| Amber may be the Prosecution's Star witness "She is the most valuable person in terms of the prosecution's case, as far as we know," said Maureen Orth, a Washington, D.C., writer who dissected media coverage of the Peterson case in a summer edition of Vanity Fair magazine. "She givesmotive, and in this bizarre media circus in which these people become commodities,she is one of the most important commodities." If that is a difficult position for Frey, she does not say so publicly. She is barred from speaking about the case by a judge's gag order on witnesses, lawyers and police officers. But even if she does not speak, she does go out -- to a Journey, REO Speedwagon and Styx concert at Selland Arena, and to a family birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant -- and her face often catches people's eyes. Some recognize her immediately. Others wonder aloud: "Where do I know you from?" Frey's one-time reply suggested that she has not lost her sense of humor: "Oh, it will probably come to you." The official line on Frey comes from her Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who represented the family of Nicole Brown Simpson in the criminal trial against O.J. Simpson and won a settlement for a photographer who was assaulted by rocker Tommy Lee. Allred described Frey as a person of strong faith and family values. She added: "People ask, 'Does Amber think Scott did it?' She has indicated she feels the decision is for the jury and that the final judgment will be made by God." Frey attends Fresno's Northpark Community Church with her daughter, and has since last September or October. "From my estimation, she is a delightful young woman who really has a deep desire to know God and do what's right," said the pastor, the Rev. Bob Willis. In the months since word broke of her connection to Peterson, Frey has forged an unlikely bond with Betty Willis, 77, the mother of the pastor at Northpark Community Church, an Assemblies of God congregation. Willis' husband is a retired Assemblies' pastor. The two women could not be more different. Frey, fodder for the tabloids, and Willis, the septuagenarian who did not marry until 30 because she was waiting for "the right man to come along." She adds with a knowing chuckle: "And we lived happily ever after." She went to Frey at church and offered to be her friend. After nearly 50 years of observing the human condition in congregations in California and Texas, Willis said: "I have great admiration for Amber. She is a wonderful person who may have made mistakes in the past that have nothing to do with this case." Willis added: "It sounds strange for me to talk about her, but I just believed in her from the first. Sometimes you can't explain why, but you see the spirit or the essence of the person. You look beyond the eyes and see something deep down inside that is very worthwhile." Other church members also have shown support. "We have no reason not to support her," Willis said. "She stands tall and straight, and she's bent on being a good mother. I see her talking about the child with the utmost love that a mother ought to have." Frey's past relationships do not faze this grandmother who tries to remember human nature for what it is and not be too disappointed with anyone. She said she also remembers what the Bible says: "Let the person who has never done anything wrong cast the first stone." STAR WITNESS UPDATE MAGAZINES HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS AMBER |
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