Geragos' career a case of trials by courage

LOS ANGELES -- Over the course of his law career, criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos' choice of clients has sparked negative reactions from friends and strangers alike.

He endured scowls from women working out at his gym during the search for Chandra Levy, the former Washington intern who had an affair with his client, former Rep. Gary Condit of Ceres.

Bystanders threw things at him on his way into court to defend Susan Mc- Dougal, who was acquitted on charges of theft and obstruction of justice after becoming a target of the Whitewater investigation.

Now there is Scott Peterson, a man accused of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son, Conner, in the days before Christmas. The image of a smiling Laci Peterson, holding her growing belly, laughing in home videos, has been broadcast so often since her disappearance that the case has the feel of a celebrity murder.

Even Geragos, a fixture on CNN's "Larry King Live" and other talk shows, said it didn't look good for Peterson in the days after the bodies of his wife and son washed ashore on the eastern edge of San Francisco Bay last month.

Then Geragos met with Peterson and Peterson's parents and offered a self-indictment: Maybe as a media pundit he had been too quick to judge.

"I'm facing a case where I've been advised by everyone not to take it -- told it's career suicide, told I'm clinically insane," Geragos said Friday, the day he announced that he had agreed to represent the 30-year-old fertil- izer salesman facing the death penalty on charges of double homicide.

Why do it? "I do take seriously the idea that you're not supposed to turn down a case just because of its notoriety," he said.

It is a principle he has practiced since graduating from Loyola Law School in 1982 and joining his father's Los Angeles law firm. He tried unsuccessfully to get actress Winona Ryder acquitted on felony shoplifting charges last year. He represented former President Clinton's brother

Roger, in a drunken driving case and actor Robert Downey Jr. on drug charges. He engineered a plea bargain for former Los Angeles City Councilman Art Snyder that allowed an appeal, and later a dismissal, of corruption charges. He won a dismissal of charges of felony kidnapping, arson and criminal threats against hip-hop star Nate Dogg.

Of late, Geragos has been one of the steady stream of post-O.J. Simpson lawyer-pundits willing to go on the tube and offer legal observations on a wide array of subjects. A case such as Peterson's, which has captured extensive media attention, could set Geragos apart, propelling him to household name status a la Alan Dershowitz or Johnny Cochran.

In a career sprinkled with uphill fights, the Peterson case may prove a key moment for the 45-year-old Geragos, who said he first dreamed of becoming a lawyer as a 5-year-old accompanying his father, Paul, to his job at the Los Angeles district attorney's office.

"He's obviously taking on massive public opinion. People hate Scott Peterson. They've already convicted him," said prominent criminal defense lawyer Harland Braun, a longtime friend of Geragos.

"This is the kind of case you have to have guts," Braun said. "The real concern is, somehow you get associated with the dislike the public has for your client."

Geragos said he takes on such cases, in part, because of the mantra of criminal defense attorneys that all accused people deserve a rigorous defense under the law. But for him, it is often more than that.

"If I'm going to represent somebody, I think at the very least they deserve someone who can find the good in them," Geragos said. "I don't think most people are evil. I think sometimes people are demonized unfairly."

Whether in court or on the steps outside holding forth with the media, Geragos can be brash, funny, occasionally irreverent. After winning the McDougal case, he said of the prosecution: "They don't have the guts to retry it."

"I'd like to think I've had a smile sometimes when I say things like that," he said Friday.

Even opponents often find him charming, although not always. His client roster has brought scorn from some sectors. LA radio duo John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, whose "The John and Ken Show" has shaped public opinion on a number of controversial issues, spent part of their show last week ridiculing Geragos.

Geragos works long hours, six days a week, taking his preteen son and daughter to his office high in a downtown skyscraper on Saturdays, just as he went to the office with his dad. A tight-knit Armenian family active in the local Armenian church and cultural groups, the Geragoses also work together. His brother, Matthew, joined the family law firm, Geragos & Geragos, practicing civil litigation.

A younger brother is an architect, a result, Geragos jokes, of being raised by a father who left the district attorney's office to practice criminal law. "Defense attorneys are more creative than prosecutors," he said.

Geragos admits he takes losses hard. Usually, he has said, the hardest are "life-top cases," ones in which your client might never get out of prison. But Geragos also counts less serious charges among the hardest emotionally, when he believes his client has been treated unfairly.

He took on McDougal's case pro bono after his father said anyone who stood up to the Whitewater special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, deserved to have someone stand up for her.

Outraged to find that she was kept in shackles, while many violent felons were not, he lobbied for months to improve McDougal's conditions in prison.

During the Ryder trial, the actress occasionally arrived at the Santa Monica court in her lawyer's car. Geragos -- distinctive with his full mustache and combed-back hair -- would usher Ryder into the building past a phalanx of media, placing his arm at the small of her back or wrapping it protectively around her shoulders.

When Ryder was convicted on felony shoplifting charges, which drew probation and a 480-hour community service sentence, Geragos said he blamed himself.

"I never second-guess juries," he said on "Larry King Live." "I second-guess myself all the time, but not juries."

Nancy Grace, former prosecutor for the Fulton County district attorney's office in Atlanta and a frequent Geragos sparring partner on "Larry King Live," called him "clever, slick and likable. He knows every trick in the book."

Grace, who is a Court TV anchor, said Geragos is the type of lawyer she'd call if she were charged in a death penalty case.

Asked what persuaded him to change his mind in the Peterson case, Geragos cited the passion of Scott Peterson's parents, a meeting with Scott and finally a reading of a "parallel investigation" conducted by Peterson's original defense attorney, Kirk McAllister of Modesto. Geragos called its findings "eye-opening and mind-boggling."

Mark Geragos said Monday he would not only prove Scott Peterson is not a murderer, he will "find out who did this to Scott's wife and Scott's son." The Los Angeles attorney's comments came outside Stanislaus County Superior Court after two hearings regarding Peterson, who faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn child, Conner.

During one of the hearings, Geragos, hired by Peterson's family last week to defend the 30-year-old Modesto man, characterized prosecution documents as "rife with inadmissible, voodoo-type" investigations.

Geragos, who has so far received roughly 6,000 pages of police reports and other records in the case, said the documents contained references to psychics, voice-stress analysis and the study of micro-expressions in people's faces.

It was unclear whether any of the information was used to justify arrest or search warrants, Geragos said, noting that he had not seen affidavits in support of the warrants.

Police spokesman Doug Ridenour said Monday night that police would not comment on what is now the district attorney's investigation.

Prosecutors have revealed little about their case against Peterson. But a spokesman for the district attorney's office dismissed Geragos' characterization about the investigation.

"I don't think there's any voodoo anywhere in the discovery," Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said, referring to the documents provided to the defense.

"Any information in any affidavit was reviewed by a judge," Goold said. "The evidence is going to come out at trial and in court hearings."

The first proceeding Monday was on whether Judge Al Girolami could hear the criminal case against Peterson after prosecutors had him excluded from a related civil case.

Attorneys on either side can use one peremptory challenge during a given case to remove a judge.

The civil case involved a request by The Bee in March to unseal the search warrants in the investigation.

Because of the "unprecedented" media coverage of the case, unsealing the warrant documents would jeopardize Peterson's right to a fair trial, Geragos said.

He argued that the two cases were intertwined and needed to be decided by one judge. Since Girolami had already been removed from the civil case, the judge could not hear the criminal case, Geragos argued.

Girolami disagreed, noting that the cases involved separate parties and separate legal issues.

Geragos said he intends to appeal Girolami's decision to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno.

"Somebody has got to take control of what is disseminated in this case," he said later. "It's clearly uncharted territory. There's never been anything like the unprecedented coverage in this case."

On Monday afternoon, the Court of Appeal ruled that the search warrants in the case will remain sealed until a "change of circumstances" occurs. The ruling did not specify what those circumstances would be.

In the unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel upheld Superior Court Judge Roger M. Beauchesne's order regarding the procedure for sealing search warrants.

But it sharply criticized the part of Beauchesne's order that called for the warrants in the Peterson case to be unsealed after an arrest, calling that a "manifest abuse of discretion."

Geragos welcomed the ruling, having argued during a hearing before Beauchesne Monday morning that the warrants should remain sealed.

"It gives the defense some time to sort this out," Geragos said. "Obviously, I'm pleased."

That hearing was scheduled after two more newspapers, The San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, petitioned to have the search warrants and the arrest warrant documents unsealed.

Also Monday, veteran Modesto attorney Kirk McAllister joined the defense team. McAllister represented Peterson during much of the four-month police investigation and contends that he has evidence to exonerate Peterson.

Prosecutors and defense teams also agreed to an order by Girolami directing the Contra Costa County coroner's office to retain possession of Laci and Conner's remains until the court ordered them turned over to family members.

The two bodies were found last month along the eastern shoreline of San Francisco Bay.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris, one of two prosectors on the case, called such an order routine.

That likely was done so defense specialists would have the opportunity to examine the bodies, defense attorneys not involved with the case said.

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JUDGES' RULINGS -- Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger M. Beauchesne did not unseal search warrants issued in the case. He continued the hearing until June 3.

Judge Al Girolami signed an order requiring the Contra Costa County coroner's office to retain custody of the remains of Laci Peterson until further notice. Girolami also rejected a defense motion asking him to step down from judging the trial.

DEFENSE ON OFFENSE -- Scott Peterson's defense attorney, Mark Geragos, said outside the courtroom that he would not only prove his client's innocence, but he also would prove who killed Laci Peterson.

HEARINGS CHANGED -- The May 19 pretrial hearing was rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 27.

Laci Peterson slaying trial takes turn into 'voodoo'
Lawyer says police used unusual tactics

MODESTO -- Defense attorney Mark Geragos launched a sharp attack on the government's case against murder defendant Scott Peterson on Monday.

The lawyer told a judge that police may have used psychics and other "voodoo" tactics to investigate the killing of Laci Peterson and the couple's unborn son.

Geragos, who has earned a reputation for his aggressive representation of a variety of celebrities and serving as a legal commentator for CNN, also promised that Scott Peterson's defense team would track down the real killer.

"We've set the bar extremely high, and that's to prove that Scott is not only factually innocent, but to figure out exactly who did this horrible thing to Scott's wife and to Scott's son," Geragos told dozens of reporters and camera crews on the steps of the Stanislaus County courthouse.

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Nobody at the Berkeley Marina was trying to catch the real killer. A couple of guys down on their luck were trying to catch fish using anchovies for bait and miniature liquor bottles as bobbers.

"Yeah, I heard Scott Peterson hired a new lawyer, a Hollywood lawyer who defended Winona Ryder," said a soft-spoken man with a scraggly beard named Kevin, who didn't want his last name in the paper. "I'm not sure how he can afford it."

"He's doing it just for the publicity," said his friend Randall, who was wearing an old Army field jacket and sipping a Corona on Sunday morning. "This isn't the O.J. case, but it's just about that big. The publicity is worth millions."

Scott Peterson's new lawyer, Mark Geragos, said last week his client "looks forward to finding out" who killed his wife, Laci Peterson, and his unborn son.

The remark was all too reminiscent of O.J. Simpson's search for the "real killer" of his wife.

Reality is fast disappearing when Scott Peterson hires a lawyer who was a regular commentator on his case on "Larry King Live," one of many TV commentators weaving a virtual rope around Peterson's neck.

Three weeks ago, Geragos said it was "devastating" to Peterson's case that the bodies washed up just 3 miles from the Berkeley Marina, where Peterson said he had gone fishing the day his wife was reported missing.

At the marina on Sunday, the guys using miniature liquor bottles as bobbers had the same legal opinions as everyone else all over America -- even though they don't have a TV or a home to put one in.

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"They're saying he was out here on Christmas Eve," said Randall, as he sat on a rock along the bay, with San Francisco and Alcatraz behind him. "Most people who have a home and a family -- most people who have a life -- aren't fishing on Christmas Eve."

"There's major circumstantial evidence, and there's minor circumstantial evidence," said Randall. "This is major."

Then, like everyone else in America, they began to speculate about the crime. You don't need Internet access to any of the Laci Peterson chat forums to have opinions about the crime that's providing distraction from war, disease and joblessness.

"I can understand anger between a man and a woman, but I can't understand how a man can kill a wife carrying his child."

Then we riffed through all the possibilities everyone else is riffing through -- including the possibility that it was an unplanned crime of sudden passion, with a botched coverup. The only thing we didn't talk about was the possibility that Scott Peterson didn't do it.

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Barrels, anchors, currents, bodies in the water for months -- we ran through all those topics. These guys down on their luck, collecting bottles and emptying a few, and fishing with a couple of tiny ones, have heard all the theories. All Americans have.

"They're never going to find an unbiased jury anywhere in the country," said Kevin.

Never underestimate the intelligence or wide reading of people who live on the streets, in the parks or in the shelters.

Kevin said he had been a $50,000-a-year machinist at Boeing in Seattle until he was laid off a few years ago. Randall said he was a $20-an-hour mechanic at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory until he was laid off.

The Laci Peterson murder is a good conversation filler. For those strangers who drove hundreds of miles to attend Peterson's memorial service in Modesto on Sunday, it's clearly something more than that -- something more, and something strange...

Attorney Vows To Prove Peterson Innocent

Snip it

Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos vowed Monday he would not only prove beyond a reasonable doubt that accused murderer Scott Peterson didn't kill his wife and unborn son late last year, but would prove him "factually" not guilty and "find out who did this to Scott's wife and Scott's son.

Wonder what facts they are going to disprove?

Jackie Peterson

Snip it

Geragos, joined by Peterson's previous criminal defense attorney for four months, Kirk McAllister, argued to keep Modesto police arrest and search warrant records sealed, saying elements of "a voodoo-like investigation" could harm his client's defense. The Los Angeles attorney said he hasn't seen the records, but suggested they could possibly include references to "psychics and voice stress analyzers, all of which are totally inadmissible. If any of these things make their way into applications for search warrants and arrest warrants," he said, it would be "prejudicial" to Peterson. Peterson wore a dark blue suit for his third court appearance in 19 days, replacing the chains, sandals and one-piece jail jumpsuit he wore for earlier hearings.

There was an interview with the editor of the Star newspaper during which the editor reported the argument. The argument was supposedly related to Lacy finding a photo of Scott and Amber, and Scott's subsequent confession of the affair. Photos of Scott and Amber are in the Star--the editor would not reveal his source but Geragos has insinuated that the police leaked them. Amber's father, in a phone conversation on Larry King last weekend, insinuated that her friends sold the photos to the Star.

Geragos has insinuated that the police leaked them

And there it begins. Those pictures were sold to the Star by that girl that Amber said she thought was her friend.

But now Geragos has started the slam on the MPD.

Oh, as Nancy Grace said on Larry King last night: Geragos knows every trick in the book. He asked the judge to recluse himself as a result of that leak--like it was the judge's fault. Let's just hope that they don't move the trial to L.A.--G's hometown. OJ revisted.

I can't get over all this PR for Geragos; don't ANY attorneys care that he makes ALL of them look like sleazy crooks?

If he was any kind of man, he would want the truth out to put the Rochas out of their misery.

Instead, he is now the ring leader in the circus that is going to put Laci's family through Holy Hell for the next few years.

My one question to him is, if there IS proof that Scotty boy is innocent, WHY haven't we heard ONE WORD of exculpatory evidence? I mean, if you have witnesses or receipts or any kind of proof at all, why not bring it forward BEFORE Scott is arrested and charged? Why would Scott want to sit in jail for years if they have evidence that would lead to the "real killer?" What is the point of that?

You see, this is how it is "done." He says something -- never mind it's an absolute lie -- it gets reported, and sooner or later, it becomes part of the "truth" as they see it.

It just makes me sick.

I'm already tired of hearing how "masterfully" he handled the judge yesterday. It's all smoke and mirrors and has nothing at all to do with what happened to Laci.

It's all about getting Scott's sorry A$$ off now. It just makes me sick.

What he is going to do is contort the law and make people wonder what the word "real" actually means!

I hope that the American people see this for what it is -- and I hope all these legal maneuvering make people MADDER than they already are at Scott.

I still say if they DO have witnesses and proof he is innocent, as the first attorney has said, they should bring it forward and stop this madness which will only make life unbearable for the Rochas.

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