| Officer admits altering report
June 25, 2004 Prosecutors in Scott Peterson's murder trial were dealt a stunning blow Thursday when a Modesto police detective testified that he removed key information from a police report. Detective Al Brocchini said he knew that a witness said she saw Laci Peterson on Dec. 23, 2002, at a warehouse complex where her husband kept his new boat. Her family reported her missing the next day. But Brocchini deleted the sighting from a police report, he acknowledged during cross-examination by lead defense attorney Mark Geragos. Laci Peterson's presence at the warehouse could undercut the prosecution's theory that her husband secretly purchased the boat to dump his wife's body in San Francisco Bay It could also be used to explain how a hair prosecutors contend is Laci's wound up in pliers in the boat. Catching Brocchini deliberately withholding information that did not fit the police theory casts a pall over the investigation, legal observers said. "It's unconscionable," former San Francisco prosecutor James Hammer said. "If you get a cop intentionally omitting exculpatory information, it seems to me he has zero credibility." Peterson leaned forward in his chair -- and there was a murmur in the audience -- as Geragos pointed out discrepancies between an audiotape in which Brocchini mentions an interview with Peggy O'Donnell and a report he wrote that does not include her. O'Donnell, who owns a neighboring warehouse, said she allowed Laci to use the warehouse restroom that Dec. 23. Scott Peterson's warehouse was too crowded with supplies to allow access to the bathroom. "I excised it," Brocchini said on his third day on the witness stand in San Mateo County Superior Court. "I guess I did. It's not there. It's on that page." Janey Peterson, Scott Peterson's sister-in-law, said the cross-examination, which began Wednesday, shows that her brother-in-law told the truth the night his wife was reported missing. "Everything that came out of Scott's mouth the evening of the 24th was nothing but the truth," she said as she entered the courthouse Thursday morning. LIFE INSURANCE -- Brocchini said he used a Bee article, about a life insurance policy on Laci Peterson, to plant "seeds of suspicion" in the minds of Scott Peterson's friends. The detective called one of Peterson's friends at 6:40 a.m. the day The Bee came out with its article stating that Peterson had recently taken out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife. He told the friend, Mike Richardson, to go to the newspaper's online site to read the article. The Jan. 17, 2003, story quoted a Laci Peterson family member saying police had told the family two days earlier about the life insurance policy and Scott's affair with Amber Frey. Geragos said police knew the policy was taken out a year and a half before Laci's disappearance, because officers seized paperwork related to the Principle Life Insurance policy from the Petersons' Covena Avenue home on Dec. 26, 2002. Brocchini acknowledged that he was trying to plant seeds of suspicion in an attempt to gain information from Scott's friends. He also said he was following a tip about a second life insurance policy. "The information in The Modesto Bee was false, like a lot of things," Brocchini said. "But that didn't stop you from telling Mr. Richardson to go look at it," Geragos countered. "No," Brocchini replied. Brocchini also testified that detectives spoke to Laci's family about her husband's affairs, but did not remember if they talked about the insurance policy. GUN IN PICKUP -- Brocchini said he took a gun from scott Peterson's pickup truck shortly after the report of Laci Peterson's disappearance, without asking permission or getting a search warrant. The detective said he did nothing wrong when he took the gun, registered to the defendant's father, Lee Peterson, from the glove compartment of Scott Peterson's Ford truck. Brocchini said he never told Peterson he was taking the gun, but said it was OK to do so because Peterson gave him permission to search the truck. "I took it legally," Brocchini said. Geragos frowned and asked that his answer be stricken from the record. Judge Delucchi appeared to question the legality of the detective's actions as well and said the jury must disregard the answer. Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso objected, to no avail. POSSIBLE LACI SIGHTING -- Brocchini said he never showed a picture of Laci and her dog, McKenzie, to a witness who said she saw a pregnant woman walking a golden retriever in Dry Creek Regional Park about 9:20 a.m. on Dec. 24, 2002. He said the witness, who lives in Monterey, was riding a bicycle and never saw the woman's face. He said the witness did not have to pinpoint the spot because he described it clearly for investigators. "We did a search of that area, a thorough search," Brocchini said. "We searched the bushes. We went to the area he said. He said he couldn't ID her." EMBEZZLEMENT INVESTIGATION -- In a Feb. 28, 2003, memo, Brocchini suggested that Peterson's employer, Tradecorp, start and embezzlement investigation of Peterson, who worked as a salesman for the fertilizer company. The detective's suspicions about Peterson grew after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena so police could gain access to Scott Peterson's financial records from July 2002 to January 2003. Scott Peterson had written numerous checks to himself on a company account. Company attorney Ross Lee replied in a March 19, 2003, memo, saying an audit found no evidence of misconduct. Scott Peterson was expected to issue checks to pay his salary and expenses, he said. SPLITTING HAIRS -- Brocchini said he and Detective Dodge Hendee were the only people who handled a hair found in the teeth of a pair of pliers in Peterson's boat before sending the hair to a state Department of Justice's crime lab. The detective said Hendee placed the hair in an evidence envelope on Dec. 27, 2002. He said he was surprised to find two hairs when he and Hendee opened the envelope on Feb. 12, 2003. Prosecutors contend that the hair split, but Brocchini said he never wrote a report that said the hair had broken in half. HOME INDEX LACI TRIAL SCOTT ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE-NEWS |
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