Haggling Over Evidence in Peterson Trial

The Guardian ^ | 3/01/2004 | Brian Skoloff

[runningbear]

Haggling Over Evidence in Peterson Trial

Haggling Over Evidence in Peterson Trial

Monday March 1, 2004 10:46 AM

By BRIAN SKOLOFF

Associated Press Writer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Just days before jury selection is set to begin, attorneys in Scott Peterson's double-murder trial continue to haggle over the admissibility of evidence.

Judge Alfred A. Delucchi has already made several key rulings in the case, including a decision to allow prosecutors to use evidence police gathered with electronic devices used to track Peterson after his wife disappeared.

But still at issue is the admissibility of monitored phone calls, which was set to be the topic when court hearings resume Monday. Peterson is charged in the deaths of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

Peterson attorney Mark Geragos was prepared to challenge the wiretap evidence, which was gathered by police in the weeks after Laci Peterson's disappearance. Geragos claims investigators violated Scott Peterson's attorney-client privilege when they listened to bits of conversations with his first attorney, Kirk McAllister.

During the first months of 2003, investigators monitored about 3,000 calls Peterson made or received, including 76 between the former fertilizer salesman and his first attorney.

With both sides bound by a gag order, it's unclear exactly what evidence prosecutors plan to use from the wiretaps, but authorities have maintained they followed all federal guidelines when using the listening devices.

The bodies of Laci Peterson and the baby washed ashore in April along the shores of San Francisco Bay, not far from where Scott Peterson claims he was fishing on the day his wife vanished - Christmas Eve, 2002.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday, with court officials summoning 200 potential jurors for questioning.

In other crucial decisions, Delucchi ruled last week that only one jury will be seated for the trial and that panelists will not be sequestered. Geragos had sought two juries - one to decide guilt or innocence and one to levy a sentence if Peterson is convicted. He could face the death penalty.

Delucchi has yet to rule on what could be the most damaging ...........

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House Passes Unborn Victims Of Violence Act

House Passes Unborn Victims Of Violence Act

( ABP) -- The U.S. House of Representatives voted Feb. 26 to treat an attack on a pregnant woman as two separate crimes against her and the fetus she is carrying. Critics say the bill would undermine abortion rights by giving fetuses new legal status.

The measure would be applicable only to federal crimes, such as terrorism or drug trafficking. But supporters said Congress needs to bring federal law in line with state statutes. Twenty-nine states already have laws that recognize crimes against fetuses.

Passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act is backed by President Bush and conservative religious groups. It is the major legislative objective of abortion opponents this year, after Congress banned partial-birth abortions last year. A similar bill awaits action in the Senate. Although the House has twice passed bills recognizing crimes against fetuses, the Senate has yet to do so.

Bush urged the Senate to follow the House's lead. "Pregnant women who have been harmed by violence, and their families, know that there are two victims -- the mother and the unborn child -- and both victims should be protected by federal law," he said in a statement.

Before passing the bill 254-163, House members easily rejected a Democratic substitute that would have increased penalties for attacks on pregnant women in which the fetus is injured or killed without recognizing the fetus as a victim. .........

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Demographics less important than attitudes in Peterson jury

Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004

Demographics less important than attitudes in Peterson jury

KIM CURTIS

Associated Press

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Attitudes about the death penalty and extramarital affairs may be more important than demographics when it comes to picking a jury for Scott Peterson's double-murder trial, experts say.

Jury selection is slated to begin later this week, as the first 200 questionnaires are handed out to San Mateo County residents. After the judge dismisses people for hardship reasons, the next step will be further questioning, or voir dire. Jurors will be questioned one by one in the courtroom by lawyers and Judge Alfred A. Delucchi.

"Demographics are not the controlling factors," said Lois Heaney of the San Francisco-based National Jury Project, the nation's oldest trial consulting firm. "It's people's attitudes, their life experiences, what life has taught them."

Authorities allege Peterson, 31, murdered his pregnant wife, Laci, in their Modesto home on Dec. 24, 2002 because he was having an affair with a massage therapist, then drove her body to San Francisco Bay and dumped it overboard from his boat.

On Monday, attorneys will continue arguing over the admissibility of wiretap evidence gathered in the weeks after Laci Peterson's disappearance.

In addition to age, occupation, marital status and other demographic data, prosecutors and defense lawyers will ask potential jurors on the 30-page questionnaire whether they've had an extramarital affair, how they feel about people who have affairs, whether they've ever lost a child or been a victim of a violent crime, whether they've ever considered a career in law enforcement and if they own a gun.

"The prosecution is looking for people who are more conservative, more conventional and who are deeply, personally offended by things like people having an affair," Heaney said.

Prosecutors also will likely favor "authoritarians," or judgmental people who tend to discriminate, according to David Graeven, president of the San Francisco-based Trial Behavior Consulting. "They're very black and white. They tend to follow authority. They respect that which is above them, but not what's below them."

However, people who work in the hard sciences, such as engineers, would be ideal for the defense, Graeven said.

"Engineers rely on evidence," he said, adding that the prosecution has an extremely high burden of proof in a double-murder capital case.

The defense also wants jurors with "a high tolerance for ambiguity," Heaney said. "People who can tolerate just not knowing if the prosecution can't prove his guilt."

On the other hand, prosecutors want people who say "good enough," she said. "There's enough smoke here."

In most capital cases, the real issue isn't guilt, but whether to sentence the defendant to death, said Edward Bronson, who teaches at Chico State University and has studied juries for 40 years.

"There are exceptions, and this arguably is going to be one," Bronson said. "A lot of the evidence is kind of hokey. Some of it's barely admissible. This could be a close case on guilt."

Defense lawyer Mark Geragos failed in his attempt to empanel two separate juries - one to determine guilt and another to impose sentencing. Now, all 12 jurors and six alternates will need to proclaim their willingness to sentence a person to death.

That means trouble for the defense, experts agree.

Talking to people about the death penalty before the person is convicted, means "placing in people's minds that he's guilty," Heaney said.

And the more questions you ask, and the more you talk about the death penalty, "the worse it gets for the defense," Bronson said. "This is an absolutely atypical capital case. This ain't no Charles Manson. He's white, he's middle class ... This isn't what you typically find.".......

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DEVELOPMENTS:

Posted on Fri, Feb. 27, 2004

DEVELOPMENTS:

Judge Alfred Delucchi denied a defense request Thursday to sequester the jury for the six-month trial. He also denied a defense motion to select two juries, one for the guilt phase and one for the penalty phase.

The supervisor of a dog handler testified that Laci Peterson's sunglasses used by the dogs to recognize Laci's her scent were not contaminated by Scott Peterson's scent from his brown slipper.........

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Wiretap, dog tracking evidence to be challenged by defense

Wiretap, dog tracking evidence to be challenged by defense

Redwood City, California-AP -- Attorneys in Scott Peterson's murder trial will be back in court today to haggle over what can be admitted as evidence.

One issue is the wiretapping of three-thousand phone calls. Peterson's attorney says investigators violated attorney-client privilege when they listened to calls between Peterson and his first lawyer. Authorities say they followed federal guidelines when using the listening devices.

The judge has yet to rule on evidence from police who say tracking dogs picked up Laci Peterson's scent on her husband's boat and at a marina. Laci Peterson's......

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The People of the State of California vs Scott Lee Peterson

[onyx]

Nighttime is my favorite time of every day. I often overindulge and pay for it the following morning. LOL!

[Canadian Outrage]

I think it's most mothers "favorite" time! LOL

[Canadian Outrage]

Well gal, think I'll have a bowl of salad and hit the hay. I want to watch LKL with Nancy Grace hosting regarding the Martha Stewart Conviction(S)!! Yeah!! See y'all tomorrow it would seem. Sweet dreams. CO

[onyx]

I'd be happiest with 8 hours of daylight and 16 hours of nighttime.

[drjulie]

"I just have to type you what was posted on CTV this afternoon."

Thanks for posting that information. It is very telling - I think we will learn quite a bit during the trial.

[Devil_Anse]

That's some VERY thought-provoking stuff, CO!! First, though, I don't think they would allow anyone to testify as to conclusions that can be drawn about Scott's personality from the way he writes. If there's a handwriting expert on there, then as you said, it's gonna be someone who is going to say WHO wrote something, by comparing the something to known samples of that person's handwriting. And that someone is almost certainly Scott Peterson. And I think you are right--it may well be that strange poster he put up for the searchers.

Thanks for reminding me of that poster--it was extremely STRANGE. He KNEW she was dead from the first, and he showed it in so many ways! And he was still hiding from the media; we mustn't forget how very strange it was in the early days, when we could barely tell who or where the husband of the missing woman WAS. And he couldn't even sign his thank-you poster with his NAME! The fact that he thought he could hide his identity from everyone, while his wife remained missing, goes a long way to show just how far removed from reality this man's thinking is.

The fingerprint and firearms experts--really intriguing. I have no idea what the firearms expert will say. We have never heard any serious stories of a gun being used, so WHY?

And we've never heard anything really definite saying that they used fingerprints in this investigation, so WHY THAT?

[drjulie]

My guessses/opinions/beliefs....
Banking/finance - I think they may want to show that there was financial strain and this could have been a piece of the motive. It gets a bit complicated (e.g., Michael Peterson trial last summer). The prosecution tried to paint a picture of financial difficulty in that case but the defense was able to present a different interpretation of the same facts. I was very impressed with the defense on that point. Here we may have refinancing of the home, possibly credit cards, other soures of income (illegal or legal, such as his expense accounts) etc.
Handwriting - I definately do not think it's a personality analysis. This is not an insanity defense and even if it was they would use something more valid than handwriting (like an MMPI). I think this may relate to the banking/finance. Perhaps Scott forged signatures on documents - credit card accounts, bank accounts, etc. may have been opened without Laci's knowledge. There also could be insurance policies that we are not aware of.
Fingerprints - Interesting!!! My guess is fingerprints on the duct tape.
Firearms - I think this question may be due to the fact that he had guns, nothing more. Some people are very prejudiced against people who have firearms. They assume that if you have a gun you are more likely to be involved in illegal/inappropriate activities.
Drugs/alcohol/affairs - Again I think the defense wants to exclude people who would be very prejudiced by this information. If a defendant takes recreational drugs a particular type of person would be very offended by that and may go on to assume that the defendant is more likely to be guilty.
JMO...and based somewhat on my two experiences with jury duty. Many of the questions asked on the questionnaire and verbally related to prejudices we might have. On one trial that involved alcohol the defendant's attorney asked each of us about our drinking habits...did we ever drink, had we ever been drunk, how do we feel about people who drink, etc. The attorney also asked about firearm beliefs however, firearms were not involved in the crime. The defendant just possessed them.

[RGSpincich]

As DA says, that is thought provoking stuff, CO. BUT what about question #45 on the questionnaire?
"Do you have a bumper sticker on your car?"

[drjulie]

I don't know if this has been posted yet - but you can read the actual questionnaire at the modbee

www.modbee.com/man/peterson/questionnaire.pdf

[Sandylapper]

In and out these days. Thanks! Hope all is going well for you!

[Canadian Outrage]

I just re-read it this morning LOL. I would hate to count the spelling errors. It was late and I was tired. I really can spell. *L*

[Canadian Outrage]

I agree with you about the fingerprint analysis being used to determine his character. Not gonna happen. God knows, he showed his lack of character or bad character, if you will, without somebody decifering the size and shape of letters. The other points, I'm convinced there is real EVIDENCE in this case. It's coming. We can be prepared for some "hot" moments. Can't wait to see Geragos flipping around the Court room in his bound to be, many eruptions!! LOL

[Canadian Outrage]

Yeah I can't believe that that question was even approved by the Judge. I suppose it may be important to the defense if people are Republicans, Pro-Life, etc.

[Lucy Lake]

Maybe having a bumper sticker would indicate a person is more passionate about their beliefs while no bumper sticker would show a person is more laid back. Which isn't necessarily so, I just don't want to mess up my car.

[Canadian Outrage]

Same here grizz. I don't like stickers plastered all over my cars.

[Lucy Lake]

Hi CO, that was an interesting article, sure raises lots of questions.

[Canadian Outrage]

I'm anxious to see what is coming. The picking of the Jury however, is likely the most important thing at hand. It can make or break a case.

[Lucy Lake]

Maybe the more liberal among us are the ones with bumper stickers.

This afternoon I noticed lots of middle aged, pony-tailed guys driving around in their beat up old vans with bumper stickers. I live in what is known as Berkeley East, so maybe it isn't true in other parts of the country.

[Canadian Outrage]

LOL - I call them the Hollywood Hippies!! They never seem have gotten out of the 60's!!

[Lucy Lake]

**Hollywood Hippies**

This medium sized Montana town is one of the most liberal places on the planet and is full of old hippies; they're stuck in the 60's when they aren't hugging a tree.