| JURY TO BESEQUESTERED? February 18, 2004 Judge Delucchi is expected to decide later if jurors will be sequestered and whether a second jury will be empaneled to decide if Peterson receives the death penalty if convicted. Delucchi said both rulings would come before jury selection begins. Mark Geragos said the jurors should be questioned first in an attempt to gauge bias. "They ought to be told that upfront," Delucchi said, referring to whether jurors would be required to live at a hotel and have restricted access to newspapers, radio and television for the duration of a trial estimated to last at least four months. The defense is seeking to sequester jurors and empanel separate juries, arguing both rare steps are necessary for Peterson to receive a fair trial after being "demonized" by the media. Prosecutors oppose both requests. In court, Geragos said the penalty trial phase was secondary to a verdict on guilt or innocence. "The guilty phase is the whole ball of wax," Geragos said. "We don't care about the penalty phase, because he didn't do it." Geragos argued that a single jury — with members all willing to vote on the death penalty if they decide guilt — would disqualify a large swath of the San Mateo County jury pool, leaving pro-prosecution jurors. "The depth of prejudgment against my client is like nothing I've seen in 20 years," Geragos said. "I'm not even asking for a level playing field. We're just trying to get into the ballpark and play." Delucchi assured Geragos he would have a level playing field to the best of the judge's ability. "I know the gravity of this offense," Delucchi said. "And I'm not taking it lightly." HOME INDEX LACI'S ALBUM EVIDENCE-NEWS ALIBI-WITNESS LIST |
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