Posted on 03/16/2005 9:59:57 AM PST by Howlin
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Shackled at the waist, Scott Peterson returned to court Wednesday to learn his fate for the slaying of his wife and her fetus, four months after jurors found the former fertilizer salesman guilty of their murders.
Peterson was escorted into San Mateo County Superior Court under heavy security, wearing a dark suit and handcuffs chained to his waist. Ten of the 12 jurors who sentenced him to death in December sat in the jury box.
Judge Alfred A. Delucchi was set to decide Wednesday whether to grant the former fertilizer salesman a new trial, sentence him to death - as the jury recommended - or give him life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Peterson, 32, was convicted Nov. 12 of two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and her fetus. The jury recommended the death penalty a month later.
Hours before the hearing began, Peterson's former mistress, star witness Amber Frey, said she stood by her decision to turn to police. Peterson's lawyer is challenging the use of telephone conversations she recorded for the trial.
"As far as having not come forward there may not - and certainly in the jurors' eyes - there would not have been justice, so I stand by my choices and my decisions that I made," Frey told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday.
In asking for a new trial, defense lawyer Mark Geragos said Peterson's telephone calls to Frey should not have been admitted. He said Peterson never implicated himself in the crime during the calls and that authorities should not have tapped his phone.
Geragos also said prosecutors withheld evidence that a state prison inmate claimed he heard that Laci Peterson had interrupted a burglary at a neighbor's home in Modesto on Dec. 24, 2002, the day she was reported missing.
Scott Peterson claims he went fishing that day, and Geragos says the tip "points to the conclusion that Laci was alive after Scott left for the day."
"If the evidence were presented at a retrial, it is highly probable a different result would have occurred," Geragos wrote.
But prosecutor David Harris said the burglary happened two days after Laci Peterson's disappearance. He said the evidence was handed over a year before the trial started and would not have changed the verdict.
"His claim is reminiscent of the 'boy who cried wolf,' " Harris said.
The motion for a new trial, filed Feb. 25 in Redwood City, also claimed the judge erroneously dismissed two jurors, and erred in denying Geragos' motion for a second change of venue.
sw
Members of Laci Peterson's family addressed the court before Delucchi formally imposed the sentence.
"You're evil and still have the readiness to commit evil," brother Brent Rocha told Peterson. "How does it feel to be a baby killer?"
Rocha said that every time he comes to court, "I think that my sister's head is probably rolling around in the bottom of the bay."
He called Peterson "arrogant" and said it was time for him to face reality for his actions.
Other family members, such as Laci's father and stepfather, used profanity in addressing Peterson, resulting in an admonishment from Delucchi.
In addition, after an outburst from Peterson's father, Lee, Delucchi threatened to have him removed from the courtroom. Lee Peterson had shouted at Brent Rocha that he was a liar.
"I never liked you," Dennis Rocha, Laci's stepfather, told Peterson. "You're going to burn in hell."
Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, told Peterson he was "stupid, stupid to think you could get away with murder" and told him he had "no love, no feelings, no heart, no soul."
"You're selfish, heartless and self-centered," she said. "You're a coward and an evil murderer ... You're a coward and an evil murderer."
sw
Do death Row cells at San Quentin have windows? I hope not.
Except as people have said he can look out at the bay for the rest of his life as a never ending, constant reminder of what he did.
Sad story for everybody involved. What a friggin waste
Perhaps Jackie can sell some of the belongings that she took from Lacy's home. Better yet she can put that oxygen thingy up on E-Bay. Some sick individual will buy it.
I'm watching Court TV, but I wonder if Rita Cosby has been on FOX saying: "My sources tell me Scott has been sentenced to death."
Laci's family has so much class, they probably don't want any part of that blood money anyway.
sw
But he can see across the room to the windows outside and see the bay.
Jill Brown, warden of San Quentin State Prison left, talks with an inmate on death row in an exercise yard in San Quentin, Calif., Oct. 25, 2004. A judge formally sentenced Scott Peterson to death Wednesday, March 16, 2005, after calling the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, ``cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous.'' Peterson is to be sent to death row at San Quentin State Prison outside San Francisco, the infamous lockup that overlooks the same bay where Laci Peterson's body was discarded. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
Beth Garrison talking about Brent making remarks about Jackie Peterson not having her oxygen during the scuffle at Lacy's home in Feburary.
Somehow that didn't bring the raw emotion that his horrific murder has brought.
I cannot imagine Sharon Rocha's pain.
Cheering.....BRING HIM IN.......
They are waiting for the bastard.
PRESS CONFERENCE......Sharon is there.
Does anyone know if the Peterson's can give him unlimited amounts of money?
Ron Grantski (R), Laci Peterson's stepfather, shares a laugh with Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton, outside the courthouse after the formal sentencing of Scott Peterson in Redwood City, California, March 16, 2005. The judge formally sentenced Scott Peterson to death Wednesday after calling the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, 'cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous.' REUTERS/Dan Honda/POOL
I'm wondering what Beth Karas was talking about when she said that a juror told her that something Scott did, like dropping his head or something, that made the jury think he was guilty.
She even said what the testimony was, but I missed it.
Ron G. was applauded by the crowd.
No, they can't.
I heard her Howlin, but was not totally tuned in either.
Oh yes it was something about either the demonstration or the discussion of the actions of Lacy's body being discarded from the boat.
If Rita Cosby's story about the inmates cheering.....BRING HIM IN is true, then he won't be needing any money at all.
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