Amber Frey
Posted on 09/10/2003 5:27:47 AM PDT by runningbear
Hypnosis testimony use 'a risk'
Hypnosis testimony use 'a risk'
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: September 10, 2003, 04:50:01 AM PDT
Investigators handling the double-murder case against Scott Peterson used an increasingly rare and legally risky tactic by interviewing a witness using "hypnosis techniques," legal observers said Tuesday.
"They're taking a risk," said Dr. David Spiegel, associate chairman of psychiatry at Stanford University. "There must be some reason why they want to take that risk."
The jeopardy stems from a state law passed in 1984 that severely restricts the use of information from a hypnotized witness at trial -- including limiting the testimony to matters the person recalled before the hypnosis.
The law was in response to a 1982 California Supreme Court ruling saying that "most experts agree that hypnotic evidence is unreliable because a person under hypnosis can manufacture or invent false statements."
Since the 1984 law, hypnotism largely has been shelved in criminal investigations, but it's sometimes used when police run out of leads, observers said.
"If you hit a dead end, you might come up with some facts that would help you," said Roger C. Park, an evidence law specialist at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
An example would be a kidnap victim who under hypnosis remembers details such as riding in a car driven on a gravel road and then over a bridge, Park said.
"You go there and find some evidence, and then you don't need that testimony," Park said. "That's what you're hoping during the investigation."
But prosecutors handling Peterson's case indicated in court last week that they intend to introduce testimony from a Modesto woman who appears to have been hypnotized.
Kristen Dempewolf, who lives in Peterson's La Loma neighborhood, was questioned in a "cognitive interview where hypnosis techniques were used," according to documents prosecutors filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Dempewolf was questioned as police probed the disappearance and death of Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci.
Dempewolf, 33, owns a dog and was in roughly the same stage of pregnancy as Laci Peterson when Peterson was reported missing Christmas Eve.
Two witnesses have said they saw Laci Peterson walking her dog after 9:30 a.m. Dec. 24 -- the time her husband told police he left for a solo fishing trip.
Scott Peterson told police Laci was preparing to walk the couple's golden retriever, McKenzie, when he left for San Francisco Bay, and he returned from the trip to find his wife missing.
Prosecutors contend that he killed his wife and unborn son, Conner, on Dec. 23 or Dec. 24. Their bodies were found in April along the eastern shore of the bay, within four miles of where Scott Peterson said he launched his boat Christmas Eve. The 30-year-old fertilizer salesman faces the death penalty if convicted of two counts of murder.
Testimony could be key for prosecution
Dempewolf could be key to the prosecutors' case if she offers an alternative explanation for witnesses who say they saw Laci Peterson walking her dog Dec. 24.
But if Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami determines that the hypnosis techniques amount to hypnotism, strict conditions will have to be met for her testimony to be admissable in court.
Testimony must be limited to matters the witness recalled and related before the hypnosis, and the substance of the pre-hypnotic memory must be preserved in written, audiotape or videotape form before the hypnosis.
The law also requires that the hypnosis be performed by a licensed professional experienced in hypnosis, such as a medical doctor or psychologist, and not done in the presence of law enforcement, the prosecution or the defense.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos indicated in court that the interview had been videotaped, but it is unclear from prosecution documents who used hypnosis techniques on Dempewolf.
Prosecutors also would have to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" at a hearing that the hypnosis did not make the witness's earlier recollection unreliable or "substantially impair" the ability to cross-examine the witness.
Interviewer may lead subject
Hypnosis subjects are susceptible to suggestions -- even subconscious ones -- by their questioner, said Dr. Emily Keram, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco.
"It's natural for a person to be helpful, and they're prone to give the wrong answers," Keram said. "There may be a question where the interviewer inadvertently demonstrates their need and leads the subject to report things in an effort to address those cues."
Hypnosis, which induces deep relaxation, is effective in reducing ......
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Peterson's ex-girlfriend sticks close to home
Amber Frey
Peterson's ex-girlfriend sticks close to home
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: September 6, 2003, 10:02:24 AM PDT
The woman who admitted having an affair with Scott Peterson is being protected by private guards and now lives in a gated community with round-the-clock security, her father said Friday.
"She hardly goes out now," said Amber Frey's father, Ron Frey. "She goes to work. She's got to live, but she mostly stays home."
Amber Frey, now 28, burst into the public spotlight in January when she announced that she had had an affair with Peterson, saying that he had told her that he was not married.
Peterson's 27-year-old pregnant wife, Laci, had been reported missing Christmas Eve in Modesto. Her body and that of the couple's unborn son, Conner, were found in mid-April along the eastern shoreline of San Francisco Bay.
Peterson, 30, was arrested several days later and charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.
Ron Frey said he was concerned for his daughter's safety after she became ensnared in a case that plays across tabloid news racks and cable television news shows.
"What good would it do to put her in witness protection? Everybody knows her," Frey said. "Sure there's security. I cannot account for the police, whether they've got people involved or not."
Modesto police said Frey cooperated with their investigation, and court documents show that officers tapping Peterson's phones monitored a call between her and Peterson on the night of Jan. 20, almost a month after Laci Peterson was reported missing.
Prosecutors and Gloria Allred, the attorney representing Frey, have declined to say if the Fresno massage therapist will testify at Peterson's preliminary hearing, now set for Oct. 20.
But Ron Frey said his daughter was dismayed after the hearing was pushed back earlier this week.
"She's anxious for this to be over," he said. "She was very ........
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GPS use on Peterson in question
GPS use on Peterson in question
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: September 5, 2003, 05:05:13 AM PDT
The use of electronic devices by investigators to track Scott Peterson's movements was an unorthodox move, observers said Thursday.
Prosecutors intend to introduce evidence from a global positioning system tracking device, Senior Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso said at a hearing this week.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos countered that he would seek to have the evidence excluded, indicating that there were problems with the GPS equipment.
The issue is likely to be hashed out at an Oct. 20 hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to put Peterson on trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son, Conner.
Authorities used "wiretaps on phones, tracking vehicles, all of the technology available" as they probed Peterson's death, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said at a news conference April 18 the day that her husband was arrested in La Jolla.
Peterson, 30, could receive the death penalty if convicted of both murder counts.
His wife was almost eight months pregnant when she was reported missing Christmas Eve. Her body and that of her son were found in mid-April along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, several miles from where her husband said he went fishing Dec. 24.
During a four-month probe, investigators employed a range of tactics, including "hypnosis techniques" on a witness.
Police also attached a tracking device to Peterson's pickup, Lockyer said at the April news conference.
Such tracking equipment usually is employed by state and federal law enforcement in major drug cases, according to experts.
"The fact that they used one in this case shows law enforcement were being very resourceful," said James Hammer, San Francisco assistant district attorney. "They were doing things that are not particularly done in a homicide case."
Most police and sheriff's departments do not have the budgets for tracking equipment, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Sharon Chow said.
"That's out of our league," Chow said. "Tracking devices for vehicles are very expensive."
It is unclear what evidence the tracking devices produced. Authorities and the defense have successfully sealed most documents in the case, and Judge Al Girolami has imposed a gag order preventing the parties from talking about evidence.
Tracking devices could serve the prosecution if they show that Peterson returned to the bay, tie him to a location where physical evidence was found or indicate that he was preparing to flee the country, Hammer said.
"If he's going back to the bay to make sure nothing floated up, that he didn't leave anything behind, that would help a prosecution theory," Hammer said.
But prosecutors will have to demonstrate that the tracking evidence is relevant to the case and that the equipment worked properly, some observers said.
"If he went to Mexico, so what? He came back," veteran ..........
(reposting this article).....
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Perfect. Just perfect.
Alas, the epilogue will never be written: "Scott Peterson, formerly of Modesto Country Club [or whatever that club was that threw him out], carded the final round to finish neck-and-neck with O.J. Simpson, of Miami Country Club, and Robert Blake, an amateur."
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