Former Attorney Says Defense Is 'Strong'Kirk McAllister Is Protecting Key Witnesses

NBC11 ^ | May 1, 2003 | Karen Brown

[runningbear]

Former Attorney Says Defense Is 'Strong'
Kirk McAllister Is Protecting Key Witnesses

Attorney McAllister

Former Attorney Says Defense Is 'Strong'
Kirk McAllister Is Protecting Key Witnesses

Karen Brown

POSTED: 10:25 p.m. PDT May 1, 2003
UPDATED: 10:58 p.m. PDT May 1, 2003

MODESTO, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's former attorney says he has some powerful evidence that will help defend Peterson against charges that he murdered his wife, Laci, and his unborn son.

Scott Peterson's original attorney, Kirk McAllister (pictured left) said his office has uncovered evidence that will exonerate Peterson -- evidence that will be turned over to his new attorney. Defense sources say the new attorney will be Mark Garagos, NBC11's Karen Brown reported.

To send condolences Laci Case(my insert)

Condolences:
1508 Coffee Road
Suite H
Modesto, CA 95355

McAllister told NBC11 that the defense's case is "strong."

When asked why, he said, "because we investigated it instead of calling press conferences like the police did."

The key to Peterson's defense will be the testimony of witnesses uncovered by McAllister, witnesses he says need to be protected, Brown reported.

"I'm protecting witnesses, because I have concerns for them if I go public," he said.

According to defense sources, Los Angeles attorney Mark Garagos -- who has represented high-profile clients like Winona Ryder -- will take over the case Friday morning.

The current public defender says getting Garagos will only strengthen Peterson's defense.

"I think he's going to do a great job," said Kent Faulkner, the deputy public defender. "He's got the resources. He's got the knowledge. He's got the connections. I think it'll change the landscape of the way the case is tried."

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's office issued a statement saying, "We treat all cases as the case needs to be treated. Who the defense attorney is, is not going to change what we do."

In the meantime, Laci Peterson's family is busy preparing for the memorial that will take place Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Modesto.

Scott Peterson has not made an official request to attend that memorial, but the sheriff here says if that request is made, he'll deny it, Brown reported. Sign-up For Breaking News E-mail Alerts Copyright 2003 by NBC11.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

Public defender says he believes Geragos will assist Peterson

EXCERPTED:

Public defender says he believes Geragos will assist Peterson

By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: May 2, 2003, 05:11:14 AM PDT

Stanislaus County Public Defender Tim Bazar said he expects Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos to step in today to defend Scott Peterson, who is charged with murdering his wife and unborn son.

"I do anticipate that he is going to come in on the case,"

Bazar said Thursday afternoon. "But I've got to hear it from the judge."

Peterson, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.

Superior Court Judge Nancy Ashley appointed the public defender to the case last week. A hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. today before Judge Al Girolami is designated for substitution of counsel.

If Geragos steps in, the public defender's office would turn over the case completely

Bazar said.

"It's just not appropriate for a county agency to take a secondary role," Bazar said. "We wouldn't be in a position to actually control the course of the case."

Bazar said his office has canceled one contract extended to a potential expert, and ceased efforts to retain other experts and investigators.

"I don't think it'd be prudent to spend county money on a case where it appears we would be off the case in a matter of hours," Bazar said.

Geragos said Wednesday on the CNN program "Larry King Live" that he would make a decision on the case Thursday. But Geragos did not return calls Thursday.

In Modesto on Tuesday, Geragos met with Peterson and representatives of the public defender's office.

LA lawyer expected to take case

Laci Peterson

LA lawyer expected to take case

By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: May 2, 2003, 05:11:44 AM PDT

About 3,000 people are ex-pected to attend a Sunday afternoon memorial service for Laci Peterson, the Modesto woman whose remains were found last month along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.

That turnout would be more than double the estimated 1,200 people who nearly a year ago paid their respects to Chandra Levy, a Modesto woman whose disappearance, like Peterson's, gripped the nation.

The 24-year-old Levy was the subject of a major search and intense media coverage after she disappeared in 2001 in Washington, D.C., where she had just completed a federal internship. Her remains were found almost 13 months later in a District of Columbia park.

The body of Peterson's unborn son, Conner, washed ashore about a mile from his mother's body. Scott Peterson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in the slayings of his wife and son. He faces the death penalty.

The memorial service is set to take place on what would have been Laci Peterson's 28th birthday.

"The family wanted it to be on her birthday," spokeswoman Kim Petersen said.

Family and friends are slated to speak at the memorial service, which will include a video tribute, choir performance and other music.

"There will be songs that were some of Laci's favorites and ones that had a lot of meaning to the family," Petersen said.

The memorial service is set to start at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church, and is expected to last an hour.

Streets near the large church generally are closed for Sunday services, but there will be more closures this week, and they will be longer, police said.

The city will have 17 officers on duty around the church Sunday, Lt. Gary Watts said. Four will be working overtime, and another four will be reserves.

The extra police were required because several scheduled officers already are assigned to other events on the Cinco de Mayo weekend, he said. The city will absorb the approximately $1,200 extra cost, Watts said.

[uvular]

That's what she said, then just went off interviewing Dr. Baden and T. Williams about other things! So far, she has not said where or who is reporting this. C'mon Greta-tell!

[Canadian Outrage]

You know honestly I liked Marcia Clark. She actually had a good record. She had won 22 murder convictions prior to this case. It was the race card and the fact that Garcetti allowed the case to be tried downtown. It should have been tried in Brentwood and there would have been a different Jury and a different verdict. Also, Ito became a total embarassment. He was completely enamored with himself when the camera was rolling. Johnny Cockroach made me want to throw up!

[Rusty Roberts]

lol, I'm always a day behind on these topics, just asked the same question. I'm betting he planned ahead and used tan in a can

[runningbear]

yep...that would work. Why else would a pregnant new mom suspect her husband to be flandering around with another woman? Thinking her hubbie is being so good to her..>Puke, barf!!! Sorry/rant off.... ;o)

[uvular]

Your point has me totally baffled too! They must not be able to prove his total innocence, or it seems cruel and unusual to keep an innocent person in jail.

[runningbear]

Ito, remember him so well in the Jay Leno stint, the Dancing Ito's....lol.. agree.. ;o)

[Canadian Outrage]

I was upstairs changing and there was a clip on CNBC showing Geragos asking for Snott to come to court in street clothes so that he wasn't perceived as this chained monster. The appearance in chains was not going to help him get a fair trial. However, on the street, there was a reporter following Geragos saying what about what you have stated publically on LKL and Geragos tried to evade it and the reporter went right back at him asking the same question. Geragos says " I didn't know I was on the witness list". LOL haha All those comments are comin back to bite his butt yet!!

[Devil_Anse]

I was never saying that the defense should turn over to the prosecution anything which would be detrimental to their client's case--unless they were forced by law to do so.

What I was saying was that there is ROCK-SOLID, absolute proof of Scott's innocence, and McAllister knows where it is. How do I know this? Because McAllister says so. He wouldn't lie, would he? (cough)

Such a blockbuster would surely result in a finding of no probable cause at the preliminary hearing. So I know that we will not have to wait longer than the preliminary hearing to know what this incredible evidence of Scott's innocence is.

Unless, of course, McAllister was just talking trash. I think he was.

As you have correctly pointed out, the discovery process is less elaborate and, frankly, less important, in a criminal case. And I'm certainly not saying that anybody should be compelled to turn over his work product. But I can't see how McAllister's work product could be actual evidence. So really, to me, work product is not the point here.

You speak of rebuttal. Since when does the defendant in a criminal case get rebuttal?

BTW, I remember a friend who told me that a prosecutor she was up against saved a lot of his really good stuff for rebuttal. She had learned that some of them made a habit of that, b/c she and I had worked in that very same D.A.'s office. She was later out of that office, and was defending a criminal case. The prosecution rested (with visions of a really great rebuttal in their heads.) My friend made the motions for directed verdict of acquital, etc., then she said simply: "the defense rests." Needless to say, she won the case.

[Devil_Anse]

Thank you, Velveeta! That was the one I wanted to see--the Santa hat one.

Apologies to all fair and impartial minds, but I just gotta say this: Scott is despicable.

[Devil_Anse]

Are you including failure of the prosecution to provide Brady material in that?? If so, are you serious??

[Canadian Outrage]

In this case, Experts and details are gonna have to be sorted out and lined up in advance. The Prosecutors cannot afford not to have their forensic evidence ready and backed up. They need to have their experts snagged pronto. They can make all the difference. Especially the highly respected ones like, Baden, and Lee. Apparently Juries really like Dr. Lee. He is kinda funny yet extremely brilliant.

[Devil_Anse]

ROFL!!!!

Have you ever heard that Eartha Kitt (barf) song, "Santa Baby"?

It would make a wonderful background song for that picture.

"Santa baby, I want a brand new car... Santa baby, I want a diamond ring... so hurry down the chimney to me!"

[Devil_Anse]

I am reminded of something David Schippers said in his book about his role in the impeachment. He said he was from Chicago and was thoroughly familiar with the "fix", but that he'd sort of been in awe while in Washington, and had mistakenly thought that things might be handled there in a more lofty, and less sleazy, manner.

He was berating himself for ever thinking such a thing. He compared himself to some hick who'd just fallen off a turnip truck. He said that when he and his fellow sharp lawyers would see such a naive person in the midst of Chicago dealings, they would chuckle and one of them would poke the other and say, "Get him! He thinks it's on the legit!"

I think someone is poking someone out there in Hollywood California Bigwig TV Lawyer Land, and is gazing at us, the trusting public, and is saying, "Get them! They think it's on the legit!"

[Rusty Roberts]

I have a feeling MG will be the front person, someone else will be the true "leg work" of the case. MG's firm will bear the brunt of this case, and I think he comes across as a well spoken, quick thinking lawyer. I do not think death penalty, special circumstance cases are his forte.

We will see a tag team, a bench of lawyers surrounding Scotty from now on, as well as defense experts. Mark will be the spokesperson, he will be doing the spin.

[Devil_Anse]

I honestly don't think any case is about winning or losing, or good or bad, to Geragos. I think all cases--and just about everything else, too--are about money. Just money, that's all.

[Canadian Outrage]

Are they all gonna work gratis??? Peterson's are NOT wealthy. They are not poor but certainly not in the millions league.

[Devil_Anse]

Yes, but that applies to all lawyers, and to all types of cases. With few exceptions, the lawyer will decide whether or not to go to trial by assessing whether they can win at trial. So anyone can likewise keep their "win" percentage high if they are good at making these educated guesses.

So maybe we should be congratulating the screener of cases from Nancy Grace's former office. The only point I was making was, 100% of the cases she tried, she won. I think it's a cheap shot to denigrate a performance record like that. Someone was doing something right.

She was a prosecutor in Georgia, Atlanta, I think, and is now a TV commentator.

I think she probably knows almost as much as you do about prosecuting criminal cases. And it is criminal law that we're talking about here, you know.

[runningbear]

oh yeah, MG is a PR person..Watching the reply of Chris Matthews... Peterson discussion..

[Devil_Anse]

When one starts counting all a lawyer's cases, including the settled cases as well as the tried cases, it comes down to how many satisfied vs. unsatisfied clients the lawyer has. Or, in the case of a D.A., how many times they have provided what the public deserves from them

[Velveeta]

http://www.fresnobee.com/special/peterson/Stories/story/6586416p-7526265c.html

Scott's father said his son turned over a time-stamped receipt from an automated ticket dispenser at the Berkeley Marina, claiming that the receipt showed that he was there when he said he was on Christmas Eve. Police verified the receipt was authentic, BUT RIDENOUR ADDED: "WE NEVER SAID IT WAS A RECEIPT THAT CAME FROM HIM"
_________________________________________
Bold emphasis is mine. Was the fishy story NOT Scott's original alibi? I wonder if Scott originally tried the I- was-at-work-all-day-alibi? Maybe he threw the receipt away in a dumpster and then changed his story to ...oh yeah, I also went fishin in the boat my wife didn't know I had?