Experts examine remains

The Modesto Bee ^ | August 12, 2003 | John Cote'

[runningbear]

Experts examine remains

Members of the Scott Peterson defense team leave the criminalistics laboratory of the Contra Costa County coroner in Martinez after spending Monday morning examining the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. TED BENSON/THE BEE

Experts examine remains

By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: August 12, 2003, 09:15:51 PM PDT

MARTINEZ -- Scott Peterson's attorneys and a pair of high-profile experts examined the remains of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Monday, looking for evidence to clear their client of double murder charges.

Eight members of the defense team, which now includes criminalist Dr. Henry Lee and forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, were inside the coroner's facility here for about 2 1/2 hours. They later went to the Petersons' Covena Avenue home.

Attorney Mark Geragos said little about the substance of the examination when the defense team emerged from the Contra Costa County coroner's office at noon.

"There's not much that we can talk about obviously between the gag order (previously issued in the case) and just in deference to both the Peterson and the Rocha families," Geragos said. "Obviously Dr. Wecht and Dr. Lee have agreed to come on board and to help us in this matter."

Senior Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris, one of the prosecutors handling the case, and members of the Modesto Police Department oversaw the defense examination.

Lee, the former director of the Connecticut State Police Forensics Science Laboratory, was a defense expert in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. He testified regarding crime scene reconstruction, blood splatter interpretation and trace evidence.

Wecht, coroner of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, is a renowned forensic pathologist.

"Both are thought of in their fields as the foremost experts," Geragos said. "Given the consequences in this case, and given, I think initially at least, some of the investigative things that were done, I think it was important to get the best people in the field."

Peterson, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his 27-year-old wife and unborn son. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.

Defense attorneys maintain police ignored other leads and focused on Peterson almost immediately after his wife was reported missing Christmas Eve. Her body and that of her unborn child were found separately in April along the east shore of San Francisco Bay, within four miles of the spot where Scott Peterson said he launched his boat Dec. 24 for a solo fishing trip.

Peterson was arrested near Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla on April 18, the day DNA testing identified the bodies.

Autopsies were performed on the badly decomposed remains shortly after they were found just over a mile apart along the shoreline near Richmond.

In the face of massive media attention, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami ordered those autopsy reports sealed, along with a host of other documents in the case. Death certificates were made public; however, no cause of death was listed.

Last month, Girolami granted a defense request to conduct its own examination of the bodies. On Friday he issued a ruling that laid out guidelines for the examination, including the use of photographs, videotape, X-rays and the removal of "reasonable" amounts of tissue and fluid samples.

The defense team was required to provide its own medical instruments, and the group brought in cases on wheels, a large brown paper bag and other items.

Defense experts routinely review autopsy findings in murder cases, and second autopsies are becoming increasingly frequent, said Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, who has worked with both Lee and Wecht on other cases.

"Mistakes can be made, intentionally or unintentionally," Baden said. "It's always appropriate for the defense to review things. Suppose they come back and agree 100 percent with the prosecution. The defense may want to plea bargain."

Prosecutors are expected to reveal a substantial amount of their case at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 9. At the hearing's end, Girolami will determine if there is enough evidence to hold Peterson for trial.

Defense attorneys have asked to keep the hearing closed to the public, arguing the inevitable media attention would make it impossible to find a fair jury.

News organizations, including The Bee, are seeking to keep the hearing open, arguing that open proceedings guard against abuse by judges or prosecutors and other means, such as moving the trial and sequestering jurors, can ensure Peterson a fair trial.

Prosecutors want the hearing open but want television cameras barred from the courtroom.

On Monday, the defense filed paperwork saying an open........

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Attorney Matt Dalton, right, briefs forensic experts Drs. Henry Lee, left, and Cyril Wecht at the forensics lab in Ripon. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

This photo shows an interior wall of a concrete structure that has paintings on all sides. This and other artwork, below, are near where the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn child were found by the bay. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

Defense outlines cult theory

By JOHN COTÉ
and GARTH STAPLEY

Published: August 13, 2003, 05:14:27 AM PDT

Scott Peterson's defense team Tuesday briefed two forensic experts on a statanic cult theory, including paintings and artwork near San Francisco Bay and an experiment showing that the pregnant Laci Peterson's body could have been placed in the water at the art site. Attorney Matt Dalton, using a laptop computer, showed artwork that he said depicted ritualistic killings and occult practices, and said the artwork could be found near the end of a peninsula in the bay.

Dalton also said that the defense team placed weighted flotation devices in the water at the end of the peninsula, and they ended up in the Richmond Inner Harbor, not far from where Laci Peterson's body and that of her unborn son, Conner, came ashore in mid-April.

Scott Peterson is in Stanislaus County Jail, charged with both their murders.

Dalton gave the briefing to criminalist Dr. Henry Lee and forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht while the three waited to review prosecution evidence held at the state crime labora- tory in Ripon.

Tuesday afternoon, the bayside presented evidence of its own: more than a dozen paintings on plywood and scrap lumber mounted on wooden frames at what East Bay residents call The Bulb, the rounded point at the end of the peninsula that holds the Albany Waterfront Trail, an area popular with dog owners.

Some of the artwork features decapitation and devil figures. Many of the paintings portray sexual activity, and several show pregnant women.

But, if the defense is trying to link the painters to Peterson's death, "that's utterly ridiculous," said Bruce Rayburn, a member of an artist collective known as Sniff. "That's reaching for straws."

He said he and three friends painted much of The Bulb artwork over the past five years.

Rayburn, a 50-year-old general contractor, said Tuesday from his El Sobrante home: "We're regular guys with full-time jobs who go down there once a week on Saturday mornings with our families."

Rayburn said neither law enforcement nor defense investigators had contacted him about the paintings.

One shows a man with an ax beheading a man in a rowboat on a body of water; a topless woman kneels next to the beheaded man.

Another shows a devil figure beheading a well-dressed couple in a theater balcony. And another portrays three children, their umbilical cords attached, in a body of water as a giant octopus wraps its tentacles around a naked woman.

"This is all done in fun and games," Rayburn said. "We've had a lot of criticism by certain groups of people who are offended by some of the paintings. There's a lot of good themes going on, but if you're looking for something to criticize, you can find it."

On the inside of a concrete structure on the peninsula, Rayburn's group painted a goat-headed figure spearing a caged man as a demonic image lurks.

"We called the inside of that place hell, because that's what it was to paint," he said. "You had to lay on a board in a foot of water to paint it."

The Bulb for years was a landfill at the edge of the city of Al-bany. The dump closed, and the land evolved into an encampment for homeless people before becoming part of a plan for a waterfront park between Richmond and Emeryville.

Albany police Sgt. John Geissberger said he was not aware of any ritualistic activity at The Bulb -- but that does not mean that it has not occurred, he quickly added.

"There are things that happen that we never hear about," Geissberger said.

Karla LaVey, founder of the San Francisco-based First Sa-tanic Church, said the Peterson defense team was using the satanic tactic as an attempt to deflect blame on a misunderstood and unfairly vilified group.

"Satanism does not involve any type of sacrifice or ritualistic killing," LaVey said. "Satanism obviously is a subject people are ignorant of, and so they tend to be biased and prejudicial."

The experiment

Dalton, in his briefing with Lee and Wecht, said defense investigators experimented with flotation devices -- putting them in the water at the end of The Bulb, between Berkeley Marina and Point Isabel. The current then carried them away.

Laci Peterson's body was found at Point Isabel, and her son's body was found about a mile away in south Richmond.

Scott Peterson has told police that he launched his 14-foot aluminum boat from Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve, then went fishing for sturgeon off Brooks Island.

He said his wife was gone when he returned home. Family members reported her missing at about 6 p.m.

Dalton, an attorney with lead defense counsel Mark Geragos' Los Angeles law firm, hinted at another possible defense strat-egy -- telling Lee and Wecht about a man accused ......

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From the Stanislaus County Sheriff's press release:

Superior Court, Stanislaus County August 11, 2003

Reply to Media Entities Opposition to Motion to Close Preliminary Hearing

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and

Superior Court, Stanislaus County August 8, 2003

DA's Motion to Conduct Venue Survey

[Canadian Outrage]

Aw Please!! Don't be mean to us. Especially us Foxless souls.

[Canadian Outrage]

Let's hope that we get a Jury that sees through weasel words. And yes, I noticed a definitive twist in Lee's descriptions all of a sudden. However that stoooooooooopid loop of tape around the babies neck has been well determined to have occured from junk in the water. These guys are going to have a pretty hard time suggesting Satanic rituals when it's clear that Laci's body was in the water for all those months AND the fact that the baby was in such good condition actually shows that it was protected from the INTACT uterus. There were NO rituals performed on these two and everybody knows it. Geragos is burying his client and I say have at it!!

[Sandylapper]

Weelllll....okay. You dragged it out of me. Did you see Abrams tonight where they were talking and betting there would be another prelim change?

[Canadian Outrage]

NOPE. I got home too late. GRRRRRRR But tell me everything okay!!

[Canadian Outrage]

Isn't it just so very interesting that Geragos needs to keep changing the Prelim!! It's especially puzzling since he was ready to name and arrest the real perp months ago and in a few hours at that!! I would have to say that Snotty hired himself the Nightmare Team.

[Sandylapper]

Now, hold on and get a grip, CO. On Greta tonight, Dr. Baden said there was a real discrepancy in the autopsy and Laci's most recent sonargram about the "age" of the baby. Autopsy said 38 week old fetus, sonagram taken the 23rd of December said 31 weeks.

[Sandylapper]

All agreed (his panel including Mickey) that they bet the prelim date would be changed. That's one thing one the agenda for tomorrow's court date.

[Canadian Outrage]

Is that an exact science?? Perhaps Laci was farther along than known. A sonogram is not deadly accurate but an X-ray would be more accurate. Besides the baby was inside Laci for God knows how long. I'm surprised that they would be allowed to put that information out. That could be struck and not allowed. That is inside information. But I guess if Baden is not hired by either side he can say whatever. I don't like hearing that. But I would still wait to see what the Prosecutions experts say on the subject. With the amount of other evidence they have the experts could cancel each other out. A decision must be made of the totality of ALL of the evidence. Think about it. The uterus was intact and therefore the baby was born by coffin birth! Laci's body otoh was in devestating condition. I still believe the baby was protected even for those 7 weeks if that's the case. There must be some logical explanation. The Satanic thing is still not going to fly.

[Canadian Outrage]

I wonder if the Judge will allow another delay??? I recall my daughter having a sonogram done when she was pregnant and the report read "approximate age of the fetus" is.....!

[Canadian Outrage]

I think they'll try to hang their hat on that one Nettie. Make no mistake, there IS going to be a battle of the experts. I'm going to go and do a search on these issues. BBS

[Sandylapper]

The Satanic thing is still not going to fly.

Well, as Ted Williams on Greta said tonight, all MG needs is for one juror to buy it, and believe you me, defense is working hard on that angle.

Allred was on there saying (along with Fieger) that The Mod Bee article with picture of Lee, Wecht, and one of MG's attorneys, should be a violation of the gag order.

[Sandylapper]

Not necessarily 7 weeks. A Dr. Spitz was on there saying a sonogram was a +3 or -3 week proposition.

[Sandylapper]

I thought prelim had already been delayed twice, and for some reason, I thought the judge said the second delay would be the last.

[Canadian Outrage]

I hope it will be a violation. I just searched "determing the fetal age by ultrasound". It stated that ultrasound OR sonograms are the most accurate in the FIRST trimester, less accurate in the SECOND trimester and LEAST accurate in the THIRD or final trimester.!! It even makes mistakes in determing the sex of the fetus by 56%!! Now I'll look up X-ray.

[Canadian Outrage]

Yes, Dr. Spitz was on LKL last night and he's a very very well regarded Forensic Pathologist. They gave his credentials but I can't remember where he worked or where he came from. You could tell he was very smart and experienced tho.

[Sandylapper]

This will be one of the many disputes between prosecution and defense. Defense will most assuredly say that Laci was kidnapped, held for a few weeks, either had the baby or was killed and the baby taken. Her body and the baby were dumped into the bay where Scott had been. The cut on the baby's shoulder may come into the equation.

[Canadian Outrage]

+3 or -3 weeks makes a tremendous difference. Her due date could have been totally incorrect.

[Sandylapper]

I hope it will be a violation.

It may be, but don't you think that MG would argue the same principle that Allred argued? She wasn't covered in the gag order. Lee and Wecht and the new attorney for MG weren't.

[Sandylapper]

+3 would make her 34 weeks. -3 would make her 28. If all of that is correct, I'm getting nervous.