Death certificates opened for Laci Peterson and son

Contra Costa Times ^ | Posted on Sat, Jun. 07, 2003 | Brian Anderson and Claire Booth

[runningbear]

Death certificates opened for Laci Peterson and son

Posted on Sat, Jun. 07, 2003

Death certificates opened for Laci Peterson and son

By Brian Anderson and Claire Booth
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

MODESTO - The Contra Costa County Coroner's Office could not determine a cause of death for Laci Peterson, but concluded that her son was born dead.

The coroner lists Peterson's manner of death as homicide. Death certificates for the 27-year-old and the son with whom she was eight months pregnant were made public late Friday.

A judge agreed earlier in the day to allow release of the documents, but kept sealed the results of the two autopsies.

During two hours of courtroom wrangling, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami told Scott Peterson's defense lawyers and the prosecutors who have charged him with the murders of his wife and child that the report will remain sealed until a preliminary hearing.

The death certificates were filed in Contra Costa County on Friday. Signed April 21, they are the official record of Laci and Conner Peterson's deaths.

The filings do not mean the remains will be released to Laci Peterson's family. A court order requires the coroner's office to retain custody of the remains until told otherwise by a judge, said coroner's spokesman Jimmy Lee.

Laci Peterson's family does not know when that will be, said family spokeswoman Kim Petersen. "It's a very tough time for them," she said Friday.

The death certificates contain the time and place of death. For Laci Peterson, the coroner's office specifies the date she was found on the Richmond shoreline, April 14.

Conner Peterson was found a day earlier. That is specified on his fetal death certificate, along with where he was found along the Richmond shoreline. Fetal death certificates have no category for a cause of death. Conner's does specify that he was born dead.

Cable news station MSNBC reported last week that a leaked portion of the autopsy reports showed that Conner was found with 11/2 loops of tape around his neck.

Legal analysts have surmised the information could be used to back a defense theory that a satanic cult played a role in Laci Peterson's disappearance and slaying.

It also was widely believed that the defense team had a hand in leaking the autopsy to bolster its case with the public, an allegation attorney Mark Geragos adamantly denied.

The autopsy had been sealed May 15 at the request of both defense attorneys and prosecutors. After last week's leak, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office asked that the entire report be unsealed.

Deputy district attorney David Harris told Girolami on Friday the leaked details provided a "significant slant" in favor of the defense. "We can't discuss inaccuracies or accuracies without violating the court order," he said.

Girolami said the results will not be unsealed. "I don't think that releasing the report at this time is necessary. The mere fact that someone has leaked out part of the report does not justify releasing all of it."

In other matters, Girolami told lawyers for 22 reporters that a state law does not protect calls and conversations they placed to Scott Peterson. Authorities wiretapped Peterson's phone before his arrest and alerted journalists last month that they had been taped.

Scott Peterson, 30, was arrested April 18. His wife, who was eight months pregnant, vanished Dec. 23 or 24 from her Modesto home.

Peterson could be executed if convicted;..................................

-----------------------------------------------------------

Autopsies Kept Sealed in Laci Peterson Case

Autopsies Kept Sealed in Laci Peterson Case

Fri June 6, 2003 07:19 PM ET

By Tim Wimborne
MODESTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A judge refused on Friday to make public graphic autopsy reports for Laci Peterson and her unborn son, rebuffing press efforts to unseal key documents in a murder case that has riveted the nation.

The parents of the 27-year-old substitute teacher left the Stanislaus County courtroom when Superior Court Judge Al Girolami began discussing whether to release the autopsy, grim details of which have already surfaced in media reports.

Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, 30, who is charged with two murders and could face the death penalty if convicted, has pleaded not guilty.

During the autopsy discussion, Peterson, who has shown little emotion during the proceedings, dabbed his eyes with a tissue and appeared grim-faced, swallowing hard several times.

"This is not about adverse publicity," Peterson's attorney Mark Geragos told the court in opposing the release of the autopsies. "I'm worried about my client's life."

Geragos has argued against releasing many of the documents in the case, saying that to do so would increase the already high public hostility toward his client.

Judge Girolami said leaks to the press of some details from the coroner's reports were not a justification to release the entire document. Prosecutors in the case had withdrawn their objections to the report's release.

The judge, however, refused to authorize a gag order on lawyers in the case and authorized the Contra Costa County coroner to prepare and release death certificates for Laci and her unborn son, that might list a cause of death.

Officials have not publicly stated how they believe Laci Peterson died, and have released few details of the case they have against Peterson.

WASHED ASHORE

The two decaying corpses washed out of San Francisco Bay in April, prompting Peterson's arrest. Coroners worked for weeks on the bodies, saying the advanced state of decomposition made their job especially difficult.

A law enforcement official told Reuters on Friday that plastic was wrapped in the area of the neck of the unborn baby when it was found along the Contra Costa high-tide shoreline, but said it could well have been from trash rather than a clue to the murder.

"There is a lot of junk in the sea, maybe that's what it is," the official said.

San Francisco television station KTVU quoted law enforcement sources on Friday as saying Laci Peterson may have been drugged with a so-called date rape drug to weaken her before being strangled........

--------------------------------------------------------------

Media Won't Hear Scott Peterson Wiretaps

Media Won't Hear Scott Peterson Wiretaps
Judge Rejects Reporters' Requests to Hear Wiretaps of Husband in Laci Peterson Murder Case

The Associated Press

MODESTO, Calif. June 6 —

The judge in the Laci Peterson murder case on Friday rejected requests by reporters to listen to wiretaps of phone calls they made to Scott Peterson.

Attorneys representing 22 reporters had asked to review to tapes of their calls to Peterson so they could determine if they might be barred from becoming evidence.

The lawyers said those conversations were protected under the California Shield Law, which protects reporters from turning over unpublished work. They claimed the wiretaps are the same as journalists' notes.

But Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami said he did not think journalists were entitled to any privilege protecting their phone calls. He did, however, delay for 10 days the release of the tapes.

Girolami's ruling came during the first hour of a hearing in which he also set a June 19 date to rule on defense motions regarding wiretaps of Peterson's calls. The judge was also expected to begin considering a prosecution motion to unseal results of an autopsy on the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner.

Scott Peterson's lawyers want the judge to dismiss the prosecutors assigned to the case and to toss out the results of two wiretaps that monitored thousands of Peterson's calls after the disappearance of his pregnant wife, Laci.

During the court-approved wiretaps, the first of which began two weeks after Laci Peterson vanished when investigators thought they had exhausted normal evidence-gathering techniques, police logged 3,858 phone calls made to her husband, according to court papers.

Some of those conversations will be questioned by defense lawyers, who claim police eavesdropped on protected conversations between Scott Peterson and his lawyer.

Girolami will also consider issuing a gag order to prevent evidence leaks in the case and he may decide whether to release autopsy results of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Prosecutors have said they support some form of a gag order, while defense lawyer Mark Geragos said in court paper that he opposes any effort to curtail discussions about the case.

Peterson, 30, has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder for ....................

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judge keeps documents sealed in Peterson case

Judge keeps documents sealed in Peterson case

BEE STAFF REPORTS

Published: June 6, 2003, 12:49:07 PM PDT

A judge kept under wraps many documents and other evidence in the Peterson double-murder case Friday. During a discussion of autopsy reports, defendant Scott Peterson - who is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner - dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief.

Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami:

Kept sealed autopsy reports on both bodies.

Ordered the Contra Costa County coronor’s office to issue death certificates.

Kept sealed wiretap recordings. He allowed prosecutors and defense attorneys to get copies of the tapes, but temporarily prohibited the handing over of calls between Peterson and journalists. Prosecutors also are not allowed to hear calls between Peterson and his defense team.

Delayed a decision on a potential gag order preventing principals ...................

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[celtic gal]

The thyroid is a gland. I think you mean the hyoid (sp) bone.

[Devil_Anse]

And all these so-called witnesses seem to have seen her at (very roughly) the same time. The 10:00 hour is the one I keep hearing mentioned. Seen on Buena Vista. Seen on Covena, blocks away from her house. Seen on both those streets, the sightings being w/in a half-hour of each other--but each couple saw her heading south! So she couldn't have been making a circuit, but would have had to have been retracing her steps in some way.

And seen in the park with the dog, in roughly the same hour. She sure got around--very agile for a pregnant woman in the late stages of pregnancy!

[Queen Jadis]

yes indeed! i get mixed up sometimes...

[celtic gal]

aw that happens to the best of us "expecially" ( seems the word especially is not spelled and pronounced that way in some circles LOL) when we are typing quickly.

[celtic gal]

Where did everyone go? Are we all talked out?

[celtic gal]

It is going on 2300 on the left coast so I'll check in later..as in the morning...in the meantime, I'll let you solve the mystery.

[Queen Jadis]

Thing is the only part of his story he can comfirm is that he saw the dog. Ok, when I last checked, dogs are recognizable by breed. Golden's are very common breeds...altho' Mr Political Science teacher says that the dog was recognizable bc he was old and had shaggy hair. Whatever! This guy acts as if dogs have hairstyles, eye color and clothing. How in the dickens can he know that he saw Mackenzie? As far as Laci goes he CANNOT confirm it was her..just that it was a "round" person in a white smock and black pants. What is really hilarious is that all the defense talking heads think this guy can practically cinch scott's freedom!

Don't forget his agenda either...which I am sure will be brought to the forefront (if he testifies) by the prosecution).

[Devil_Anse]

One problem about testing Connor's body for substances is, some substances the mother ingests will NOT pass through to the baby at all. I had a bad cough once when pregnant, and turned down the doctor's offer of medicine, not wanting to take any medicine while pregnant. He told me it would not pass through to the baby at all. He told me his wife had taken the same medicine while pregnant, on his prescription.

I took the stuff, and there was no effect whatsoever on the baby. (The baby was perfect--in fact, he is nodding his head when I say that! Unfortunately the baby was born with one of those "male ego" things, though.)

[oceanperch]

I would never actually send anything to someone I did not know. Except my Senator,Represenative and that sort of thing. No one in the private sector as I would not want someone sending me strange things.

Especially a guy on trial for murdering his wife!

Being more of a smart a&& about someone should send him some art for his gated cubicle.

I do not meddle(sp) in others business in the non cyber world.

Already have a rep. as an eccentric without trying so I lay low.

[Devil_Anse]

She is a mess. I'm sure I'll get called on this post, for being "judgmental", but now I've read that supposedly Lee left a pregnant wife to go with Jackie, who herself was also pregnant at the time. Sheesh! Shades of... Amber and Scott.

[Devil_Anse]

Well... I think the "Victor" thing is rubbish--does that count, lol?

Someone (I think it was you!) suggested maybe if he had an interest in GHB, maybe he was interested in it for something, ahem, unconnected with Laci. That is probably a lot closer to reality than his using it to put Laci out.

I think you are right that they have absolutely no forensic/toxicological way to prove that Laci ever had GHB in her system. I think if they are considering GHB, it has to be b/c of something they found connected to Scott. Maybe someone who's partied with him (such as Amber?) remembers conversing with him about GHB.

As for the possibility of strangulation, true, they probably aren't going to get forensic proof of that, if it happened. They might think she was strangled though--the fact that they called this a "violent homicide" or just "a homicide" (their statement back in March) does not rule out their thinking this a strangling! They would call it a violent homicide even if it were a strangling, b/c all homicides are violent, really--even poisonings--from their point of view. I think they are just using the word "violent" in a different sense than we usually think of it.

[Queen Jadis]

Yes she is "a mess".

As I mentioned b4 nothing good comes out of something bad. Lee and her should have never got together. If they hadn't they would not have given birth to the mess that they are dealing with now.

[Queen Jadis]

I know it's semantics but I think the MPD would be careful on the phraseology...I don't think "soft kill" jibes with "violent homocide". JMO

[windchime]

"two words BLUH EWIDUNCE...."

LOL. I love that.

[Devil_Anse]

Oh, that weenie guy? I saw him. He looks like the type whose testimony will float all over the place like a piece of flotsam! Whatever anyone asks, he will find a way to mold his answer into whatever it takes to appease the questioner. He couldn't even say it was a woman near the dog--he carefully said "person". He also admitted that he just couldn't say the time he saw this.

But then I think it was Greta who finally forced him into estimating a time, so he finally said, "oh, 10:45, I guess." Then someone moved in and zinged him, reminding this "witness" as well as the viewers that the neighbor who found the dog and put him in the yard, DID SO AT 10:30.

[Devil_Anse]

Oh, I KNOW you weren't going to send that! None of us are really going to do this stuff, lol! I think we're all just throwing out some really hilarious possibilities!

(BRB--just got to write the address on this advertisement "Men! Have A Hairy, Virile Chest In 10 Days!" psst... anyone know Scott's inmate number?)

[Queen Jadis]

I have to give credit to canadian outrage for that one! I loved it too.

[Devil_Anse]

Boy, yes, two effed-up people... "strangers in the night, two effed-up people, they were strangers in the night, up to the moment when they said their first hello, little did they know...."

[Devil_Anse]

Okay, I can't refute THAT! I forgot about the phrase "soft kill"!

[Queen Jadis]

Yes...it's hard to believe that this guy came forward. I just was stumped, before I heard the LKL interview. He probably has a HUGE issue with the death penalty. As I said before seems like an angry liberal democrat.