Posted on 06/23/2003 5:35:38 AM PDT by runningbear
Geragos Wants D.A. Held In Contempt
Geragos Wants D.A. Held In Contempt
POSTED: 8:33 p.m. PDT June 20, 2003
UPDATED: 8:25 a.m. PDT June 22, 2003
MODESTO, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's lawyer asked a judge Friday to find the Stanislaus County district attorney in contempt, alleging the prosecutor violated a gag order by saying he planned to present evidence at a public hearing that "might open some eyes."
District Attorney James Brazelton "hit the trifecta of prosecutorial misconduct" when he told a reporter that he would seek an open preliminary hearing for Peterson in the killing of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, defense lawyer Mark Geragos said in papers filed in a Modesto court.
Brazelton told The Modesto Bee he chose not to present evidence to a grand jury in closed session so he can show the public evidence amassed against Peterson and end the rumors and speculation swirling around the case.
"The longer this drags on, the more stories get bandied about out there," Brazelton told the Bee. "About 95 percent is pure fiction and fabrication. By putting on a prelim, they're going to see some stuff that might open their eyes."
Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami issued a gag order last week aimed at silencing lawyers, witnesses and investigators in the case to prevent gossip and evidence leaks that could make it difficult to find fair jurors.
Peterson, 30, who has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder, could receive the death penalty if convicted.
With the gag order preventing him from speaking publicly, Geragos has filed motions containing sharp rhetoric.
He used the word "brazen" or "brazenly" four times to describe Brazelton's conduct and said it should "shock the court's conscience." He also referred to the prosecution's "almost pathological trampling of this innocent defendant."
"One would be hard pressed to imagine how much more disdain one could express for the order of this court when Brazelton utters, 'We spend all our time running down this phony baloney stuff they throw up,"' Geragos said.
The district attorney could not be reached by phone Friday to comment. A spokesman said in a message recorded Thursday that the office was not making any comments due to the gag order. Brazelton spoke to the Bee on Thursday.
Geragos filed a similar contempt claim last week against the attorney for former Peterson mistress Amber Frey, who is expected to be a key witness. Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, said she is not subject to the gag order and said Geragos is trying to silence her for speaking to the news media.
In other court filings, San Francisco authorities are fighting an effort by Scott Peterson's lawyers to connect Laci Peterson's death with the killing of another pregnant woman whose body was found in San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco police said there is no link between the Peterson killing and last year's slaying of Evelyn Hernandez -- and they asked a judge Thursday to dismiss a subpoena to view the investigation file.
"I do not believe that there is any information in the file that could link the death of Ms. Hernandez with the death of Laci Peterson," homicide Inspector Holly Pera wrote in an affidavit.
Hernandez, a 24-year-old single mother, disappeared in May 2002 with her son, Alex, one week before she was to deliver a baby boy. Part of her torso and maternity clothing were found July 24 on the San Francisco side of the bay.
Defense lawyer Kirk McAllister said in a May 29 subpoena that the Hernandez case could point to "the actual perpetrators" in the death of Peterson, whose remains washed ashore on the east side of the bay in April.
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'Never again' in wake of Chandra rings hollow with Laci coverage
'Never again' in wake of Chandra rings hollow with Laci coverage
Sunday, June 22, 2003 Posted: 10:58 AM EDT (1458 GMT)
MODESTO, California (AP) -- When CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin showed up in town to add his voice to the Laci Peterson murder case, he didn't expect he'd be just one of many reporters.
As Toobin reported on a routine hearing -- a judge refused to unseal an autopsy report and considered a gag order and arguments about wiretaps -- he was standing in front of one of 28 TV cameras outside the small courthouse.
"Of the cases that I've covered, only O.J. (Simpson) had more cameras," Toobin said. "And unlike the others, this one is more mystifying in the core of its appeal because no one is a celebrity."
After the September 11 terrorist attacks knocked the names of Chandra Levy and Rep. Gary Condit out of the news, some media executives pronounced that an entire summer would never again be devoted to covering the case of one missing woman.
Things have not only not turned out that way, but after a full winter and spring covering the killing of Peterson and her unborn son, reporters have returned to Modesto -- Levy and Condit's hometown -- in droves for a story that has talk show hosts, tabloids and the national news media hanging on every development -- no matter how small.
Barring another national tragedy, there's little question that the case of Scott Peterson, the fertilizer salesman husband accused of killing his pregnant wife and their unborn son, will dominate broadcasts and headlines this summer.
"The media shows all the symptoms of an addict, all the way down to denial," said Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonprofit research group. "Despite their protestations and navel gazing they are and remain scandal-story junkies, waiting for the next fix. They'll swear backward and forward that they're going to get better but restraint is lost with the opportunity to go one more time into the abyss."
Despite the large volume of what he calls very important news, ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider said the Peterson story is one of those that captivates people's attention.
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Jeffrey Toobin: Wiretap strategy shaky
Jeffrey Toobin: Wiretap strategy shaky Peterson defense goes after judge who OK'd phone taps
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Posted: 9:02 AM EDT (1302 GMT)
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin
CNN) -- An upcoming hearing in the Laci Peterson murder case will focus on the issue of the prosecution tapping suspect Scott Peterson's phone.
Defense lawyers have now subpoenaed the judge who gave the approval for those wiretaps, and they charge the judge violated rules governing a capital murder case. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin recently spoke with CNN anchor Bill Hemmer about the issue.
TOOBIN: Let's rip the defense in the Laci Peterson case again. What do you say?
HEMMER: How about it?
TOOBIN: What happened was, in California law, there is a provision that says if it's a death penalty case, you have to have a court reporter present at all times on all proceedings. A fair rule. No problem.
But these wiretaps were subpoenaed, took place -- they were approved by the judge in February -- before there was even an arrest in the case. So the judge had no reason to order a court reporter being there.
It was just an ordinary course-of-business wiretap. They didn't know it would be a death penalty case. They didn't even know there would be an arrest in the case. But because there is no transcript, they are subpoenaing the judge to get him to testify.
HEMMER: So, but under California law, can this be retroactive? Can you rework the rules or not?
TOOBIN: That's what the defense is trying to do. And in fairness to the defense, what they are doing is they are pushing in every way. The best defense is a good offense. We know that, all the time.
So they are trying to put the prosecution on trial, trying to call the judge to testify because there is no transcript of what he said.
HEMMER: So they want a piece of this judge, then?
TOOBIN: They want a piece of the judge. I mean, it takes -- I think it's interesting. You have Mark Geragos, who's a lawyer from Los Angeles who's not based there in Modesto [California]. I think a lawyer who was in Modesto might be a little hesitant to subpoena a judge because, after all, you live in that community. But Geragos says, no, let's go subpoena the judge, full speed ahead.
HEMMER: You almost said something. It takes what?
TOOBIN: It takes...
HEMMER: Guts?
TOOBIN: It takes guts. Yes, guts. It takes spirit, let's say. I don't know. There's a word I'm thinking of that I probably shouldn't use.
HEMMER: How aggressive a move is this for the defense? If you're Mark Geragos and you're trying to defend your guy and he's up for capital murder, don't you want to try and pull out all the stops you can?
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Ignoring our own Laci Petersons
Ignoring our own Laci Petersons
E.J. Montini
Republic columnist
Jun. 22, 2003 12:00 AM
You could make the case for our national obsession with the murder of Laci Peterson if there were no one else like her. You could make the case for our ghoulish fascination with her lying husband, Scott, and his publicity-seeking mistress if there were only a couple of other sick and sinister love triangles in all the 50 states. You might even be able to make the case for our fixation on Peterson if there were only a few cases like hers in every big city.
But how do you explain our creepy preoccupation with Peterson when in every major city of every state in America there are dozens, even hundreds of cases not much different?
"I wish that the TV stories about this poor woman's murder, which seem to be airing just about every single night, talked a little more about how this is part of a bigger problem," said Laura Maddock, a local woman who lived through a murder attempt by her husband. "It's like we want this to be a fictional TV show instead of a real problem. But it is a real problem. And there are many, many real victims."
Arizona has averaged nearly 100 domestic violence deaths a year over the past three years. Last October, a woman here was murdered by her husband, who then killed himself, on the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The state has ranked as high as second in national surveys measuring the rates of females killed by males. And that doesn't take into account a woman like Maddock, who wasn't killed, only crippled and left to fend for herself.
"The shooting wasn't the end for me," she said. "It was the beginning."
One sunny day last October, Maddock's husband, Brian, stood calmly outside their home in Gilbert, staring through a window at his wife, who sat at the kitchen table with her back to him. He slowly raised a .357 Magnum revolver, aimed at Laura, and fired.
"I'm thankful every day that I didn't die, because I wouldn't want to have left my daughter alone," Laura said. "But not dying doesn't mean that your life isn't ruined, because it is."
Brian Maddock pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Laura is in a rehabilitation home, paralyzed from the chest down, learning to live life in a wheelchair.
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SF Fights Effort To Link 2 Murder Cases
SF Fights Effort To Link 2 Murder Cases
Police Say No Link, Want Subpoena Dismissed
POSTED: 10:12 a.m. PDT June 20, 2003
UPDATED: 10:43 a.m. PDT June 20, 2003
MODESTO, Calif. -- San Francisco authorities are fighting an effort by Scott Peterson's defense lawyers to connect Laci Peterson's murder with the killing of another pregnant woman whose body was found in San Francisco Bay.
FeedRoom
Peterson Lawyer Connecting Cases
San Francisco police said there is no link between the Peterson killing and last year's slaying of Evelyn Hernandez -- and they asked a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge Thursday to dismiss a subpoena to view the investigation file.
"I do not believe that there is any information in the file that could link the death of Ms. Hernandez with the death of Laci Peterson," homicide Inspector Holly Pera wrote in an affidavit.
Defense lawyer Kirk McAllister said in a May 29 subpoena that the Hernandez case could point to "the actual perpetrators" in the death of Peterson, whose remains washed ashore on the east side of the bay in April. Defense lawyers have vowed to find the real killers and have suggested that a satanic cult may be to blame.
Hernandez, a 24-year-old single mother, disappeared in May 2002 with her son, Alex, one week before she was to deliver a baby boy. Part of her torso and maternity clothing were found July 24 on the San Francisco side of the bay. The boy was never found. Police are treating the case as a homicide.
Turning over the investigation file to Peterson's lawyers could jeopardize the case by revealing witnesses and tipping off the suspect, Pera said.
Hernandez's killing received little attention until family members complained of the disparity between the amount of news coverage the Peterson case was receiving while their case languished.
The cases have some parallels because both women were due to deliver sons, their bodies were found in the bay and the fathers-to-be were considered the primary suspects.
While Scott Peterson, 30, has been charged with two counts of murder in the killings of his wife and unborn son, no arrest has been made in the Hernandez case. Peterson has pleaded not guilty.
Evelyn Hernandez
(Excerpt) Read more at ktvu.com ...
Some observers criticized that account because Mitchell had mentioned looking for college football, and there were no such games televised on Christmas Eve. But Mitchell later clarified that he had been searching Christmas Eve for information or previews of bowl games to be played in the next few days.
Now I remember why I NEVER watch LKL EVER!
There are filings going on, with the press updates links, but yep, by this afternoon, should be stuff on Thursday's hearing.
Because Mr. Mitchell uses the "football game" (as expressed in his own words to Dan Abrams on national TV, not bowl games and not previews) to verify his time frame for seeing the dog. And they were interviewed immediately over the telephone by the police. Intersting how you now read that Mitchell's story is changing. Good thing for prosecutors that the Mitchells went public before they could be coached by McAllister.
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