His lawyer keeps saying we should believe Carroll "because he's not asking for anything". Okay, so he's not asking for any consideration on his charges. To my understanding, his charges are small anyway, so he doesn't need to cut any big snitch deal.
But his lawyer is shopping the story all over. I think Carroll and his lawyer are satisfied to share the relatively small money they're getting due to the instant celebrity they've manufactured for themselves. That must be why they're doing this.
This is from the Oct 8th, Fresno Bee. The title is,"Peterson Boat Evidence May Be Difficult To Bar".
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http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7561140p-8471759c.html Modesto-Scott Peterson's defense team may have a tough time keeping out evidence from hair attached to a pair of pliers found in his boat, legal observers said.
"It sounds like a play out of the O.J. Simpson playbook," said San Francisco Assistant District Attorney James Hammer, alluding to the defense contention that police planted evidence in that murder case.
Peterson's defense is claiming that police mishandled evidence after officers initially reported finding a single 5- to 6-inch dark hair on the pliers Dec. 27.
Two strands of hair were noted after two detectives checked out the items from the Modesto police evidence room weeks later, according to defense documents filed Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
The hairs and two brushes used by Laci Peterson were submitted the next day to a state Department of Justice crime lab for analysis, according to the documents.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote that it is "reasonably certain the evidence has been altered in some way," adding that the officers reviewed the evidence without supervision by a criminalist or lab technician.
DNA tests show the hair could have belonged to Laci Peterson, a source has said.
Physically linking Laci Peterson to her husband's newly purchased fishing boat -- bought in early December while she was about seven months pregnant -- is "potentially very powerful evidence," Hammer said.
Peterson said he last saw his wife on the morning of Dec. 24 before taking the boat on a solo fishing trip to San Francisco Bay.
He told police he returned to find his pregnant wife gone from their Modesto home.
Her body and that of her unborn son, Conner, were found in April along the bay's eastern shore, within four miles of where Peterson said he launched his boat.
Peterson has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The defense is using various arguments to try to exclude from court an array of evidence, including information from wiretaps, scent tracking dogs and GPS tracking devices hidden in Peterson's vehicles.
The defense also is seeking to bar testimony from a witness whom police had hypnotized.
Several legal observers said it may be difficult to keep the hair evidence out on the basis that police broke the so-called chain of custody.
Modesto police spokesman Detective Doug Ridenour refused to discuss the Peterson case, citing a gag order.
But Ridenour said that in general, detectives can look at items that have been logged into the secure evidence room.
"They have every right in the world to check the evidence out to do further investigation," Ridenour said.
Detectives assigned to a case can check items out from evidence clerks after specifying why they need to re-examine the item, Ridenour said.
Officers can privately examine the evidence in small rooms with locked doors adjoining the evidence room lobby.
Ridenour said he was not aware of any security cameras to monitor activity in those rooms.
Modesto Bee staff writer John Coté can be reached at (209) 578-2394 or
jcote@modbee.com.