SCOTT'S FISHY FURY

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June 15, 2004 -- REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson hotly cursed and threw a flashlight after police grilled him about his suspicious fishing trip the day his pregnant wife, Laci, disappeared, one officer testified yesterday.

"I asked him what he was fishing for," Modesto Detective Matthew Spurlock told rapt jurors during the start of the third week of Peterson's murder trial.

"He had this blank look for a second or so, his eyes shifted a bit. And he didn't really answer the question.

"I asked what he was using for bait, and I got the same kind of response . . . this blank shifting," Spurlock said. "He couldn't really answer. Then he said, 'a silver lure,' and he held his hands about 7 to 8 inches apart."

Spurlock said that when he then asked Peterson to leave the house, he watched as the fertilizer salesman cursed through gritted teeth and threw a flashlight to the ground.

"It sounded like 'f - - -,' like it was being said out of frustration," the cop said............

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REDWOOD CITY -- The judge in Scott Peterson's double-murder trial refused to declare a mistrial Monday over surprise testimony about Peterson's use of an obscenity shortly after his pregnant wife disappeared.

Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi gently chastised prosecutor Rick Distaso for pulling a fast one, but concluded that it was not a gross violation of trial procedure.

Also Monday, Sharon Rocha cried as she looked away from a large screen showing remains of her daughter, Laci Peterson. Minutes later, pictures of her smiling daughter splashed on the screen and Rocha quietly got up and exited the courtroom.

And two Modesto police officers said Scott Peterson seemed caught off-guard when first asked about his solo fishing trip.

Sparks flew after lead defense attorney Mark Geragos asked Delucchi for a mistrial, in a motion that drew snickers from the audience.........

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June 14 (BCN) — A furious Mark Geragos asked for a mistrial this morning in the Scott Peterson double murder trial after prosecutors failed to inform him that a police officer overheard Peterson use an expletive on the night his wife Laci went missing. .........

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Vicki Ellen Behringer / AP file
Prosecutor Rick Distaso, third from left, gestures to the jury, during opening arguments as Scott Peterson and Judge Alfred A. Delucchi listen in a Redwood City, Calif., courtroom June 1, 2004, in this courtroom sketch.

The Peterson File

SNIP IT:

"TODAY

Police Sgt. Ron Cloward, who coordinated search efforts for Laci Peterson, is scheduled to testify.

Matt Geragos, brother of Mark Geragos, is due in Modesto to argue against Sharon Rocha's request that Scott Peterson not be allowed to profit from Laci Peterson's death. Tuesday, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger M. Beauchesne issued a tentative ruling that overturned his previous decision to throw the case out. Rocha originally asked the court to keep any payments from book or movie deals in a trust account until a verdict is reached in the double-murder trial. The judge in February sided with Matt Geragos, who said the court must dismiss the case because it was filed under California's "Son of Sam" law, which the state Supreme Court struck down two years earlier. But Beauchesne also gave Rocha a chance to amend her complaint. Attorney Adam Stewart of Modesto now seeks to stop the sale of any items that are enhanced by the notoriety of the case. Matt Geragos could not be reached for comment on Beauchesne's tentative change of heart. Stewart said he would reserve comment until after today's hearing.

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I don't think Geragos wants to mess with Sgt Cloward!

Testimony offers alibi contrasts

Img src="http://www.modbee.com/ips_rich_content/944-16a1peterson.jpg">
Modesto police Detective Jon Evers took the stand Tuesda MONICA M. DAVEY/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By JOHN COTÉ
and GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITERS

Last Updated: June 16, 2004, 04:51:01 AM PDT

REDWOOD CITY -- After testifying Tuesday that Scott Peterson volunteered to produce a parking receipt for the Berkeley Marina, a Modesto police detective acknowledged he had testified differently at Peterson's preliminary hearing. Detective Jon Evers' admission undercut the suggestion that Peterson was eager to establish an alibi for Dec. 24, 2002, the day his pregnant wife, Laci, was reported missing.

Evers also testified that Scott Peterson was cooperative when police asked to search his home, truck and warehouse, and seemed distraught when Evers first encountered him.

That account, portions of which were corroborated by two other officers who testified earlier in Peterson's double-murder trial, stands in contrast to testimony by Laci Peterson's family members last week. They described Peterson as evasive and lacking emotion the night his wife disappeared.

Evers -- a patrolman at the time Laci Peterson disappeared and the first officer to respond to the missing person's report -- also revealed potentially damaging details from his talks with Peterson that night.......

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Peterson trial resumes after juror's illness

Diana Walsh, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 15, 2004

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The Scott Peterson double-murder trial resumed this afternoon after a juror who had taken ill earlier assured the judge that he had recovered.

Judge Alfred Delucchi had postponed the trial earlier in the day after juror No. 6, a man who works as a firefighter, became nauseous and left the courtroom during testimony from a Modesto police officer. After a temporary break, Delucchi said the juror told him he did not believe he could return to the court for the morning.

"He doesn't think he has the flu," Delucchi told lawyers and spectators in the Redwood City courtroom. ìI hope itís not the flu. If it is the flu, everybody else will get sick and weíll be here until Christmas."

The delay came during the third week of testimony in the trial which is expected to last five months. Peterson is on trial for murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and the couple's unborn son, Conner.

Honk if you love Greta
Hear/say

Behind the reporter's notes:

"Monday, June 14, 2004

Honk if you love Greta

A sheriff's deputy has been assigned to watch the access road that winds around the courthouse. She is keeping an eye out for a court gawker who has been ruining live news broadcasts about the Peterson trial. The deputy said a man has driven by on-air cameras several times and leaned on his horn, spoiling the audio. Apparently, this has happened enough times for reporters to complain. "I'm a defender of the press," said the deputy. "The press is all we have." --Tim Hay

posted by John @ 4:44 PM

Nod of approval ...

Stanislaus County District Attorney Jim Brazelton appeared in court Monday as a show of support for Rick Distaso and David Harris, who have been under criticism from TV pundits for their handling of the case so far. Brazelton, however, nodded off for much of the morning's testimony from Modesto officers who searched Peterson's house the night Laci went missing.
--Jason Dearen
posted by John @ 4:31 PM

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