| PRELIMINARY HEARING - DAY 1 Wednesday, October 29, 2003 The preliminary hearing for accused double murderer Scott Peterson has turned a dirt lot at 11th and I streets in downtown Modesto into a bustling enclave of TV trucks and cables -- at least for a week. TV crews from stations as far away as Japan have rumbled into Modesto to cover Peterson's preliminary hearing on charges that he murdered his pregnant wife, Laci, and their son, Conner. "It's like doing the logistical planning for a mini-Super Bowl," Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department spokesman Kelly Huston said. Nearly all the evidence in the case has been ordered sealed, stoking public interest and speculation. But a court official said that despite the Peterson case's drawing power, it largely would be business as usual inside the Stanislaus County main courthouse. "It's an open courthouse, and we intend to keep it an open courthouse," court Executive Officer Michael Tozzi said. Cameras are banned from courthouse hallways, and the hearing will not be televised. Legal proceedings in other courtrooms have not been reduced or rescheduled to avoid the media swarm outside, Tozzi said. Police Lt. Dan Inderbitzen said access to 11th Street between I and H streets would be limited to people with courthouse business.The police and sheriff's departments have set up mobile command centers outside the courthouse. Media companies paid to have about 125 lines for phone and high-speed Internet access installed to their encampments in front of the courthouse and on the future site of the Gallo Performing Arts Center, Huston said. Networks also are footing a bill of roughly $30,000 for additional police officers, portable toilets, garbage service and fire personnel to oversee refueling and other measures, Inderbitzen said.Mobile office trailers, satellite trucks and portable generators dotted the dusty lot at 11th and I streets Tuesday afternoon. The office trailers, complete with air conditioning, were sandwiched between nine TV trucks, various remote broadcast vans and a motor home.Thousands of feet of cable snaked through the dust to a row of 28 media tents set up along 11th Street in front of the courthouse. Some TV trucks had been diverted to cover the massive fires in Southern California, media representatives said, but Huston anticipated that the number of TV vehicles in Modesto would double by today. Laci Peterson was almost eight months pregnant when she was reported missing Christmas Eve. Prosecutors contend that Scott Peterson murdered his wife before she gave birth. They are seeking the death penalty. After the preliminary hearing, Judge Al Girolami will determine whether there is enough evidence to bind over Peterson for trial. He is being held without bail in Stanislaus County Jail. PRELIMINARY HEARING INDEX HOME INDEX LACI CONNER SCOTT AUTOPSY INDEX WIRETAPS COURT DATES INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS |
| LACI & CONNER PRAY FOR JUSTICE |
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