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.
What are you going to do when Michael Jackson gets his retrial?
I actually like the Michael Jackson trial. It’s sort of like The Amazing Race, Cirque de Soliel, Lancelot Link, the animated Brady Kids, America’s Most Wanted, the Sgt. Pepper Album, Home Alone, and Bosom Buddies all rolled into one show. It just needs a couple of midgets.
CNN reporting that Lee Peterson stood up and called someone a liar.
There seems to be something going on in the courtroom......Jackie has left in a huff; Lee left already.
Brent is on the stand.
Brent said that Scott was evil.
Brent: "I chose not to kill me myself so you would have to sweat it out."
Will you listen to CNN and I'll take CTV?
Jackie and Lee Peterson have left the court in a huff. Another Peterson family member removed for calling Brent Rocha a liar while he gives his impact statement...which he is continuing now. Peterson talking to Geragos while Brent delivering impact statement.
Unlikely we will hear from Scott Peterson again. 18 years before appeal.
Lee shouted out "you're a liar" and Jackie acted up, too. Delucchi warned he didn't care who they were, he'd throw them out!
Lee walks out.
Wow. Unbelievable.
More:
Brent still on the stand.
oops, I posted what you posted....ot quick enough on the keyboard. lol
Wow.....Brent told Scott; "When they take you to the execution room, look out the window to Brooks Island and you will know that Laci and Conner have come to take you away."
Brent also said something about Laci's head rolling around in the bay!
Which channel to watch, Howlin? Where are you getting the info?
CTV!
Thanks for both pings.....which one are we using ?
Ouch! (Great picture though) I did hear, I believe on Fox, that he would be spending his death row at San Quentin (sp). That IS a death sentence even in California.
The whole Peterson clan, classy to the end....
Thanks, have switched to it. Rose Rocha speaking now.
Exactly!
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