| Ten months after a pregnant Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto home, prosecutors are about to lay out the evidence that her husband murdered her and their unborn son before the victims washed up in San Francisco Bay. A preliminary hearing will get under way Wednesday to determine whether Scott Peterson will stand trial on murder charges that could bring the death penalty. Stanislaus County defense attorney Frank Carson said Tuesday that Peterson's preliminary hearing could shed some light on evidence that has been kept under wraps for 10 months."Typically, there are things that we've never heard, but I doubt there will be any bombshells," Carson said. Scott Peterson reported his wife missing when he returned home from a solo fishing trip near Berkeley. His 27-year-old wife was eight months pregnant with a boy they planned to name Conner. The case was portrayed as an American tragedy, with Laci Peterson's smile beaming from photos and videos. The expectant parents seemed like the All-American couple until Scott Peterson's mistress surfaced and he admitted having an extramarital affair. After Peterson and other family members led hundreds of volunteers to search canals, reservoirs and wild lands, the decomposed remains of the mother-to-be and her fetus were found almost four months later in April by dog walkers, within miles of where Peterson said he had been fishing Dec. 24. The arrest and subsequent hearings did little to unveil what clues led investigators to suspect her husband from the beginning. Leaks led Judge Al Girolami to impose a gag on participants in the case and seal most of the police records to protect Peterson's right to a fair trial. Voluminous court filings have provided glimpses of the evidence defense lawyers will try to prevent prosecutors from presenting: DNA analysis of Laci Peterson's hair found on pliers in Scott Peterson's boat, bloodhounds used to pick up the scent of Laci Peterson in the boat or at a storage warehouse her husband rented, and wiretaps and global positioning systems used to monitor and track Scott Peterson. "They're (the defense) certainly going to look at the quality of the investigation. They're also going to challenge the people who collected the evidence, because the evidence is only so good as the people that collected it," Carson said. The 31-year-old former fertilizer salesman has been held without bail since he was arrested in San Diego County -- not far from the Mexico border -- with his hair bleached and $10,000 cash. Defense attorney Mark Geragos has said he would not only prove Peterson innocent, but would find the "real killers." The defense team has intimated that a satanic cult may have been responsible. Police have disputed such claims. Prosecutors are expected to present enough evidence so the charges stick, but not so much that they expose witnesses to tough cross-examination. "You may get an unusual case where the prosecution thinks if it comes on like gangbusters, the defendant will switch their plea to guilty," said Evan Lee, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. "I have a funny feeling that's not going to happen in this case." Almost 200 applications for the fewer than two dozen sets of courtroom credentials were received from reporters, including a TV news crew from Japan. News trucks were in place outside the courthouse at the beginning ofthe week, and more than 100 phone lines have been installed. "We're putting on a mini Super Bowl is what we're doing," said Kelly Huston, spokesman for the Stanislaus County sheriff. "It swamps everything by far. This is the event that trumps all other events locally." HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT COURT DATES WIRETAPS AUTOPSY EVIDENCE-NEWS TRIAL NEWS INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS |
| LACI & CONNER Pray For Justice |
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| New Evidence Could Be Revealed At Peterson Hearing Defense Expected To Challenge Hair Evidence October 28, 2003 |