Laci Peterson's brother Brent Rocha loads a rocking chair from her Modesto home into the back of a truck Friday morning.
Posted on 05/31/2003 8:41:50 AM PDT by runningbear
Laci Peterson's brother Brent Rocha loads a rocking chair from her Modesto home into the back of a truck Friday morning.
Laci's things in tug of war
By GARTH STAPLEY and JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITERS
Published: May 31, 2003, 07:16:10 AM PDT
Laci Peterson's family and friends removed truckloads of items from the slain Modesto woman's house on Friday, touching off controversy between her family and that of her husband.
Police responded to the Covena Avenue home at about 10 a.m. after a security company reported that the alarm had been triggered, Capt. Greg Savelli said.
Officers determined that Laci Peterson's family and friends were removing items that belonged to Laci, said Savelli, who added that officers documented what was taken.
"We're treating this as a civil dispute over property," he said. "It was clear to the Police Department that this was not a burglary.
Peterson's husband, Scott, 30, has been charged with double murder and faces the death penalty in the killings of his 27-year-old wife and their unborn son, Conner.
Savelli said the fallout from Friday's property removal "was best handled between the families and their attorneys."
Adam Stewart, an attorney for Laci Peterson's family, said the family had been in contact with Scott Peterson's defense team, who had agreed to allow Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, to go through the house on Tuesday. She was to be accompanied by representatives of the defense team, and all items taken were to be photographed and videotaped.
Scott Peterson's parents and lawyers expressed outrage that the Rochas did not follow the agreement.
Jackie Peterson said the people who went into the home Friday had "absolutely no permission to be in that house. I have a lot of empathy for Sharon, but she does not have a right to go in our house and take what she wants."
Rocha did not appear to be among the packers. Calls placed to the Rocha home were not accepted.
Seven vehicles loaded
Among the items loaded into seven vehicles were a crib, a rocking chair and a box with Graco printed on the outside. Graco makes such products as strollers, highchairs and car seats.
Laci Peterson's family announced Wednesday that it had hired attorneys to help recover items from the house. A list included her wedding dress, jewelry and Conner's crib.
Jackie Peterson told The Bee that the security company notified her by telephone in San Diego County that the house alarm had been tripped.
The property removal appeared to take Scott Peterson's defense team by surprise.
Matthew Dalton, an attorney with lead defense attorney Mark Geragos' law firm, drove to the house and asked reporters if someone had reported a burglary.
Dalton went to Stewart's Modesto law office Friday morning and dropped off some items requested by the Rocha family, Stewart said.
Monday, the defense team moved other items, including what appeared to be gifts, to the Modesto office of defense co-counsel Kirk McAllister, for transfer to Laci Peterson's family. But the items had not been picked up by Friday morning, McAllister said.
Stewart said in front of the home that it would be "ridiculous" to suggest that the Rochas broke into the home.
"I apologize for it coming down to this," he said. "This is not the way we operate. This is for Laci, for Conner and Laci's family. It is not for the media or Mr. Scott Peterson's defense in any way, shape or form. It's depressing that it's come down to this."
Stanislaus County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said prosecutors had no legal authority over the house.
"It's not a crime scene," Goold said. " This is a civil problem between the Rochas and the Petersons."
The house title is in Laci and Scott Petersons' names, county records show. In such a joint tenancy, when one titleholder dies, the title goes to the other.
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Incident brings Peterson case close to home
Victim's family moves items from house, raising the issue of ownership.
By Garth Stapley and John Coté
The Modesto Bee
(Published Saturday, May 31, 2003, 4:47 AM)
MODESTO -- Laci Peterson's family and friends removed truckloads of items from the slain Modesto woman's house Friday, touching off controversy between her family and that of her husband.
Police officers were dispatched after a security company notified them that the alarm at the Covena Avenue home had been triggered, Capt. Greg Savelli said.
Officers determined that members of the Rocha family and friends of Laci Peterson were removing items that belonged to the slain woman and documented what was taken, Savelli said.
"We're treating this as a civil dispute over property," he said. "It was clear to the police department that this was not a burglary. It was a dispute over property and was best handled between the families and their attorneys."
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Judge cites Peterson right to fair trial in denying report access
Judge cites Peterson right to fair trial in denying report access
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: May 31, 2003, 07:16:56 AM PDT
A Stanislaus County judge on Friday ordered that arrest and search warrants remain sealed in the case against Scott Peterson, who is accused of murdering his pregnant wife and unborn son.
Superior Court Judge Al Giro-lami's ruling also ordered the autopsy reports for Laci and Conner to stay sealed.
Thursday, District Attorney James Brazelton reversed his position and asked to have the autopsy reports made public, and the matter is set for hearing June 6.
Brazelton's about-face came after part of the fetus's autopsy report was leaked to the media. Prosecutors said that portion was clearly "skewed in favor of the defense."
Defense attorneys, coroner's officials, police and prosecutors have denied leaking the information.
Friday, in his ruling on all the documents, Girolami said releasing them "might irreparably harm the continued investigation into this criminal matter."
"Despite the fact that the complaint has been issued and a suspect has been arrested, the investigation and search for both incriminating and exonerating evidence in this matter continues," Girolami wrote.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys argued that releasing the documents could impede Peterson's right to a fair trial and damage an ongoing investigation.
Girolami agreed, saying in his ruling that releasing the documents "might result in the evidence being destroyed and witnesses being reluctant to step forward."
A group of newspapers, including The Bee, are seeking to have the documents unsealed.
Right to view reports argued
Charity Kenyon, an attorney representing the newspapers, argued that the public's right to view court documents was fundamental in an open legal system.
Other means exist for ensuring
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Judge orders Laci Peterson autopsy report sealed
Judge orders Laci Peterson autopsy report sealed
The Modesto Bee
The Associated Press
Published: May 31, 2003, 06:49:17 AM PDT
MODESTO, Calif. (AP) - A judge ruled Friday that an autopsy report on the deaths of Laci Peterson and her unborn son should remain sealed along with other search warrant and arrest records.
Superior Court Judge Al Girolami said releasing the information could hamper the murder investigation and prejudice public opinion before a trial begins.
Girolami is scheduled to hear more arguments June 6 from prosecutors preparing a murder case against Peterson's husband, Scott Peterson. Prosecutors on Thursday asked that the autopsy reports be released to the public. They argued that media leaks of the reports are biased toward the defense.
Girolami also ordered that leaks of sealed information stop and indicated he would consider a gag order to stop the prosecution and defense teams from talking to the media.
Scott Peterson, 30, is accused of killing his wife and unborn son, whom the couple had planned to name Conner, last December in their home. Laci, 27, was eight months pregnant at the time. The bodies washed ashore in San Francisco Bay last month.
Contra Costa County authorities concluded their autopsy report earlier this month, but did not disclose the cause of death.
Several media outlets have released details of the coroner's report, and a spokeswoman for Laci Peterson's family members said Thursday they were "devastated" at hearing autopsy reports without warning on television.
The leaked reports indicated the unborn son had plastic tape wrapped around his neck and a significant cut across the shoulders.
Meanwhile, friends of Laci Peterson removed several personal articles Friday from the single-story Modesto home where she and Scott Peterson lived.
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MOM'S MOVING MOMENT
By HOWARD BREUER and MARSHA KRANES
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May 31, 2003 -- Laci Peterson's mother - shattered by the graphic details leaked from the 25-page autopsy of her unborn grandson - yesterday began removing her slain daughter's belongings from the home she had shared with her accused murderer husband, Scott.
Sharon Rocha, accompanied by several friends and relatives, was seen at the Modesto, Calif., house removing the rocking chair Laci had bought to use when she nursed her infant son, as well as unopened Christmas gifts, clothing, chairs, lamps and artwork.
In doing so, she ignored the advice of her lawyer, Al Clark, that she wait until he, Scott Peterson's lawyers and court officials work out the procedures to be followed when she entered the house.
Modesto police arrived while Rocha was there, and she and her entourage left a short time later after packing seven cars full of Laci's belongings.
Hours later, lawyers representing Laci's family and Scott Peterson started haggling over whether removing the items was legal.
Scott Peterson's mother, Jackie, expressed outrage that the items had been removed since Laci's family had "absolutely no permission to be in that house."
Scott Peterson has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife and their unborn son.
Laci's family said Wednesday that they had hired lawyers to help them retrieve a baby crib and jewelry from the home.
Meanwhile, Clark told Fox News his client's anger over the grisly revelations leaked from her daughter's and grandson's sealed autopsy reports drove her to go get her daughter's possessions.
A family spokeswoman said Rocha was "devastated" by the reports describing how the near full-term fetus of her grandson Conner had plastic tape wrapped around the neck and a large cut across the chest when he was found in the shallow waters of San Francisco Bay last month.
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(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Yep, Scott will say her fingers were swollen and that is why he had possession of the rings in the first place.
Question, Maggie: Did I just see above that those same rings were taken from the jeweler where Scott was having them reworked by Sharon????How did she do that? With a court order? If not, poor jeweler!
"GRACE: You are right on several levels. Number one, if he is convicted he will not have a right, civilly, to this estate, to anything belonging to Laci, to any monies they shared together. What was his would go to his family and what was hers would go to her family. The house would be sold and the proceeds would, in my understanding, go to Laci's family. If he is convicted of taking her life, he no longer has a claim on her possessions.
KING: Chris, is that correct?
PIXLEY: That's correct, Larry. And that's another reason why it's not necessary for the Rocha family to go into the home at this point in time and take those possessions. If Scott is the murderer and he's convicted in this case, they will have access to all of that. And, of course, we've heard tonight they are going to have access or they were going to have access to all this property already."
But we know the Rocha's didn't have access to the property. The Peterson's withheld that. The truth was twisted..
sw
that says it all , doesn't it?
he would "love" to be sitting among the family to grieve?.....how sick are these people....
...but I would bet you that that is what sp thought would happen....he would be looked on as the unfortunate , loving spouse who just lost his wife and almost born baby...at Christmas time.....
bet he expected to be sitting in his mommy's lap, licking up the sympathy vote.....
How would they know, all she wanted to do was set in the rocker and get her wedding dress? Guess they were looking to get a little more than that.
I think this guy is looking awful gulty, but maybe we should hold off a little on grabbing the rope, until we see some real evidence.
All the stuff that has been leaked has been in the sole custoday of the prosecution as far as I know.
And her interests can't be assumed or acquired by anybody claiming survivors rights. They certainly can't be controlled by a couple with the POA of a seperate estate.
The Petersons probably wish their precious son had never met Laci..and the Rochas would no doubt agree.
sw
Just not true. The lender holds a mortgage that lists the house as colateral. Lot of hoops to go through before the lender can secure ownership of the home.
Guess you didn't know that the defense had the autopsy results, the taped phone conversations and an estimated 30,000 pages of prosecution evidence.
They would not have arrested them if they had drove a truck through the door......bad PR. What they did was criminal, but you have to have a prosecutor that would take them to trial, and that ain't about to happen, conflicting values here.
Chad, you better be movin' down from up there in Fairbanks...the cold is beginning to affect your thinking.....
all along this thread you have stated boldly that the Rocha's are thieves....no trial, no arrests, no nothing....yet you state they are thieves....
well, if you can call them thieves without a trial , I guess the rest of us can call SP a thing or two as well.....
I'll await the trial, but I believe he is a merciless murderer...
I don't know. It came up at another post by ewing, same topic as this post.
This stuff sooner of later winds up in a yard sale of Good Will Store anyway.
sw
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