Peterson defense team loses attorney Dalton
Peterson defense team loses attorney Dalton
Matthew Dalton has left LA law firm.
THE BEE
By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: September 26, 2003, 04:50:50 AM PDT
One of Scott Peterson's attorneys has left his defense team -- and no one associated with the double-murder case is saying why.
Matthew Dalton, whose role in the high-profile case mostly was confined to behind-the-scenes legwork, is no longer employed by the Los Angeles law firm of Geragos & Geragos, a receptionist confirmed Thursday.
She referred questions to managing partner Mark Geragos -- Peterson's lead defense attorney -- but Geragos did not return messages during business hours Thursday.
The separation comes in a week filled with rumors, some published and aired in various media, that Peterson is unhappy with his legal representation.
The 30-year-old fertilizer salesman is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing Oct. 20 on charges that he killed his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
"It's damaging to Scott Peterson to have an important part of his defense team suddenly disappear," said Gloria Allred, a Los Angeles attorney representing Peterson's former girlfriend. Amber Frey could provide crucial testimony in court proceedings and Allred, attempting to preserve Frey's credibility, has crossed swords with Geragos.
"To have division in the ranks at a time when it's important to put together a good case, I can't see how that would be a benefit to Scott Peterson," Allred said.
Peterson's father, Lee Peterson, confirmed Thursday that Geragos continues to represent his son. He declined to say why Dalton left the firm.
Geragos' firm refused to provide a forwarding number for Dalton. The Bee was unable to reach him at other numbers.
Though Dalton largely was relegated to third-tier status behind Geragos and co-counsel Kirk McAllister of Modesto, he figured in a series of public moves since his former boss came on the scene in late April:
In May, Dalton suggested to reporters that Laci Peterson's family members were burglarizing the Petersons' La Loma-area home.
The dead woman's family entered the Covena Avenue home without coordinating with Scott Peterson's parents and removed truckloads of items, including her wedding dress, a rocking chair and a crib. The methodical moving was widely reported and touched off an emotional debate over property rights of victims' survivors vs. those accused of heinous crimes.
In June, Dalton told a judge in open session that the defense team had evidence pointing to "real killers" and offered to present it behind closed doors. The judge scheduled a private hearing; Dalton was seen banging on the door after it began but was not admitted.
After the meeting, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne wrote in a decision, "No evidence on the investigation of 'other suspects' was presented."
Outside the courtroom after the initial June hearing, Dalton cryptically referred to shoes allegedly removed by Laci Peterson's family in May. Though Dalton called them "important evidence," television pundits criticized the statement, saying investigators on both sides would have taken possession of them long ago if they figured in the murders.
In August, Dalton -- despite a court-imposed gag order barring discussion of most aspects of the case -- outlined a theory involving kidnapping and human sacrifice, in full view of two Bee journalists.
Dalton, using a map and laptop computer, showed two forensics experts artwork that he said depicted ritualistic killings. The paintings are on a peninsula near where Scott Peterson said he fished alone on Christmas Eve, the day his pregnant wife was reported missing.
Remains of mother and son were recovered within miles of the point in April. Dalton -- as a photographer snapped flash pictures and a reporter took notes -- said the defense team placed floats in the water near the paintings and they drifted near where the bodies were found.
Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami wanted a hearing on whether Dalton violated the gag order. But prosecutors, who also faced a contempt-of-court accusation by Geragos, called a truce on those issues in late August.
Legal scholar Michael Vitiello said it's not uncommon for lead attorneys to use other lawyers as "fall guys."
In a high-profile case two decades ago, a first-chair attorney wanted to disassociate himself from a noncredible witness by having Vitiello, a legal consultant, question the witness in court, he said. Vitiello now is a professor with Sacramento's McGeorge School of Law.
Perhaps, Vitiello said, Geragos hoped to use Dalton to "float a trial balloon, and if (it) turns out to be a dud, (Geragos) says, 'It was that (guy) over there.'"