Death certificates opened for Laci Peterson and son

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.

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.

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
Judge Rejects Reporters' Requests to Hear Wiretaps of Husband in Laci Peterson Murder Case

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 ....................

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.

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 ...................

Cops say abducted girl found in East Palo Alto
Associated Press Sunday, June 9, 2003
A girl kidnapped two days ago from her home was found alive in a market Sunday night after being dropped off in the region, police said.
Jennette Tamayo was found late Sunday night in East Palo Alto, said a San Jose police spokeswoman.
No details of Jennette's condition were immediately available.
KPIX-TV (Channel 5) reported that the girl was safe and in police custody, but a police spokeswoman had few details about the girl's recovery. She could not confirm that a chase was in progress.
Earlier Sunday, the investigation carried on in full force Sunday, with search and rescue teams scouring the San Jose area and beyond for any sign of the missing girl. Police said more than 100 volunteers covered a 450-square-mile area, focusing on locations where a kidnapping might abandon his victim.
The tape, shot by a neighbor's home surveillance cameras, showed a man pulling up in front of Tamayo's home Friday afternoon and going inside. Police aren't sure how he was able to enter the house, but they believe he may have gotten in through a broken rear window.
After approximately 25 minutes inside the house, the suspect is seen returning to wait in the car. Around him, neighbors carry out their daily activities, like playing basketball and bringing children home from school.
At one point another car drives past, then backs up and lingers next to the suspect's car. Police said they are looking for the driver of that car but have no information on who it might be.
At approximately 4:20 p.m., Jennette is seen crossing the street and entering the house alone. The man gets out of the car about 90 seconds later and follows her into the house.
Jennette, a playful, smiling fourth grader with long dark-brown hair streaked with blonde, was generally dropped off by a school bus a few blocks from home, neighbors said.
After 25 minutes inside the house, the suspect comes back outside and backs his car into the garage.
Around this time, Jennette's mother, aunt and 15-year-old brother drive up to the house. The aunt is seen getting out and driving away in a separate car, while the boy tries to open the garage door. He manages to pry the bottom part of the door open and crawl underneath, at which point, police say, he is attacked and choked by the man inside.
While the attack isn't visible on the surveillance tape, sounds of the altercation can be heard and Rosalie Tamayo is seen running inside the house to help her son. Police said the suspect confronted her between the kitchen and garage, and beat her with pans and a ladder.
By now the boy has broken free, and is seen on the tape running outside for help. His mother comes out moments later, beaten and bloodied but screaming for help as well. The suspect then pulls out of the driveway in his car with Jennette inside and speeds across the lawn, crushing rose bushes along the way.
"The tape is very disturbing," San Jose Police spokesman Steve Dixon said. "It's very, very brazen."
Dixon said that while the images on the black-and-white tape are not always clear, the tape shows the attack was not a random residential burglary.
"The tape makes it very clear the he was targeting this house," Dixon said. "He wasn't roaming the neighborhood looking for houses to break into. He was there for quite some time, just waiting for this little girl to come home."
The video did not include any distinct shots of the kidnapper's license plate or his face. Dixon said police plan to try and enhance the video to see if the images can be made more clear.
Rosalie Tamayo and her son, who were both treated at a local hospital and released, told police they did not recognize the intruder.
Police released a sketch of the man Saturday. They described him as being in his 30s to early 40s, from 5-feet-2 to 5-feet-5-inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He was dark haired, unshaven, and wore a gray beanie and silver colored shirt. He may have scratches on his face or arms from a struggle with Jennette's mother.
The California Highway Patrol has issued a statewide alert for a silver sedan the man drove from the scene. It had tinted windows in the rear and a loud muffler and appeared similar to a late 80s or early 90s Honda Accord.
The abduction has shaken residents of the quiet middle class neighborhood, where Jennette lives with her mother, brother and stepfather.
Kumar Malavy, who was captured on the videotape playing basketball with his son as the suspect sat in his car nearby, was shooting hoops again on Sunday but said his sense of security had been shattered.
"The kids are concerned, they're scared. They want to make sure the security system is on before going to sleep," he said.
He said he had offered food and other assistance to Jennette's family as they sat waiting for news of the missing girl.
"They're a typical family, like many others in the neighborhood," Mulavy said. "The event just shakes you to your core."
Bobby Ozier, a neighbor and security system installer whose cameras captured the frightening events as they unfolded Friday, said he wasn't around when the kidnapping occurred but had screened the tape for investigators later.
Police initially thought the incident might have been a burglary gone wrong, but the man took only a few items and the video suggested he did not try to conceal that he was targeting Jennette's house.
"It does help us to narrow our investigation -- to know that the attacker went straight to this house," Dixon said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/06/09/kidnap.DTL
1

. I don't think rushing the case to trial would be to Scott's advantage.

I agree with you. The passage of time works to his advantage. The inevitable emotions and feelings on the part of jurors will be mitigated in favor of the defense over time, this seems to be the case when the general opinions are predominately in favor of guilt. It's human nature. Harsher judgements mellow over time.

Any witness testimony that points to guilt will become cloudier over time, and will not stand up as well when cross examined. Although this is not a case that will be cinched by witness testimony IMHO. However, given that the burden of proof lies on the prosecution, witness testimony is stronger for the prosecution close to the event vs. the defense. All the defense has to do is present a doubt. Whereas the prosecution has the burden of proof. It benefits the prosecution if they have good witnesses go to trial faster.

One of the reasons that the defense will want to move the trial away from Modesto is that the jurors will be under "pressure" to convict scott as community members in Modesto, having to answer to their neighbors. Especially given the statistics of opinion of guilt within that community, hovering around 85% guilty. Going back to the OJ trial which is very different on some levels but the similar on others, It's similarity lies in the fact that location and jury pool will be a factor in the outcome of the trial.

OJ was tried in downtown Los Angeles where the jury pool was predominatly African American. Those jurors had to answer to their own neighbors within their community, the prevailing issues were not issues of justice per se, the issues were of justice to their race and the case was presented brilliantly by jonnie cochran as such. Also another example would be the Rodney King trial, tried in conservative Simi Valley. In both these cases had they been tried in opposite demographic areas I believe the verdicts and methods used by the defense would have been different.

If you follow this logic, we don't have an issue of race but we do have an issue of public opinion being in favor of guilt, as time goes by the emotional weight of the case will dissipate whether it is tried in Modesto or not. The point that I am trying to make is that you have to consider all factors with a jury pool.

The prevailing factor that will lead to a conviction or aquital will lie in the jury pool and it's location and the information that is leaked. What the defense attorney and jury analysist will do is to consider the time factor and demographics of the location of the trial as it pertains to their defense theory. In the case of Sp I think that race is not a factor as much as location of the trial, the class of people in the area, and their conservatism or liberalism. The amount of time that is allowed to pass before SP goes to trial is a factor that will favor the defense in this case.

MG is no idiot...he is doing damage control, and serving the interests of his client. I don't think that witnesses will be of an issue as much as the climate of opinion that has prevailed in relation to Scott's guilt. MG is floating theories to immediately offer a counter to the prevailing opinions of SP guilt. In essence if the trial takes place a year or 2 from now the jury pool will remember the counter theories as much as the theories that pointed to Scott's guilt. The fact that the theory is so "out there" may not be so stupid...mainly because it is so memorable. Therefore offering a memorable counter point to the conclusion of Scott's guilt.

Great post!!

One thing, if Geragos gets a change of venue, he still won't be able to pick and choose the new venue. It would tickle me pink if he wound up with a "worse" venue--a "worse" jury pool.

There will be some jurors who will take it to heart when the judge tells them, "Only use what you hear/see in this courtroom to influence your decision."

The prosecution got a huge leg up when the bodies were found. I honestly thought they'd never be found, and that we'd all just be left wondering here, until the whole thing faded away, as the case of poor Chandra Levy has.

It is just so hard to explain away some of Scott's behavior that we've heard about. For example, his calling of Amber right through all this, and at first acting like nothing happened. Then, his disposal of Laci's possessions. At the very least, it looks like he was kind of glad she was gone.

Once the trial is on, the defense will have to streamline down to one or two of their "theories"; otherwise, the jurors might well get sick of their inconsistency, as we have.

Scott has such a poor alibi. It seems jurors are going to be sitting there thinking, "Okay, she died. All I want to know is, where was he when she died?" This might force Scott's team to put him on the stand.

For their sake, hope that if they do, they've thoroughly coached him, as William Kennedy Smith was prepared for HIS testimony. Furthermore, Smith was smarter than Scott. I imagine any period of testimony by Scott will be a real nail-biter for his lawyers.

While he will not have to prove his innocence in his trial, I still feel that I will want to see some proof of it. I'm still stuck on Scott as the only logical suspect.

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