability to get a fair trial in Stanislaus County.

The 31-year-old Modesto man is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner, in a case that has drawn international attention. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

A retired Contra Costa County Superior Court judge, Arnason, 82, is best known for presiding over the sensational trial of activist Angela Davis, who was acquitted of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in 1972.

The charges stemmed from a 1970 Marin County Courthouse escape attempt that left four people dead, including a judge. Arnason took the case after five other judges withdrew or were disqualified.

Here are a few other career highlights, taken from published reports:


In 2001, the judge said two high school football stars who later pleaded no contest to several sexual assaults could not be tried as adults. Proposition 21, approved by voters the year before, gave prosecutors the power to charge minors as adults in severe crimes. Arnason said the initiative violated the California Constitution.

In 1996, the judge presided over the trial of a mother who was convicted of child abuse because her 680-pound daughter died of congestive heart failure at age 13. The trial attracted national attention. Arnason sentenced the mother to three years' probation and 240 hours of community service.

In 1994, Arnason refused to sentence a man who stole $80 worth of batteries to life in prison, even though California's "three strikes, you're out" law, adopted earlier that year, allowed the stiff sentence. The judge said he had the discretion to reduce a felony conviction to a misdemeanor.
Bee staff writer John Coté can be reached at 578-2394 or jcote@modbee.com.

Bee staff writer Susan Herendeen contributed to this report.

[Jackie-O]

Yes removed at the request of the prosecution...
I saw a discussion on yesterday's tape of the proceedings where Girolami asked about detention facilities in San Mateo, and they said they were able to accommodate Snotty...don't know if the TP/TP origami will be permitted, but I'm sure they will allow some sort of craft time for Suck-Tooth. He may be there for about 6 months it seems...