State money still sought for Peterson trial
By ERIC STERN
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU
Published: August 21, 2003, 05:45:13 AM PDT
SACRAMENTO -- State Sen. Jeff Denham said Tuesday that he will continue pushing for the state to cover Stanislaus County's costs in the investigation and trial of accused murderer Scott Peterson.
"It'll come back up in January," said Denham, a Salinas Republican whose district includes part of Modesto.
His $1.5 million subsidy for the Peterson case survived the budget process but not the governor's line-item veto this month.
"This is going to be a huge cost," Denham said. "You can't expect a case of this size, for a county to bear that."
Peterson, 30, has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, 27, and their unborn son, Conner.
The state already reimburses smaller counties for extra costs related to expensive murder trials. Denham introduced a bill earlier this year that singled out the high-profile Peterson case and sought reimbursement for the county's estimated costs.
A version of that bill made it through budget wrangling this summer. However, before Gov. Davis signed the $99.1 billion state budget Aug. 2, he made last-minute trims -- including the money set aside for the Peterson case.
Davis called it "unnecessary" because county officials can apply ........