Trial scheduled to start Monday but probably will be delayed
Retired judge to preside over Peterson case
Trial scheduled to start Monday but probably will be delayed
The Associated Press Updated: 6:17 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO - A retired judge whose long experience with high-profile cases dates back to the sensational 1970s trial of black militant Angela Davis was picked Wednesday to preside at the murder trial of Scott Peterson.
Retired Contra Costa County Judge Richard Arnason, 82, was chosen a day after Judge Al Girolami decided to move the trial to the San Francisco Bay area because of hostility toward Peterson in his dead wife’s hometown of Modesto.
The trial is scheduled to start Monday but will probably be postponed. Prosecutors asked for two weeks to move their operation to San Mateo County, and a hearing is scheduled later this week to discuss a delay.
Peterson, 31, is charged with two counts of murder for allegedly killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and unborn son just before Christmas 2002 and dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay.
Attorneys say Peterson demonized Peterson’s lawyers said he had been demonized in the town where the couple lived and Laci Peterson grew up, citing vandalism of his house, crowds yelling “Murderer!” outside the jail and T-shirts sold with Peterson’s likeness and the motto: “Modesto, a killer place to live.”
Arnason was selected by California Chief Justice Ronald George, in part because officials wanted a retired judge to keep the months-long trial from slowing down local courts.
Arnason presided at the trial of ’60s radical Angela Davis, a former member of the Communist Party who was charged in 1971 with plotting a bloody courthouse shootout during the trial of three .....
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Court document cites allegation on past research
Court document cites allegation on past research
Stephen Schoenthaler, criminal justice professor at California State University, Stanislaus, arrives at the Stanislaus County Courthouse on Tuesday morning. MARTY BICEK/THE BEE
By JOHN COTÉ and GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITERS
Last Updated: January 21, 2004, 06:48:30 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......