| Testimony: Burnt chicken evoked bigger reaction from Peterson BY GARTH STAPLEY and JOHN COTÉ June 9, 2004 Riotous laughter over exchanges about burned chicken punctuated Scott Peterson’s trial this morning, perhaps the liveliest 80 minutes among five days of testimony. “I was so gol-darn mad because I saw more reaction out of him (Peterson) when he burnt the chicken than when his wife was missing,” Harvey Kemple testified. Kemple is married to a cousin of Laci Peterson’s mother. He attended a July 4, 2002, barbecue at the home of Scott and Laci Peterson and said he saw Scott react angrily when the entree was singed. A little more than five months later, Kemple and others began exhaustive searches for Laci Peterson, who was nearly eight months pregnant. When Kemple this morning was asked to describe Scott’s demeanor the evening he reported his wife missing, Kemple said, “No more emotion than he’s showing right now.” Peterson remained placid at the defense table. Kemple said he became suspicious the same day - Christmas Eve 2002 - when his wife told him that Scott said he had returned from a solo fishing trip to an empty house. Peterson had told Kemple he golfed, Kemple testified. Later, Kemple twice followed Peterson from a volunteer center at Modesto’s Red Lion Hotel set up to coordinate search efforts, he testified. Though Peterson had told Kemple he was heading out to hang reward posters, he instead drove to Del Rio Golf and Country Club, where Peterson was a member, Kemple testified. Peterson denied golfing while others were searching, in a television interview in late January 2003. The other time, Peterson had told Kemple he planned to hang posters in the west Modesto area of Paradise Avenue and Crows Landing Road, south and west of the search center, Kemple said. Instead, Peterson turned north and sat in his car about 45 minutes in the parking lot of Vintage Faire Mall, Kemple said. Defense attorney Pat Harris asked Kemple if he thought it odd that a man who just lost his wife might want to be alone, and Kemple responded, “Fair statement.” Harris then asked if watching a man in a parking lot for 45 minutes was odd. Kemple paused, then said, “Fair statement,” and the courtroom erupted in laughter. Kemple also acknowledged that he, along with numerous others, hounded Peterson with the same questions that first night. Kemple said Peterson paced in the driveway, talking on his cell phone, as he questioned him about his day. "A lot of people were constantly coming up to Scott Peterson asking him over and over ... the same questions, right?' Harris asked. "By all means,' Kemple said. Harris hinted Peterson may have simply been distracted when he told Kemple he'd been golfing. Judge Alfred Delucchi got similar crowd response when, near the end of this morning’s session, he asked if Harris had any more questions about chicken. Minutes earlier, Kemple had explained that he tried to advise Scott to turn down the propane on a brick barbecue Peterson had built in his back yard at 523 Covena Ave., saying lava rocks would retain the heat. Peterson ignored him and later slammed down the cover of the barbecue, Kemple said. When Harris asked if Kemple was aware that the barbecue doesn’t have a cover, Kemple insisted it did. Lead defense attorney Mark Geragos loudly laughed. Kemple, a construction worker and lifelong Modesto resident, offered remarks ranging from humorous to defiant. At one point, he stared down Scott Peterson and refused to back down under Harris’ questioning - but moments later handed his eyeglasses to Harris when the attorney had trouble reading a date on a police report. Harris accepted the gesture, prompting more guffaws from the audience. Kemple also said he had trouble walking up a steep path from Dry Creek Park to Covena Avenue, Laci Peterson’s most likely route if she had walked her dog the day she disappeared. And he said the dog was quite protective, even around those who frequented the Petersons’ home. During cross-examination, Harris noted that officers didn’t interview Kemple about Scott’s golfing comment until 6˝ months later, even though Kemple had recited his story to dozens of people. Harris also got Kemple to concede that Peterson didn’t answer some questions that evening because Peterson at the time was on the telephone. Kemple insisted that he would have no problem disobeying police orders if his wife were missing. Kemple admitted he didn’t know police had asked Peterson not to leave the home later that night; he had criticized Peterson for doing little at the time. Harris and Kemple continued the heated exchange for several minutes, with Harris raising his voice and pacing around the podium, until the judge asked the two to stop talking over each other. "Damn right,' was Kemple's reply to many of Harris' questions. Harris jokingly referred to the nearly 20-minute exchange as "the burnt chicken fiasco.' HOME INDEX LACI LACI'S FAMILY TRIAL NEWS SCOTT AMBER WIRETAPS PROSECUTION TEAM |
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