| HEARING POSTPONED FOR 4TH TIME October 24, 2003 Scott Peterson's Preliminary Hearing was postponed by a judge Friday, Oct. 24th for the fourth time, giving defense lawyers an additional day to prepare. The hearing in Stanislaus County Superior Court was moved to Wednesday. A week ago, the hearing was postponed until Tuesday because lead defense lawyer Mark Geragos is involved in a murder trial in Los Angeles that is expected to conclude next week. “I think it is a logical solution to trail the matter until Wednesday,” Girolami said. Peterson's lead attorney, Mark Geragos, is currently wrapping up his defense of a Los Angeles gang member accused of slaying another teenager outside a high school. A jury is expected to begin weighing evidence in that case as early as Monday. In a short hearing before Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami Friday morning, another lawyer for Peterson, Kirk McAllister, said Geragos plans to miss the verdict in the gang case so he can be on hand for the Modesto preliminary hearing. "These unforeseen delays have thrown a monkey wrench in what we thought was a firm date," said McAllister. It is the fifth time Peterson's preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for July, has been postponed. Peterson, who turned 31 on Friday, is charged with murdering his wife and their unborn son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Judge Al Girolami tentatively decided to hold a special hearing on whether to allow prosecutors to present DNA evidence in the case. Girolami rejected defense requests for hearings on whether to admit evidence gathered using search dogs and global positioning system technology used to track Peterson. The defense wants to bar that evidence. However, he agreed to hold an inquiry, known as a Kelly hearing, into the reliability of the mitochondrial DNA testing used to identify a hair found on a pair of needle-nosed pliers in Peterson's boat as belonging to Laci Peterson. Although "mtDNA" results have been admitted in other California cases — including the trial of David Westerfield last year — the defense contends the process is not as scientifically accepted as the more common nuclear DNA testing and should not be admitted. Prosecutor Rick Distaso said he intends to begin the hearing with the genetic evidence and testimony from a DNA expert, but said he is paring down the rest of the state's case significantly. Having already announced last week that the prosecution would not call a controversial witness who police hypnotized during the investigation, Distaso said Friday that the district attorney's office is also leaning toward saving evidence from a global positioning system (GPS) device for the trial. "We're trying to keep this to a somewhat manageable level and that seemed to be something that could wait for the trial," Distaso told the judge. Prosecutors and the defense exchanged witness lists Friday. A prosecution spokesman declined to reveal specific names, but suggested that in a case as "important" as Peterson's, those called to the stand would include civilians as well as police witnesses and DNA experts. Defense lawyer McAllister noted during the hearing that he has subpoenaed three police officers and the judge who issued wiretaps on Peterson's phones. In addition, both sides agreed Friday to allow family members who are also potential witnesses to attend the preliminary hearing. Witnesses are normally excluded from the courtroom so their testimony will not be tainted by the account's of others. Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, attended the hearing with four supporters, but the section of the courtroom reserved for Scott Peterson's family was unusually empty. Only his brother John was present. John Peterson said afterward that the rest of his family was out of town, but "they are all coming up for the hearing" where, he said, they expect "the truth" to emerge. "We all believe he's innocent...We're looking forward to the opportunity for [prosecutors] to show us their cards," John Peterson said. He added that he was eager to visit his brother on his birthday. A sheriff's department official said Peterson's birthday was "just another day" inside the jail. "They don't have cake and ice cream. There are no special visits," said deputy Tom Letras. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT COURT DATES EVIDENCE-NEWS |
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