| LACI & CONNER Justice Prevailed |
| Amber may be 'illuminating' witness in trial By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER May 31, 2004 While scores of people searched frantically for Laci Peterson in the days and weeks after she disappeared, the emergence of Scott Peterson's mistress, a masseuse and single mother from Fresno named Amber Frey, was the final piece of the puzzle for many who already suspected Scott. Frey's testimony is the most eagerly anticipated part of a trial that is expected to last more than five months. In an interview with Modesto police, Frey said Peterson told her weeks before Laci went missing that he had "lost his wife." After contacting police days after the disappearance, Frey began recording phone calls she had with Peterson. In a transcript made public of one of these phone calls, Frey tries to lure Peterson into an admission: Frey: "I deserve an explanation of why you told me you lost your wife, and these were the first holidays you'd spend without her. That was Dec. 9. You told me this and now all of a sudden your wife's missing. Are you kidding me?" Peterson: "I, I, I don't know what to say." Information included in the rest of these recorded phone calls could be the key piece of evidence on which prosecutors will rely in their effort to convince the jury that Peterson killed Laci. Since Frey did not testify at the preliminary hearing, the substance of her story is still a big unknown. "When the truth comes out from Amber it will be, like (Stanislaus County District Attorney) Jim Brazelton said, 'illuminating,'" Ron Frey, Amber's father, said in an interview with ANG Newspapers. Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, would not say when Frey will take the stand, but said she's ready. "We're in frequent contact. Amber's going to tell the truth; I'm not concerned about that. "But at this point her focus is not on the trial but on her family. She'll do her duty when she's called to testify." Ron Frey said that while the media scrutiny and the publishing of nude photos of Amber have been difficult, the discovery of the bodies of Laci and her unborn child had a devastating effect on his daughter. "Amber is just a regular person who came forward. How everything has unfolded has been heartbreaking for everybody. When they found Laci's body, Amber broke down and cried for a couple of days." Since Amber came forward with news of her affair with Peterson, her father has received more than 10,000 media requests. "It was so intense I had to take two months off of work. I had no choice," he said. According to testimony from the preliminary hearing, Peterson met Frey through a mutual friend, who set them up on Peterson's request. The friend originally met Peterson at a work-related conference in Southern California, according to the testimony of Modesto Police Det. Al Brocchini, one of the lead investigators on the case. Frey called the Modesto police's Laci tip-line on December 30, 2002, and began recording telephone calls with Peterson in which she tried to get him to talk about Laci's disappearance. Asked if he believes that Peterson could be falsely accused, Ron Frey, who has been summoned as a witness, said: "I have tried to keep a balanced opinion. What he did to Amber wasn't right but what he did to Laci I don't know. The trial will bring out the facts." Legal experts say Geragos will have to walk a thin line while cross-examining Frey, discrediting her while at the same time not seeming too harsh to someone with whom the jury may sympathize. "I would think that Geragos will not want to tear into her if she says something harmful to his case," said Professor Robert Talbot, who teaches criminal law at the University of San Francisco School of Law. "Rather than calling her a harlot, you ask her 'why should we believe you?'" Talbot added: "So much of being a good trial lawyer is responding to the person and reading the jury and taking a sideways approach -- not a direct attack." *********************** TESTIMONY - Peterson told Frey he "lost his wife" HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL NEWS WIRETAPS EVIDENCE-NEWS |
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