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.
... 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.
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.