prelim-day6-brocchini-testimony5

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Q. Okay. And in your thoroughness, you laid out in your report what those contents were, right?
A. Oh, I laid out what I was told was in there, Mr. McAllister.
Q. Now, I'm referring to page 3 of 12 from that same report.
A. That's right.
Q. Right?
A. That's right.
Q. That -- in that report you say the following: "This purse contained Laci's car keys, wallet, sunglasses,
and other items of personal property," right?
A. That's correct.
Q. Did you have Scott Peterson now -- and he's right there standing there with you, right? Did you have
him take a look at these items to see, for instance, if credit cards were there or if they were missing?
A. No.
Q. Did you have him look through the purse himself to see if in fact everything was there?
A. No.
Q. You weren't interested in totally inventorying the purse of this missing woman at that point?
A. No, the Louis Vuitton wallet was there, and that was -- he told me about four or five times, "If the
wallet'sthere, she's not gone" -- I mean, "her stuff is there."
Q. Well, whoever Louis Vuitton is -- I share your ignorance in Louis Vuitton, sir.
A. Thank you.
Q. So don't feel bad about that one.
A. Okay.
Q. But you didn't look in there -- this is at a point where -- I mean, your suspicions here about Scott Peterson
had already started forming when you saw the mop bucket as you walked up to the front door, right?
A. A lot more than just the mop bucket, but my suspicions were -- but I believe Officer Evers, he said the keys
were there, the wallet was there, the sunglasses were there. I didn't need to look too. I looked to see what a
Louis Vuitton wallet looked like, and then I hung it back up, but I believed Officer Evers when he said
everything was there.
Q. And you must have believed, then, Scott Peterson, according to your testimony, then, because if he said
the Louis Vuitton wallet was there, then everything was there?
A. That was -- made it very suspicious. I don't think Laci would have left home without it.
Q. Right. But you were content with taking Scott Peterson's word for that one, that if this wallet was there,
then all of the contents, therefore, would all be inside the wallet?
A. I was --
MR. DISTASO: Objection. Relevance.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MR. MCALLISTER: Q. There's no -- you had not -- when you put the thing back, let me ask you this, did you
put it back in the exact same way that it was facing when you pulled it off the hook?
A. I don't remember.
Q. Do you remember if it had a fold-over thing over the top or -- as you look at this picture now, does that
look like the back or the front of it, if you know?
A. That looks like the back to me.
Q. Oh.
A. I can't remember.
Q. There was no -- nobody told you there was some weapon in this thing?
A. Nobody --
Q. The first officer didn't say, "Look out, you know, there's a handgun or something in there"?
A. No.
Q. So you had no reason of officer safety to worry about handing the wallet to Mr. Peterson to take a closer
look, right?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. And at that point, the purse had been handled by at least the other -- the first team of officers and then by
you, so you were not at that point worried about things like fingerprints, correct?
A. I don't know who handled it besides me. I wasn't there. But I wasn't worried about fingerprints --
Q. Okay.
A. -- on that purse.
Q. And, in fact, you never -- you never gave officer -- or Mr. Lovell, whatever his title is, instructions to
seize the wallet or fingerprint it or anything like that?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. Is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Now, you said that you went out and introduced yourself to McKenzie, the dog; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And the dog didn't -- didn't try to bite your hand off or leg or anything like that, right?
A. That's right.
Q. Now, when you were leaving, or about to leave -- you actually went through this truck -- the pickup
truck, I think you said, is a F-150 Ford?
A. Pretty sure that's what it was.
Q. And that included climbing up in the bed of the pickup?
A. I stood on the back wheel on the outside, and I looked. The tire. So my feet were on the tire, and I
lifted the green toolbox lid, and I looked in it, and I kind of moved stuff around in the truck and looked
in it. I didn't do a real thorough search, but I looked around in it. But I didn't have to get in it to do that.
Q. In other words, you didn't stand in the bed of the pickup to do that?
A. No.
Q. And what you saw were some umbrellas, patio-type umbrellas?
A. Yes.
Q. And those were in the bed of the pickup, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And the tan tarp, which you then later found maybe that was the tarp, a cover for the boat?
A. That's right.
Q. Where exactly in the bed of the pickup was that?
A. It was bunched up against the green toolbox.
Q. Towards the forward end of the pickup bed?
A. Yes.
Q. And that was, what, some covering that came with the boat?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you later confirm that with the previous owner that that had come with the boat?
A. Yes.
Q. And then the umbrellas were down towards the back end of the pickup bed?
A. Yes.
Q. And this box that you've been talking about, is like a toolbox that's anchored toward the front end of the
pickup bed?
A. Yes.
Q. And that had some shotgun shells in it, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And what else was in that portion of it?
A. There was some -- it's red and black nylon rope, it looked like it was wound, so maybe it was about
50 or 100 feet, maybe 50 feet. There was some clothing in there and some loose shotgun shells in the
back rolling around --
Q. Uh-huh.
A. -- of the box.
Q. And then in the interior, you searched the interior of the truck?
A. Yes.
Q. And what did you find in the interior?
A. Well, I saw the Big 5 bag with the fishing lures and the receipt indicating he bought them on the 20th
with a two-day fishing license, I found the camouflage jacket that he said he wore when he was fishing,
there was some other clothing in a bag in the back from some different stores from a mall, and there was
a gun in the glove box. I mean, there was other things, but I don't recall.
Q. Now, at a later point, you came in with a -- you were there when a search warrant was served I believe
on the warehouse?
A. I was -- I was involved in that search warrant, yeah.
Q. Okay. And were you there?
A. I showed up there. I wasn't there when they opened the doors and --
Q. Okay. At some point you were there?
A. Right.
Q. And at that point, some of the things which had been in the pickup were found in some shelving
somewhere in the warehouse, right?
A. Some things were on the shelving, some things were in the boat.
Q. All right. And the things which were in the boat, now, were what, which had been in the truck?
A. The jacket, the camouflage jacket, the fishing lures, the shotgun shells and the rope. And maybe clothes,
but I can't say for sure.
Q. Okay. And what about the Big 5 receipts or fishing license?
A. It was found in the office area. I thought it was found in the garbage can in the office area, but later on I
was told it was on a shelf in there.
Q. But what -- I couldn't hear the last part of your question (sic).
A. I was told it was found on the shelf in the office area, the receipt in the bag.
Q. Okay. So of the stuff that you saw on the 24th in the pickup truck, nothing had been thrown away, correct?
A. Yeah, the stuff that I remembered and I noted I saw again later.
Q. Yeah. It was a different place, but it hadn't been -- it hadn't been thrown away?
A. Right.
Q. Is that right?
A. That's right.
Q. Then you told us about this --in the --there was a Llama .22 caliber I think in the -- was in the glove box?
A. Yes.
Q. And you yourself found that?
A. Well, I knew it was in there because he told me before I searched the truck, but --
Q. Okay.
A. But I'm the one that took it.
Q. Okay. And this was -- it looked like an older kind of a pistol?
A. Yes.
Q. The grips were off of it so you could actually see the cartridges through the handle?
A. Yes.
Q. I mean, so the handle, whatever grips that had originally come with this had been knocked off
sometime previously?
A. Yes.
Q. And was it where Mr. Peterson told you it was?
A. Yes.
Q. And so the first thing -- well, when you found it there, was there any .22 caliber ammunition separate
from that which was in the pistol?
A. No.
Q. Did you smell the pistol?
A. No, I -- I don't think so. I might have. I don't recall. No. I don't think so.
Q. Well, what Mr. Peterson -- one of the things he told you about the pistol was that he had fired it last a
month or so before, right?
A. No, he said he tried to fire it, but it dry fired. So he racked it manually, tried it again, and it misfired
again. So he put it in his glove box and forgot about it for a month, so he --
Q. Well, then he said he hadn't -- he certainly hadn't shot it in the month?
A. That's what he said.
Q. Does that refresh your recollection that you wanted to smell it and see if it had been recently fired?
A. I don't remember if I smelled it or not. But he told me that after I recovered it, so --
Q. Okay. But in terms of all the work that you've done in the area of robbery/homicide, isn't that a very
common thing that a detective working those kind of cases does, simply sniff the gun to see if it has
that residual smell of having been fired recently? You've done it, haven't you, in the past?
A. I've smelled my own gun without having to sniff it, and I know what it smells like. But I also know that
if I got up here and said it was recently fired because I smelled it, you'd be raking me over the coals.
And I didn't smell it.
Q. Well, nobody's here to rake you over the coals, detective. I'm just asking you -- there's a lack of
information about you smelling this gun in your report. So my question to you, sir, is: Did you smell it
or not? And I guess your answer is no.
A. I was breathing in the truck when I recovered it, and so I didn't put it to my nose, that I remember, and
sniff it. But if there with a strong odor, I might have smelled it, and I don't recall smelling it.
Q. Okay. But you were in the enclosure of the pickup truck when you recovered it, right?
A. The door was open, but, yeah, I was in the enclosure of the pickup truck.
Q. Now, and it was because of your having found the pistol that you were interested in doing the GSR test,
right?
A. Yes.
Q. And GSR is gunshot residue test, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And Mr. Peterson presented his hand or hands for you to make those kind of swabs, whatever you
do to do a GSR test, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And so you did that test?
A. I did.
Q. And so you collected some kind of swabs?
A. Yes.
Q. And what did you do with those after that?
A. I booked them into evidence.
Q. Was anything ever done with them?
A. No.
Q. So they were never tested?
A. Not to my knowledge, unless they're done and I didn't know about it.
Q. Well, I mean, you've kept abreast of -- you had very frequent meetings with the other officers working
on this case, right, Officer Grogan, Officer Buehler working different areas of the case?
A. I did.
Q. And with representatives of the DA's Office periodically, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And those are always -- at least included the two gentlemen here, Mr. Distaso and Mr. Harris, right?
A. Yes.
Q. They were working on the case from January or so on anyway, right? Weren't they?
A. I don't recall when they came on for sure.
Q. Pretty early on, though?
A. I don't think it was January.
Q. Okay.
A. Could have been -- Rick Distaso might have been there in January.
Q. Now, but in all that, you'd never seen that any information that anybody's ever conducted the GSR --
or had it -- whatever you do with the GSR test to test it; is that right?
A. That's right.
Q. When you looked at the cell phone, Laci Peterson's cell phone, you were telling us something
about the battery wasn't charging?
A. I said the battery wasn't charged.
Q. Charged?
Okay. So was there -- it was hooked up to the, what, the cigarette lighter in the car?
A. Yes.
Q. And so did you turn the car on?
A. No.
Q. Are you telling us it wasn't working at all?
A. What?
Q. The cell phone.
A. No, when I -- when I pushed the power button, it would power on and then immediately shut down,
low battery.
Q. Okay.
A. And the lighter did not work unless the key was on. And I didn't ask Scott for a key to turn the light --
to turn the ignition. So it wouldn't stay on long enough for me even to have reviewed anything on it.
Q. Okay. But my question, sir, is when you -- you're not telling us that the cell phone was inoperable?
A. No, I'm not.
Q. Okay.
A. I don't think it was.
Q. What it appeared to you was that the battery was, for whatever reason, not sufficient to keep it charged
separate and apart from another electrical source, like the battery of the car, right?
A. Right.
Q. Do you know if Laci Peterson commonly kept a cell phone in the car?
A. No.
Q. Does that mean that you are unfamiliar with whether or not she simply left the cell phone in the car
and used it in the car?
A. Are you asking me what I know today or what I knew at that --
Q. What you knew at that time.
A. I didn't know. I just -- all I knew at that time was Scott said he tried to call it, and it was in the car,
and I wasn't sure if she carried it or kept it in the car.
Q. Now, then, when you're about ready to leave, that's when the keys, your keys somehow had gone
somewhere. Where had your keys gone?
A. I left my keys in the bed of his truck.
Q. Now, you yourself had not climbed into the bed of the truck as I have this; is that right?
A. That's right.
Q. So had you tossed the keys into the bed of the truck?
A. No. I can reach into the bed of the truck, and they were sitting right there.
Q. And sitting right where?
A. On the hump of the -- or on the -- if you just reach in or look in right inside right where the brown tarp
was. I thought maybe I left them in the truck.
Q. Okay.
A. But I found them in the bed of the truck when I looked.
Q. Do you have a recollection of setting them in the bed of the truck?
A. Yeah, I do. Now.
Q. After you found them?
A. After I found them.
Q. And why did you set them in the truck?
A. They were in my hand for some reason. I think I went to get my flashlight, but I can't remember. But they
were in my hand, and I set them there to move some stuff around. Then I went from the back of the truck to
the inside of the truck, and I was writing some notes regarding the receipt and the bag and what I was
seeing in the truck. And then I took that gun and I put it in my pocket, then I locked the car up and I was
-- when I got over to my car to leave, I couldn't find my keys. And so I just walked back to the truck and
found them.
Q. So you were standing on the tire of the truck, leaning over into the bed and writing notes to yourself?
A. No. I stood on the tire of the truck just to look inside that big green toolbox.
Q. Uh-huh.
A. I wrote the notes when I was inside the truck, and I was copying things from the receipt on to my notepad.
I was copying the serial number of the gun on my notepad. I must have set those keys in there when
whatever -- for whatever reason. I don't know what I did.
Q. So did you get back on the tire, did you stand on the tire, look in the bed, and, "Aha, there are my keys"?
A. No. I just looked, and there they were, and I was relieved.
Q. And they are under -- in a wheel well for a, what, a spare tire in the bed of the truck?
A. No, a wheel well -- it's a Fleetside type of truck. I mean, they've got little humps. I'm sure you've seen
them.
Q. Yeah.
A. You have a truck.
Q. Yeah.
A. I think you have -- I've seen your truck. Just like your truck.
Q. Yeah. You been following me?
A. No comment. But they were right there.
Q. So that is in the interior of the truck, but a rounded portion which would be the wheel well or the top
or -- the top -- the outside portion of the wheel well inside the bed of the truck, is that --
A. It was either on that or on something just as high as that. But they were right there when I saw them,
and I picked them up.
Q. And you see them there, and they're in plane view and, "Oh, yeah, that's where I put them"?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. Now, let's refer to your report about this same thing. And I'm referring to that same collection
of 12 pages, page 7. And I'm -- the title of this paragraph, you might guess, is, "Keys."
A. I see it.
Q. Okay. You got it? Now, the paragraph that follows the title, "Keys" --
that would be your keys, not Scott's keys, right?
A. That's right.
Q. Okay. That seems to say, "Scott unlocked the truck, and I was able to find my keys. The keys were under
the tarp in the bed of the truck." Now, does that refresh your recollection yet again?
A. Yeah. It -- no, they were still on the hump, and they were -- I could see them, but there's a tarp, and it's
all bunched up in the back. And, yeah, that refreshes I wrote that, but it's the same answer.
Q. Okay. So now they're under a tarp, but you could see them just as completely exposed to your view
like you told us before?
A. That's right.
Q. And obviously Mr. -- Scott Peterson was at least marginally involved in this hunt for your keys, because
you asked him for the keys to the pickup again, because you thought you might have left them inside his
pickup, right?
A. I wasn't sure. So when I was walking back, I said, "Scott, would you unlock your truck again so I could
look for my keys?" Before I looked back inside the truck, I saw my keys in the back.
Q. Do you remember Scott Peterson giving you an assist by telling you where you had left them?
A. I don't remember. He might have, but I don't remember.
Q. Now, at that point, then, you went over to the warehouse; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, when you did that, you told us about initially going into the office area there, there's actually,
what, a partition or a wall separating an office from the bay portion of this little warehouse?
A. There's a door, yeah.
Q. What we're looking at here now is Number 87, and this is a diagram of the warehouse. Just
dimension-wise, I don't think we heard this before, but to give us an idea, the width of this -- looks like
this was Detective House who prepared this?
A. Yes.
Q. Looks like it's 23 foot, 7 inches in width?
A. Yes.
Q. That's what he wrote. Does that seem roughly about right to you?
A. Seems right to me.
Q. Okay. And he's got 70 foot, 3 inches for the length of it. Does that sound about right?
A. Sounds about right.
Q. Okay. Now, in terms of areas that you have been talking about, what we called the office area would be
this -- he's got north I think on the conventional -- let's call this north. The north -- it would be -- the
northeast corner of this would be the off -- what you call the office area; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And then the rest of this is just an open bay?
A. Except for the small bathroom in the southwest corner.
Q. Oh, okay. I didn't know -- then that would be a bathroom, then (indicates)?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. And that's -- obviously, then, walls separate the bathroom and the office, except for an interior
door here and a door there from the Bay Area?
A. Yes.
Q. So all this area is open?
A. Yes.
Q. And some of this product, was that Scott Peterson's term for his fertilizer stuff?
A. No.
Q. Or is that yours?
A. That was mine.
Q. Okay. Is that -- is that to indicate fertilizer type of --
A. At the time, I didn't know exactly what it was. It was liquid, and it was his product, and I know he was a
fertilizer salesman, but I don't know if it was all fertilizer.
Q. Okay. What about -- there are a lot of squares and rectangles here, and you indicated that also was
product. What -- when you looked in there, what did you see? Are these big boxes or crates or bales, or
what did it look like?
A. It looked like a pallet that would have bladders, something like a big wine bladder, maybe a five-gallon
thing, stacked about four feet or five feet high, wrapped in shrink-wrap cellophane, and then on top of it
would be another one. And some of them might have been buckets too, but I can't remember, because I
didn't look at them all.
But it was just double-stacked, shrink-wrapped stuff.
Q. Okay. And so you didn't count how many of these there were or anything like that, right?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. But is this accurate in showing us a big clutter of these things --
A. Yes.
Q. -- throughout? Was it a pretty cluttered place?
A. Yes.
Q. And these seemed to be -- I don't know what the scale would be, but they seem to be pretty close to
each other in a lot of instances. Is that accurate, that they were --
A. Yes.
Q. Now, in that office area, when you first went in there, you did see a computer and -- well, did you see
a computer?
A. Yes.

TO BE CONTINUED

PRELIMINARY HEARING INDEX ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE-NEWS AUTOPSY INDEX

HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT AMBER WIRETAPS LACI'S HOUSE

HOME INDEX

PRELIMINARY HEARING - DAY 6
Thursday - November 3, 2003
Testimony of Detective Brocchini - PAGE 6

LACI & CONNER
Pray For Justice