Ruling is expected today on search warrants

A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge is expected to rule today on whether to unseal eight search warrants issued while police investigated Scott Peterson in the death of his pregnant wife, Laci.

Judge Roger M. Beauchesne held a closed hearing Friday after defense attorney Matt Dalton said releasing the documents would compromise evidence that points to the "real killers."

"We have information that could possibly affect the arrest of other suspects who are still out there," Dalton said during a hearing last week.

Beauchesne sealed the documents before Peterson was arrested April 18 and charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.

Beauchesne had originally ordered the documents to be unsealed when a criminal complaint was filed in the case. But the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno overruled that segment of his order after prosecutors sought to keep the documents sealed. The appeals court ruled that the unsealing could not come automatically after an arrest. Rather, a hearing had to be held after a "change in circumstances," the court ruled.

Prosecutors say intense media scrutiny could sway potential jurors and hurt Peterson's chances at a fair trial.

The Bee's lawyer, Charity Kenyon -- who also represents several other newspapers and TV.......................

DAVIS, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's defense team was in Davis, Calif., Monday, looking into the possibility that human remains that were found there last week may have a connection to their case.

NBC news reported that the remains were in a plastic container found inside a trailer park trash bin last week. So far, they have not been identified.

Reports say the remains include at least one female, and perhaps as many as four other individuals.

Authorities say DNA tests will be done to establish whether or not there is any connection to the Laci Peterson murder case.

Meanwhile, if Scott Peterson's attorneys have their way, an unlikely witness will testify at a hearing scheduled for the end of this month, NBC News in San Francisco reported.

Peterson's defense team announced Tuesday that they want the judge who authorized wiretaps on Peterson's phone to take the stand.

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Peterson's Attorneys Want Unlikely Witness To Testify
Judge Ray Ledine Authorized Wiretaps

MODESTO, Calif. -- Scott Peterson is due back in court at the end of the month. And if his attorneys have their way, an unlikely witness will testify. Peterson's attorneys subpoenaed a superior court judge to appear.

Peterson's defense team announced Tuesday that they want the judge who authorized wiretaps on Peterson's phone to take the stand.

NBC11's Jodi Hernandez reported that Peterson's attorneys might face an uphill battle on this issue.

Ray Ledine authorized the wiretapping of Peterson's phone conversations. The judge met with the prosecutor and wiretap investigator every three days to keep tabs on their progress. A court reporter was not present at those meetings and Peterson's attorneys want to question the judge about the wiretap procedures.

They are concerned that conversations between Peterson and his attorney were illegally recorded. Legal experts say it's extremely rare for a judge to take the stand. Judges are protected by law from doing so.

"They can submit to him written questions and you can submit written answers," said legal expert Alexander Wolfe.

Hernandez reported that in a death penalty case the law requires a court reporter to be present at every court proceeding, including conferences. But when the judge met with investigators about the wiretaps.......

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- A $5,000 reward was announced Wednesday by the Alameda County sheriff's department for any information that could help identify a teenage girl whose decomposing body was found inside a canvas bag behind a restaurant on May 1.

Investigators have eliminated about 150 missing children from the San Francisco Bay area, said Sgt. Scott Dudek. They suspect the girl may be from out of the state.

"The reward is offered by the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation to assist us with identifying who the little girl was," Dudek said. "We have her DNA, we were able to eliminate other children based on her characteristics. She had beautiful teeth, no fillings, no cavities, single ear piercing, and other distinctive characteristics."

Dudek describe the victim as a 5-foot-1 inch girl who weighed 110 pounds, had brown eyes, brown and wavy hair and of mixed race, Hispanic and black.

He said the cause of death had been established as asphyxiation, as "a rug was found inside her mouth." The girl likely died April 22 or 23, Dudek said.

"It could be a person outside of the area, outside of the state, there is a possibility that perhaps maybe a family member had something to do with it and that is why they have not reported it yet," Dudek added.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Homicide Division of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office at (510) 667-7721/

Peterson Made Numerous Trips To Marina

POSTED: 9:55 a.m. PDT June 12, 2003

RICHMOND, Calif. -- Scott Peterson made numerous trips to the Berkeley Marina while a massive search was underway throughout Northern California -- including the waters of the San Francisco Bay -- for any sign of his pregnant wife, Laci, sources told KTVU on Thursday.

Video

Ted Rowlands Thursday Report On The Peterson Case

The revelation came on a day when Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger M. Beauchesne was expected to issue a ruling on whether or not search and arrests warrants and their associated documents in the capital murder case would remain sealed.

Several media outlets have petitioned the court, asking that the documents be released as is dictated by state law. However, attorneys on both sides of the case have asked for differing reasons that the court to keep the documents sealed.

Investigators were also to deliver copies of all wiretaps in the case to Scott Peterson's defense team. The wiretaps have been a source of contention in the case, particularly 69 intercepted calls between Peterson and his defense attorney, Kirk McAllister. There were also two calls between Peterson and a private investigator working for McAllister recorded.

On Tuesday, Peterson's defense team -- led by famed attorney Mark Geragos -- caused a stir by serving Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Wray Labine with a subpoena, seeking testimony about the handling of the wiretaps.

Court Executive Officer Mike Tozzi said he accepted the subpoena and that the judge would likely rely on legal advice from the state Administrative Office of the Courts before responding.

Labine allegedly issued the warrant allowing Scott Peterson's phones to be tapped from Jan.10 to April 18 -- a time when investigators maintained publicly that he was not a suspect in the case.

Meanwhile, news of Peterson's 90-mile journeys to the Bay Area broke on Thursday.

In April, the badly decomposed bodies of Laci and her unborn son who was to be named Conner, were recovered on the shoreline of a Richmond, Calif., regional park. Scott Peterson had told authorities that he had gone fishing at the nearby Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve -- the day Laci disappeared from the couple's Modesto home.

Prosecution sources told KTVU's Ted Rowlands that there "was absolutely no reason" for Peterson to be at the Marina. They claimed that the fertilizer salesman had been seen there on several occasions by witnesses and also was tracked or followed there by investigators.

Police investigators had attached a GPS tracking device to at least one of Peterson's vehicles during the months before his arrest on charges he killed his wife and her unborn child.

Defense sources have said that Peterson traveled to the Bay because police told him that they were searching there.

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Ted Rowlands has also been busy reporting the kidnapping of the San Jose 9 yr old last Friday.

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FROM CNN

Jeffrey Toobin: Wiretap strategy shaky
Peterson defense goes after judge who OK'd phone taps

Jeffrey Toobin

Jeffrey Toobin: Wiretap strategy shaky
Peterson defense goes after judge who OK'd phone taps

Thursday, June 12, 2003 Posted: 12:18 PM EDT (1618 GMT)

CNN) -- A hearing in the Laci Peterson murder case in two weeks will focus on the issue of the prosecution tapping suspect Scott Peterson's phone.

Defense lawyers have now subpoenaed the judge who gave the approval for those wiretaps, and they charge the judge violated rules governing a capital murder case.

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin spoke Thursday with CNN anchor Bill Hemmer about the issue.

TOOBIN: Let's rip the defense in the Laci Peterson case again. What do you say?

HEMMER: How about it?

TOOBIN: What happened was, in California law, there is a provision that says if it's a death penalty case, you have to have a court reporter present at all times on all proceedings. A fair rule. No problem.

But these wiretaps were subpoenaed, took place -- they were approved by the judge in February -- before there was even an arrest in the case. So the judge had no reason to order a court reporter being there.

It was just an ordinary course-of-business wiretap. They didn't know it would be a death penalty case. They didn't even know there would be an arrest in the case. But because there is no transcript, they are subpoenaing the judge to get him to testify.

HEMMER: So, but under California law, can this be retroactive? Can you rework the rules or not?

TOOBIN: That's what the defense is trying to do. And in fairness to the defense, what they are doing is they are pushing in every way. The best defense is a good offense. We know that, all the time.

So they are trying to put the prosecution on trial, trying to call the judge to testify because there is no transcript of what he said.

HEMMER: So they want a piece of this judge, then?

TOOBIN: They want a piece of the judge. I mean, it takes -- I think it's interesting. You have Mark Geragos, who's a lawyer from Los Angeles who's not based there in Modesto [California]. I think a lawyer who was in Modesto might be a little hesitant to subpoena a judge because, after all, you live in that community. But Geragos says, no, let's go subpoena the judge, full speed ahead.

HEMMER: You almost said something. It takes what?

TOOBIN: It takes...

HEMMER: Guts?

TOOBIN: It takes guts. Yes, guts. It takes spirit, let's say. I don't know. There's a word I'm thinking of that I probably shouldn't use.

HEMMER: How aggressive a move is this for the defense? If you're Mark Geragos and you're trying to defend your guy and he's up for capital murder, don't you want to try and pull out all the stops you can?

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