Posted on 09/28/2004 5:35:45 AM PDT by runningbear
Peterson defense team suggesting Laci's murder was mistaken identity
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Scott Peterson's defense team is suggesting the murder of his wife may have been a case of mistaken identity.
During questioning yesterday of the lead detective in the case, defense attorney Mark Geragos (gehr-UH-gus) noted police had received a tip from a woman who lived near the Peterson home.
The woman -- identified only as "Michelle" -- had received threats as a result of her work as a prosecutor.
She was described by Geragos as looking similar to Laci, had given birth a couple of months before Laci disappeared and even walked her dog.......
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One witness testified.
CRAIG GROGAN
Grogan is the lead Modesto police detective investigating the Laci Peterson disappearance and slaying. He was cross-examined Monday by defense lawyer Mark Geragos, who tried to undercut many of the ``41 reasons'' Grogan says he believes Peterson killed his wife and dumped her in the bay. The motive that Peterson killed his wife to be with his mistress is a poor one......
WHAT'S NEXT
Grogan will remain on the stand today being cross-examined by Geragos. The prosecution is expected to rest either at the end of this week or early next week, before turning it over to the defense........
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TWO-TIMING SCOTT HAD OTHER FLAMES BEFORE AMBER: COP
September 28, 2004 -- REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson cheated on his wife with at least two other women and lied to both about the state of his marriage, the lead detective in the wife-slaying case testified yesterday.
Both affairs occurred in the late 1990s, early in the Petersons' marriage and before the couple moved to Modesto from San Luis Obispo, where they attended college, Modesto police Detective Craig Grogan testified under cross-examination in the 61st day of Peterson's double-murder trial.
Although attorneys in the case continually clash over whether Laci knew about her husband's current mistress Amber Frey, the testimony shows that Laci at least knew about her husband's earlier infidelities.......
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Was Laci's Murder a Case of Mistaken ID?
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) -- Was Laci Peterson's murder a case of mistaken identity?
Scott Peterson's defense lawyers were busy Monday suggesting just that.
Mark Geragos noted during questioning of a Modesto police detective that authorities received a tip from a woman about the possibility that Laci's killing may have been a mistake.
Geragos said the female tipster worked as a prosecutor in Merced County and lived near the Peterson's home in Modesto.
Geragos described her as looking very similar to Laci Peterson, had the same type of dog as Laci and the dog even had the same name as the Petersons' dog -- McKenzie. .......
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Jurors hear Scott Peterson's reasons for odd behavior as told to half-sister
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson never took the witness stand Monday, but jurors at his capital trial heard his explanations for suspicious behavior and statements, including his claim that his pregnant wife quickly "made peace" with his adulterous affair.
The explanations came as his defense spent a second day cross-examining lead investigator Craig Grogan about interviews he conducted with the double-murder defendant and others.
Defense lawyer Mark Geragos highlighted a conversation the Modesto police detective had with Peterson's half-sister Anne Bird about three months after his wife, Laci, went missing.
At that time, Peterson had retained a lawyer and was no longer speaking with police, but Bird, who was convinced of his innocence, passed on her half-brother's explanations........
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Present or past tense: family statements scrutinized
:37 p.m.: REDWOOD CITY - Laci Peterson’s mother and brother referred to her in the past tense in the days after the pregnant Modesto woman disappeared, Scott Peterson’s attorney said this morning, attacking the argument such references by Peterson indicated a guilty conscience. Modesto police detective Craig Grogan, the lead investigator on the case, said he was suspicious of Scott Peterson’s use of the past tense in a televised interview, indicating it could mean he had “decided Laci’s not coming back.”
But Laci Peterson’s family members also referred to her in the past tense during at least three interviews shortly after her Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance, defense attorney Mark Geragos said. Using the past tense was “an indication of nothing,” Geragos said.
“I don’t know if it’s an indication of nothing,” Grogan replied. “Maybe its when somebody has decided Laci’s not coming back.”
The issue arose as Geragos entered his second day cross-examining the detective and continued a point-by-point attack on the prosecution’s case.
The defense contends police ignored information that didn’t fit the theory that Peterson murdered ........
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Geragos Scores Big In Cross Of Detective
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's defense lawyers suggested Monday that his pregnant wife's abduction and murder may have been the result of mistaken identity by perpetrators seeking to attack a virtual look-a-like.
Video
Video On Demand: Esther Miller Reports On Geragos Cross-Examination
Defense lawyer Mark Geragos noted during questioning of Modesto police Detective Craig Grogan that authorities had received a tip early on from a woman whom the lawyer only identified as "Michelle" about the possibility that Laci's killing may have been a mistake.
The woman worked as a prosecutor in Merced County and lived near the Petersons' home in Modesto, Geragos said.
He described her as looking very similar to Laci Peterson and noted the woman had given birth to a child in October 2002. The woman walked her dog -- oddly, the same kind the Petersons had with the same name, McKenzie -- in the Petersons' neighborhood.......
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Defendant had another affair
Defense lawyer reveals dalliance at Cal Poly in 1998
Well before Amber Frey came along, Scott Peterson had two affairs during his first year of marriage, and his wife was aware of one, his defense attorney said Monday.
In an apparent effort to show that Peterson's dalliance with masseuse Frey wasn't a motive for killing Laci Peterson, attorney Mark Geragos used his cross-examination of the lead Modesto police detective in the case to let the jury know his client had cheated twice shortly after the couple were married Aug. 9, 1997.
Detective Craig Grogan testified that a woman had called police after Laci Peterson disappeared in December 2002 to say she'd had a five-month relationship with Peterson in 1998. At the time, Scott Peterson was still a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Laci Peterson had moved temporarily to Prunedale (Monterey County) to start a job with a winery.......
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Laci Peterson knew of two previous affairs
Scott Peterson had two affairs in the first year of marriage, Peterson's defense lawyer brought out today in an attempt to undermine the prosecution's motive that Peterson killed his wife so he could be with his mistress, Amber Frey.
Peterson has maintained that his wife knew of his affair with Frey and was OK with it. The defense also has stressed that it's not odd that Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, and other family members weren't aware of the affair with Frey, because the couple also kept the two previous affairs mostly private.
In one relationship, which lasted five months, the other woman walked in on Scott and Laci Peterson in bed together and was shocked to realize he was married to her. Scott Peterson was still living in San Luis Obispo at the time, finishing college. Laci Peterson, who began working in the wine industry after she graduated from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, lived in Prunedale during the week and visited her husband on weekends.
The second affair was a two-month dalliance.........
PINGING...............
PINGING...............
PINGING...............
Is it true that with CA DMV that the SELLER files the RELEASE OF LIABILITY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE OR BOAT. not the buyer?
I think SFGATE.com may have mixed up the Petersons..... Meaning the boat seller's name was Peterson?
Tinfoil hat stuff for sure. Did this Michelle also give the forged documents to Dan Rather?
Thanks, RB!
Mistaken identity?
You mean, Scott meant to kill *Michelle* and mistakenly killed Laci? ~wink~
It is my understanding that the boat owner Peterson filed this.
REDWOOD CITY — Whoever killed Laci Peterson might have mistaken her for someone else, Scott Peterson’s lawyer suggested Monday, a day that also featured new glimpses at two earlier affairs.
A violent criminal and his wife had threatened his Merced County prosecutor — a pregnant woman living in the Peterson’s Modesto neighborhood, said defense attorney Mark Geragos.
The prosecutor had features similar to Laci Peterson’s and walked her dog before her child was born in October 2002. That was two months before Scott Peterson said his wife, eight months pregnant, vanished while walking their golden retriever, McKenzie. The Merced County prosecutor’s dog also was a golden retriever with the same name.
The Merced County prosecutor, identified in court as Michelle D., “took these threats extremely seriously” and altered her dog-walking routine as a precaution, Geragos said. When details of her neighbor’s holiday disappearance commandeered news reports, the woman reported the threats to Modesto police, lead detective Craig Grogan said.
Another detective arranged to meet with the man’s defense attorney, but “the person never showed up,” Geragos said, and that — from authorities’ perspective — was the end of it. Grogan agreed.
The Merced County prosecutor said nothing of the threats or the possible mistaken-identity theory when The Bee interviewed her in May 2003. She since has moved from her home on Encina Avenue.
In another development, Geragos revealed two affairs Scott Peterson .........
hummmm, ya think?
hey, and that is "hear-say" stuff that should not be admitted into court?
ROFL...... not that is a thought that Geragos just stepped into manure!
ah, but as the article written, Geragos is stating Scott filed the release of liability, therefore put his warehouse address?
I meant the previous "Peterson" boat owner..or the boat seller...
I believe the seller had Scott fill this out...If I recall correctly.
How is it that Geragos gets to do this much "testifying"?
Cubbies are doing great as long as my family doesn't go to the game!
We were at the miserable game when the Cubs lost to the Marlins 11-1.
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