PETERSON LAWYER SET FOR TIRADE

The New York Post ^ | July 6 2004 | HOWARD BREUER

[runningbear]

PETERSON LAWYER SET FOR TIRADE

PETERSON LAWYER SET FOR TIRADE

By HOWARD BREUER

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July 6, 2004 -- REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — When Scott Peterson's double-murder trial resumes today, defense attorney Mark Geragos is expected to go on another rant and ask the judge to dismiss the case due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Geragos' ire revolves around the testimony of a police detective who recounted for the jury a tip he had received just after Scott Peterson's arrest but dismissed as implausible.

Modesto Detective Allen Brocchini told the jury that a college classmate of Peterson's told him how the defendant had once described how he'd commit the perfect murder.

"He said he would tie a bag around the neck with duct tape, put weights on the hands and throw it into the sea," Brocchini testified.

Geragos is expected to accuse prosecutors of letting Brocchini embellish his account to explain an error or omission made at Peterson's expense.

Brocchini said there were other statements by the classmate.......

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Duct tape is a sticky detail for Det. Brocchini

Duct tape is a sticky detail for Det. Brocchini

Officer's statement surrounding a tip to police turns out to be inaccurate

By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER

REDWOOD CITY -- When Laci Peterson's body washed up on a shore of the San Francisco Bay in April 2003, a line of duct tape was wrapped around the lower torso.

The grisly detail was first seen by jurors in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial in a photograph displayed during the prosecution's opening statement. Duct tape was mentioned in the courtroom last week by Modesto police Det. Al Brocchini -- the lead investigator in Laci Peterson's disappearance and murder -- who described a phoned-in tip he received a week after her body was found.

The tip came from one of Peterson's former acquaintances. According to Brocchini's report, the acquaintance said Peterson gave a detailed account in 1995 of how he would dispose of a corpse by tying "a bag around the neck with duct tape, put weights on the hands, and throw it into the sea" where fish could eat away at it, making it hard to identify. ......

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AXED LACI JUROR: 'I GET DEATH THREATS'

AXED LACI JUROR: 'I GET DEATH THREATS'

By HOWARD BREUER

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July 4, 2004 -- EXCLUSIVE

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The juror who got kicked off the Scott Peterson jury claims he's received hate mail and death threats for criticizing the prosecution — and says he's so scared, he's moving to another state.

Justin Falconer, 28, told The Post that after saying he believed prosecutors haven't proven Peterson's guilt, he became a lightning rod for trial-watchers.

He said he's complained to the San Mateo Police Department about the threats, and he and his girlfriend are arranging to get out of Dodge........

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Peterson prosecutors still looking for that damning detail

Peterson prosecutors still looking for that damning detail

Monday, July 5, 2004

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer

REDWOOD CITY -- It's the prosecution's disjointed story, legal experts say, that likely has jurors in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial questioning what really happened to his pregnant wife.

But there may be a good reason for their failure to weave the cohesive tale.

Prosecutors don't have enough hard evidence to be forceful in their claim that Peterson committed the crime -- neither cause nor time of death, no weapon and no witnesses who saw him do it.

"Those things are the heart of their story and they just don't have it," said Robert Talbot, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Defense lawyers are confident they can pick apart the alleged motive -- an affair with a woman Peterson had only known a short while.

But they aren't without their own challenge: how to explain, convincingly, why the bodies of Laci Peterson and the couple's fetus surfaced just two miles from where Scott Peterson claims he fished alone the day his wife vanished.

The defense says he was..........

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Peterson trial resumes after holiday break

((subscription is needed to read this online article))

Posted on Tue, Jul. 06, 2004

Peterson trial resumes after holiday break

BRIAN SKOLOFF

Associated Press

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Prosecutors spent the bulk of last week portraying Scott Peterson as a lying cheat who maintained a relationship with his mistress even after his pregnant wife, Laci, had vanished.

The woman who introduced Peterson to his mistress testified that when she first met him, Peterson never mentioned he was married and told her he had "lost" his first love.

Shawn Sibley said she later set him up with massage therapist Amber Frey, the same woman who prosecutors claim was Peterson's motive to murder his wife........

[Dante3]

I saw part of Crier Live today. There was this elderly blonde who talked about little else except how great Geragos is. She was twisting everything in his favor as if she had vested interest. She is not the only one.

A group of us watched the show and none of us could figure out how Geragos was great. All he has done, as far as we can tell, is just ask the usual questions of the witness, throw hissy fits, demand that a witness look at him, sprout stupid theories, and lie. This is greatness?

[MEG33]

No criminal record, van thorough examined..bar b que sauce found instead of blood, "satanic symbol" scratches on window are where kids scratched off the film on the glass. Donny and Deanna are another Geragos red herring...(gleaned from various forums)

[Devil_Anse]

Elderly blonde? That sounds like Janie Weintraub, a singularly unattractive person whom they keep trotting out-- why, I can't imagine.

As for Geragos, I remember him from when I first started watching cable nightly. It was during the Lewinsky events. I found him physically repulsive then, as I do now. His nose is overly, his chin is weak, his eyes do not appear to be able to open all the way. His idea of "winning" a debate in those days was to keep flapping his lips as long and as loudly as he could, to drown out the other person. Not exactly high-caliber. When I see him in those expensive suits, I am reminded of the saying, "You can't polish a t**d."

His lying credentials must certainly be the best, or I don't see how he'd have risen so quickly among the Clintonistas, on whose "list of approved counsel" he clearly holds a place.

[Devil_Anse]

I remember. They were sending the barbecue stains to the lab, some said, to find out what brand it was.

Deanna and Donnie and their satanic kids. Oh, brother.

[MEG33]

I'm going to break a pledge and watch LKL

[Devil_Anse]

I'm glad you said that! I dutifully waited till LKL came on, and went to see if he was talking about this case, and he had Dan Quayle on.

These shows always fool me! Because now, sure enough, he's talking about the case.

One guy just said that in a crime of opportunity, such as the one they're trying to postulate as to homeless people killing Laci, the people are not likely to need to transport the body 90 miles to the Bay. He said only a criminal who has a known connection to the body is going to take the trouble to try to hide it so it'll never be found.

Why can't people see that? The guy was right.

[Devil_Anse]

Oh, I love this.

(That guy whose comments I described above is named Chuck Smith. Former San Mateo prosecutor.)

Chuck Smith just made the point that police are not perfect, that they work under stress, that they sometimes have to work round the clock (as in this case), whereas the defense attorney then gets maybe a year to Monday-morning-quarterback what the police did. How true!

So when he expresses this viewpoint, which makes him sound like the prosecutor he used to be, that little insect Larry King says to Chuck, "Well, aren't YOU a defense attorney now?" If that isn't the STUPIDEST "point" that brain-dead old geezer Larry King ever made.

WELL, LARRY, AREN'T YOU A DEMOCRAT AND A LIBERAL, SO WHY WERE YOU SO CORDIAL TO DAN QUAYLE ON YOUR SHOW JUST NOW???

Diningenuous. That's the word I was looking for. Larry King is both nauseating, and disingenuous. I despise him.

[MEG33]

The calming voice of Chuck Smith...Chris Pixley is more than I can bear..Nothing new...Cardoza saying Geragos asking mistrial with prejudice in long morning "secret session" with judge because of police misconduct...Broncchini there in court with large notebook and dismissed by judge...

Writer Cole: Jury very attentive.

Dear Judge,
The gag order isn't working!

[Dante3]

No, it wasn't Weintraub. It was a much older woman, I missed her name, had never seen her previously. She kept gushing about Geragos but failed to explain the reason.

There are so many things which by themselves might be explained away but in total point to Scott. Above all him being at that location. He had to admit to it since he might have been seen. Then there is the timeline.

Now we heard his story about the pepper spray. Made no sense.

testimony in court has painted a picture of Scott being a psychopath. And psychopaths can kill rather easily. As for motive, people have been murdered for shockingly minor reasons.

I don't believe Laci would've walked the dog against medical advice especially at a time when Scott was gone far away -- and without a coat and keys after washing a floor that had just been washed.

[Palladin]

Thanks for the roundup of articles.

I had to turn Greta off last night--she got me so angry. She must be in Geragos' pocket. She is trying her best to discredit Brocchini.

She also has that idiot Justin on all the time. I'm glad he's getting death threats. No one deserves that more than he does.

I'm surprised to read that Justin has a girlfriend. What woman in her right mind would go with that chauvinist pig?

[Dante3]

Cardoza might identify with Scott, part of the boys just like that dumbo juror no. 5.

Strange that Cardoza also pops up on Court TV. Apparently he tries to be a macho man, has not much faith in women. He reportedly tried to get Kimberly Newsome kicked off as prosecutor from that dog mauling case from San Francisco, then had his boy that wishy-washy Hammer put as lead prosecutor.

[Devil_Anse]

people have been murdered for shockingly minor reasons

Truer words were never spoken!

I don't believe Laci would've walked the dog against medical advice especially at a time when Scott was far away--and without a coat and keys...

...and without her cellphone, which Deborah Wolski said Laci told her she always carried when she walked, and without her mace, which Scott said she always carried because of the people IN THE PARK, but which was kept in her purse, which Scott said she NEVER carried when she went to walk in the park... and without her tennis shoes, which were found safe on the back patio, and without her SHIRT, which was found in a drawer (Laci herself being found with only a bra on her upper body)...

[Devil_Anse]

As we know, Greta and Geragos are fellow travelers from way back...

Justin's girlfriend? Oh, c'mon, Palladin--a plump, goofy-looking guy who isn't currently working and lives on disability, can't follow simple rules, divorced with child support payments to make... why, he's every girl's dream!

[Dante3]

That elderly blonde on Crier stated as fact that Laci had visited the place where Scott kept the boat and no one contradicted her. But it was my understanding -- perhaps I'm wrong -- that there is no proof of this, only allegedly used the bathroom in the next unit.

[CurlyDave]

On what planet does one attack a poster w/o knowing the FACTS?

Devil:

Here try this reference:

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2247708,00.html

or this one:

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/8792538p-9678309c.html

"Brocchini's testimony that the man mentioned duct tape is not borne out by a tape of the call, which was provided to the defense"

or maybe this one:

http://www.socallawblog.com/archives/cat_scott_peterson_murder_trial.html

"On Tuesday when the trial resumes, you can expect that this "duct tape" problem will be discussed. This could include a request for a mistrial. The jury might even be played the audiotape of the interview in which there is no mention of the duct tape."

While we are dealing with tales from "anonymous sources" here, I think your statments about it not being harmful to the defense are much more out of line.

[RGSpincich]

i was reporting the reports...Not a chance that he would be described as a polygraph examiner.

I knew that you knew but did you know that some (on different forums) actually fell for the "truthful" Scotty routine? Amazing.

[Canadian Outrage]

I guess that's greatness if you DON'T WANT TO BE CONVINCED!! Either that or they are just plain DUMB!! Gergagos' theories are SO UNBELIEVABLE, THEY MAKE NO SENSE. Sorry, but those who DON'T want to view the evidence with an open mind and a critical eye for detail will NOT be convinced. They will twist and contort every rational and reasonable event to be something other than what it is. Geragos has NOT put forth a SINGLE rational theory out of his many. The framing incident is LUDICROUS!!

[MEG33]

gritting my teeth..watching Greta...Prosecutions presentation of bodies a surprise..Graphic pictures close up.Baby was decomposed on close look but in much better condition than Lacy..

Graphic testimony of dog finding ,sniffing and biting Laci's remains...(even Scott looked upset)

...Twine tight around baby's neck?I have not heard that, guess we must wait on experts to see if true(Geragos opening they say )I have heard about tape on his body..(probably debris some say).

[Canadian Outrage]

#103 - well put!! You most certainly cannot polish a t**d!! I only caught a couple of minutes of LKL tonight. One was when Kimblery G-Newsome was on. She stated that Geragos' theory of park bums or homeless people, doing a C-section on Laci, then dumping her in the Bay, keeping Connor alive, God only knows how since they had no place to live, then dumping Connor weeks later in the Bay ONLY to have them wash up in close proximity of each other is - LUDICROUS!! Can't agree more. THEN, another commentator who is in the Courtroom each day stated that the Jurors are VERY attentive, they are taking notes, they are serious and he feels they are paying very close attention and absolutely digesting the meat of the evidence. The pictures shown today were apparently especially gruesome but the Jury watched and took great notice and made copious notes. I almost barfed when Pixley stated taht the Prosecutions case was collapsing!! LOL I had to change the channel. This little pipsqueek, Geragos shill is an embarassment. HOW would he know if the case is collapsing when there is MANY MONTHS to go.??

[Canadian Outrage]

Meg, they gave the last half hour of LKL to the trial!!