| DETECTIVE EVERS TESTIMONY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 of DAY 3 CROSS-EXAMINATION (RESUMED) Before the Honorable A. GIROLAMI, Judge, Dept. 2 Tuesday, November 4, 2003, at 9:35 a.m. MR. MCALLISTER: Q. Officer Evers, backtracking to last Friday, I believe it was about 6:25 when you arrived at the house, that's what you told us last Friday; is that right? A. Yes. Q. And when you got to the house, were you the first officer to get to the house? A. I'm not sure. Q. Okay. You mentioned some other name, Letsinger, Spurlock, and then Sergeant Duerfeldt. Do you have any recollection of which of the -- of those arrived first? A. No, I don't. Q. Okay. Were there -- were there people, civilian people, concerned people there at the house when you did arrive? A. In front of the residence. Q. Okay. About how many? A. Oh -- Q. Roughly. A. Five to ten. Q. Okay. And these are not police officers, right? These are people of civilian dress? A. Yes. Q. People unknown to you? A. Yes. Q. And then what was your first action at the house? What did you first do? A. Officer Spurlock and Letsinger, myself, we went into the house. Q. Okay. Did you go in with anybody at that time? A. No. Q. Okay. Was Mr. Peterson there, Scott Peterson there at that point? A. Yes. Q. He was outside at that point -- A. Yes. Q. -- when you went in with the other officers? A. Yes. Q. And then what did you do inside? Just roughly describe what you did inside. A. Just go from room to room, look in areas that a person might be hidden at. Q. Okay. And then you satisfied yourselves that there was no other person in the house, right? A. Yes. Q. What did you next do? A. I cleared the backyard. Q. What does that mean? A. I searched the backyard. Q. Okay. Same thing, see if there's any person in the backyard? A. Yes. Q. And did the other officers do that with you? A. Yes. Q. And you satisfied yourselves there's no person there, right? A. Yes. Q. What did you do after that? A. I went to the front and met with Scott and had him come through the house and do a walk-through. Q. Okay. And the purpose of that was what? A. If he can identify anything that was out of order or anything that was missing, anything that just didn't look right. Q. Okay. Now, do you still have that printed log of the radio calls -- A. Yes. Q. -- with you? Could you take a look at that? Maybe just keep it out, because I'm going to ask you a few times which may be reflected on that. A. Okay. Q. At 1707, there's a reference there that the MP's house is clear. Do you see that? Or 1907 -- A. 1707 -- Q. 1907 would be 7:07 p.m? A. Yes, I see it. Q. Okay. Is that -- did I -- other than botching the time, what was the actual time reflected there? A. 7:07. Q. P.M? A. Yes. Q. And what does that notation mean? A. I was telling dispatch that the house was clear of the missing person. Q. Okay. Now, would that be the end result of the walk-through that you and the other officers did by yourselves looking for the missing person? A. Yes. Q. Okay. And so then you get on the radio and say, "Well, we've done this, just walked through looking or any person in there, and there's no person in the house or yard"? Is that what that is? A. Yes. Q. Okay. So that's -- that's at 7:07 p.m, right? A. Well, there might have been a time delay when I actually broadcast that. Q. Okay. A. I don't know -- Q. All you can say is that's when the broadcast was? A. That's correct Q. Okay. Then you did this walk-through with Scott Peterson, and that was looking for anything out of place,anything missing, et cetera, right? A. Yes. Q. Now, you -- you had spent some time with Scott Peterson at the house -- strike that. At the park you had spent some time with Scott Peterson, right, talking with him? A. Yes. Q. And now how long were you in the house with him when you're doing this search through the house to see if anything was missing? About how long was that? A. Oh, 15 minutes. Q. Okay. And you were involved in that all the time that Mr. Peterson was in the house? A. Yes. Q. And you were talking with him, right? A. Yes. Q. Okay. Now, in the -- and just as an aside here, in the conversations you had with Mr. Peterson, you had a chance to be fairly close to him, right, physically? A. Yes. Q. And was it correct to say that you smelled no odor of alcohol or anything like that on him? A. No. Q. Is that correct? A. That's correct. Q. And unlike me last Friday, at that time, when you were going through the house on December 24th, you didn't have a head cold or a cold or a sinus congestion or anything like that, right? A. Not that I could remember. Q. Okay. I mean, your nose was working okay? A. I don't remember. Q. Okay. When you went through the house then, you've got a sketch of this house -- or there is a sketch of this house up here -- THE COURT: 79 or 80? MR. MCALLISTER: This would be -- yeah, I guess whichever. Let's just say 79, since that's the side of it that's showing. Q. And that is not to scale, but that -- that roughly shows the floor plan of the house, right? A. Yes. Q. Single-story house, right? A. Right. Q. No basement, right? A. No. Q. Okay. And so, basically, you've got two bedrooms, the nursery -- what was this room here just east of the master bedroom (indicates)? A. It's a bathroom. Q. Okay. And then you've got -- this would be a converted garage? Is this -- that which extends towards the east, that was formerly a garage or looked like it used to be a garage? A. Yes. Q. Okay. And then you've got the dining room here just east of the bathroom; is that correct? A. That's correct. Q. Any estimate that you have in terms of the total footage of the house, how many square feet? A. I don't know. Q. Pretty small house? A. I don't know what you consider small or -- Q. Well, I mean, you were able to go through it with Mr. Peterson in the span of 15, what, maybe 20 minutes to see if anything was missing, right? A. Yes. Q. And that was a relatively thorough search with you and Scott Peterson and the other officers going room to room? A. Yes. Q. Okay. You weren't being hurried by any other events, right? A. No. Q. And when you -- when was it that you were talking with Mr. Peterson? You mentioned something about him being asked about the fish, the type of fish that he was fishing for. Where were you when you had that conversation with Scott Peterson? A. That's Officer Spurlock that was having conversation with Scott, and that was after we had went through the back rooms, the back bedrooms, and we were coming back down the hallway towards the dining room area. Q. Okay. So you're just walking through the house when that takes place? A. I -- I was actually leading, and Officer Spurlock, Officer Letsinger were behind me, and I think Scott Peterson was directly behind me. Q. Okay. So you're hearing a conversation that's going on right behind you? A. Yes. Q. And did Scott Peterson say some -- did he -- did he make any gestures describing some size or some aspect of the type of fish that he was fishing for? A. I didn't see that. Q. Did he make any kind of description -- he couldn't give the name of the fish; isn't that correct? A. I did not actually hear his response. Officer Spurlock was having this conversation. And when we reached the front, in like the kitchen area, that's when Officer Spurlock came up to me and whispered to me and said -- MR. MCALLISTER: Well, I'm going to object to that as hearsay, Your Honor. THE COURT: Sustained, unless somebody wants it in under 115. MR. MCALLISTER: Okay. MR. DISTASO: Well, Your Honor, it was offered under 115, and so -- I guess I can follow up on it. MR. MCALLISTER: Q. Okay. So you yourself -- let's go back to the hallway. You're coming down the hallway. What was the question that you heard Spurlock ask Mr. Peterson? A. "What were you fishing for in the Bay Area?" Q. And is -- now, is this at a point where you've completed the search of the house, you're now headed outside or some other place? A. No, we were just coming down the hallway and -- Q. To go where? A. To go to the front of the house or to the front, to the family room, the kitchen area. Q. Okay. To do the same thing, look to see if anything's missing, anything is out of place, that kind of thing? A. Yes. Q. Okay. So you hadn't finished the search of the house with Scott Peterson at that point? A. No. Q. Okay. So is Spurlock, if you know, is he -- does he have a notepad out or a recording machine out when he was talking to Mr. Peterson? A. I don't know. Q. Okay. And so you hear this question by Mr. Spurlock, and then do you hear a response from Mr. Peterson? A. I hear some conversation. I don't know exactly what he said. Q. Okay. But there wasn't just silence from Scott Peterson? A. No. Q. Okay. You were saying something, and you simply don't remember what it was; is that right? A. No, I didn't hear exactly what his response was. Q. Okay. Now -- THE COURT: While you're looking at those items of evidence, I may have misspoke yesterday when I said all the items of evidence were marked or in evidence. All of these items that were marked during Detective Evers' testimony are not in evidence yet. Everybody's in agreement there, I presume? MR. DISTASO: Yes, Your Honor. MR. MCALLISTER: Q. You were shown several photographs, Officer Evers, last Friday. I believe among them was Number 48, which is a mop and bucket; is that correct? A. Yes. Q. Now, where was that located when you saw it? A. Outside the door south of the family room, the garage that was converted into a family room. Q. Okay. It would be somewhere in this area here (indicates)? A. Yes. Q. And what did you -- the entryway is along that path, right? There's a brick path towards the front door? A. Correct. Q. So this bucket and mop are sitting right on the -- adjacent to the walkway right to the front door? A. Yeah, it's sitting right on -- it's sitting right in front of the door to the family room. Q. Okay. But, I mean, to walk to the front door, you've got to walk by that -- A. Yes. Q. -- right? Was it hidden in some fashion? A. No. Q. Okay. And what's this blue thing here? We see another -- there's a -- appears to be a mop in the bucket, and then there's some other blue thing there. Do you know what that is? A. I thought it was another mop, but I'm not sure. Q. Okay. So you saw the mop bucket before you entered the house? A. Yes. Q. And you entered through the front door initially? A. Yes. Q. You walk right by the mop bucket? A. Yes. Q. Which is not hidden in any way, right? A. No. Q. Did you notice the mop bucket when you walked by the family room door there on your way to the front door? A. Yes. Q. Now, what happened after the 15 or so minutes that you spent inside with Mr. Peterson looking for things which were missing? What transpired after that, generally? A. Well, we all returned to the front of the residence, you know. I conferred with my supervisor, you know. There was plans -- not plans, but there was attempt to get a helicopter en route to check the park with the FLIR. And basically that's what we were doing. We waited for a helicopter. Q. This is all outside the house? A. Yes. THE COURT: You mentioned FLIR. What is that? THE WITNESS: It's a piece of equipment on a helicopter. It stands for Forward Looking Infrared Device. It's to look for heat sources. MR. MCALLISTER: Q. There was an earlier notation there at 1825, which I guess would be 6:25 p.m, same time you came on--around on the scene, "Covena is the CP"? What is the CP? Do you see that on your logs? A. Yes. Q. What does that mean? A. It's the command post. Q. Command post. Okay. Now, did you go back in the house after that? A. Yes. Q. When'd you do that? A. There was at least two occasions that the phone rang. So I escorted Scott into the kitchen area where he answered the phone. Q. Okay. A. He hung up and came back out. Then just missed the phone ringing again. We went back in, got the phone. This time we took the phone out with him. It was a portable phone, so he kept it with him on the front driveway area. Q. Okay. Now, when is the next time after that that you went back into the house? A. That's when Detective Brocchini arrived. Q. Okay. And that was at 9:26, right? A. I believe so, yes. Q. Could you check that -- A. Sure. Q. -- see if that's reflected in your radio log? A. At 9:26, it shows that he was en route,but he didn't actually arrive until 10:01 p.m or, excuse me,9:54p.m. Q. Okay. So, now, this is the first detective to show up, right? A. Yes. Q. Now, you've had a sergeant there, but now you've got a detective, and that means that there's somebody else in charge, and that would be Detective Brocchini? A. Yes. Q. Is that an accurate statement? A. Yes. Q. Other than those phone calls that you went in to answer with Scott, were you in the house at all until Brocchini arrives? A. No. Q. Now, once Brocchini did arrive, did you take him or did you go with him into the house? A. Yes. Q. Because you had to bring him up to speed on the situation as you knew it, right? A. Yes. Q. And is this something that you did by yourself, or did one of the other officers, or how did that work? A. Brocchini was talking to the sergeant by his vehicle, and I walked over and briefed him. Q. Okay. So as the first one to get the call, I guess, you were the one to give him the briefing of what you knew? A. Yes. Q. Now, let's go back to the walk-through, not with Scott Peterson, but the one that you did with the officers When you went through the residence with the other officers to establish whether or not there was a body in the house or a person in the house, you had already seen this bucket next to the front walkway, right? A. Yes. Q. Did you see any moisture on any floor inside the house? A. No. Q. And you were attentive to that, because you'd already seen the bucket outside, right? A. I don't remember seeing any floor wet. Q. Okay. Well, and you sure would have put that in your report had you seen it, correct? A. A floor being wet? Q. Yep. A. I probably would have, yes. Q. And if you hadn't, one of the other officers probably would have, right? A. I -- MR. DISTASO: Objection. Calls for speculation. THE COURT: Sustained. MR. MCALLISTER: Q. Have you reviewed Officer Spurlock's report prior to getting on the stand today or prior to getting on the stand last Friday? A. Yes. Q. Did his report serve to refresh your recollection about some facts maybe that weren't even in your report? A. Yes. Q. Okay. Nowhere in your report is there anything about there being the least amount of moisture on any floorinside 523 Covena when you went through it the first time on December 24th; is that an accurate statement? A. Inside the residence? Q. Yeah. A. Yes. That's correct. Q. And, furthermore, there's nothing in the report to indicate that at any time that you were in the residence that evening you noticed any moisture on any floor at 523 Covena; also accurate? A. That's accurate. Q. Is it also accurate to say that at no time when you were inside the residence that evening that you noticed the smell of any kind of bleach, chlorine, cleansing agent, Mr. Clean, or any other kind of smell that appeared to be a cleaning agent? A. That's correct. Q. Is that correct? A. That's correct. Q. Okay. Now, the second time that you go in, that is the time that you go in with Scott Peterson? A. Yes. Q. Well, let me ask you one more question about that bucket. This jumps a little bit. But when you -- you went over to the warehouse at a later point, I think you told us 11:13, does that sound familiar, p.m.? A. That sounds familiar. Q. I mean, I had a head cold, and I can't guarantee what you said last Friday, but did you come back to the house at 523 Covena after you had been to the warehouse? A. Yes. Q. Okay. And what time did you do that? A. I would have to refer to the log. Q. Sure. If you would. Take your time. A. About a minute after midnight. Q. Okay. And then what did your duties consist of once you returned at 12:01? What did you do then? A. I know I went back, and that's when Doug Lovell was taking photographs. I was just checking on it, see what the status was. Q. Okay. And do you know roughly how long you were there before you cleared to go somewhere else? A. I was there about 11 minutes. Q. And then you were not there--after the 11 minutes, you didn't come back at some later time? A. No. Q. Now, when you were there at this later time when you got there at 12:01, was the mop bucket still there? A. The ID tech, Doug Lovell, had -- Q. Well, was the mop bucket in the same place when you came back at 12:01 as it had been when you left at roughly 11:13? A. No. Q. Did you see where it was when you arrived back at 12:01? A. Yes. Q. Where did you see it? A. ID Tech Doug Lovell had it in his hand. He was holding it by the handle. Q. Where was he? A. Standing in front of the house. Q. Did you talk to him? A. Yes. Q. Did you ask him if he was gonna be doing some cleaning up? A. No. He was taking it as evidence. He was collecting it as evidence. Q. Mr. Peterson wasn't there at that time, was he? TESTIMONY CONTINUED PAGE 5 PRELIMINARY HEARING INDEX ALIBI-WITNESS LIST TRIAL EVIDENCE-NEWS AUTOPSY INDEX HOME INDEX LACI'S HOUSE LACI LACI'S FAMILY SCOTT |
| LACI & CONNER "My heart goes out to you and your family. May God bless you with peace, love and the truth" Desiree - PA - Guestbook Entry |
| PRELIMINARY HEARING - DAY 5 Tuesday - November 4, 2003 Continued Testimony of Detective Evers - PAGE 4 Evers Testimony PG1 PG2 PG3 PG5 |
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