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

I suppose Scott could have poisoned Laci but it would have had to have been done with some other chemical and some posions do not remain in the body long or show up in an autopsy on "fresh" remains. In remains in the condition that Laci's are in it would be even iffier as to whether the autopsy could reveal them.

It's the supposition that Scott could have poisoned Laci that I've been overreaching for, prompted by the GHB leak and the reported "fact", (I think), that caffeine was found in her remains. That, coupled with the now-squashed rumor that there were traces of vomit in the mop, made me speculate that while maybe in the throes of being violently ill as a result of poisoning, SP took the opportunity to strangle her. Was just wondering if a cup of coffee or hot chocolate was seriously laced with poison. My speculation is probably worth zilch here. LOL

>>My speculation is probably worth zilch here. LOL<<

I think poison is probably something the investigators and pathologist have considered and looked for but in the best of circumstances, poison may be hard to find in an autopsy and considering the condition of Laci's remains...

I think the poison concept is worth consideration. I would like to know what other stuff ol Snotty Scotty worked with in the fertilizer business..such as arsnic (sp). Isn't that also hard to trace? I mention it only because I have seen other stories of murders or attempts at it where that was used and until the authorities got really suspicious, it was not considered before. Seems to me there is a lot of possibilities. I wish Greta would muzzle that janie gal who outshouts anyone else's opinion or idea. things in the news regarding Laci have been kinda quite today.

You're right--there WAS a story somewhere that said that. Forgot about it. But it was out there. Man, where did this guy get all the money?

Oh, yeah. I forgot again... selling Laci's jewelry?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.