| Penalty of death?
Scott Peterson will get lethal injection or spend rest of his life in prison By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER November 13, 2004 Scott Peterson smiled and chuckled with his attorneys Friday before the jury entered the courtroom to deliver its verdict. Moments later, as the six men and six women of the panel filed by without glancing at him, Peterson's face turned cold, and he stared ahead vacantly. Eleven armed and uniformed bailiffs lined the walls of the courtroom. The murmuring of the press and public died down, and the room fell quiet. Peterson's vaunted defense lawyer, Mark Geragos, was not at his side, having been called away to attend to another case. "My understanding is that the jury has arrived at a verdict," said Judge Alfred Delucchi. Juror No. 6, the foreman, stood up. "Yes, your honor." After 61/2 days of tumultuous deliberations, the jury said unanimously that Peterson murdered his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child. Peterson was dealt a first-degree murder conviction in the death of Laci and a second-degree conviction in the death of the unborn son the couple intended to name Conner. Peterson's face was expressionless. As court clerk Marylin Morton read the verdicts, Laci's family and friends let out a collective and audible gasp and hugged each other tightly. Peterson's mother hung her head but did not make a sound. In the hallway just outside the courtroom, a cousin of Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, received a text message on her phone and broke the silence with a loud sob. "Thank you, God," she said. The same jury will return to court Nov. 22 to determine whether to recommend Peterson die by lethal injection or spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was an outcome few predicted. Earlier this week the judge excused two of the jurors, and legal experts said the deliberations were in disarray. But the new panel deliberated for less than one day before reaching its verdict. "You have to read a lot into the fact that they only took 51/2 hours to reach this verdict," said Jim Hammer, a former San Francisco prosecutor who has followed the trial closely. "That tells me they could impose the death penalty in this case," he said. The verdict itself -- first-degree in the death of Laci and second-degree murder for the unborn child, meaning that the killing was not premeditated -- took analysts by surprise. "How can you premeditate and deliberate the death of one person, knowing it's going to cause the death of the other person, and not premeditate the death of the (fetus)?" said Ernest Spokes, a Modesto criminal defense lawyer and former Stanislaus County prosecutor. But the inconsistent verdict won't help Peterson's attorneys much when they appeal the ruling. "(The verdict) is a bit inconsistent, but we allow inconsistent verdicts in California ... and it's not illogical," said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Peterson will next find out whether he will join more than 600 inmates on San Quentin's death row or spend the rest of his life in another state prison. The hearing to determine his penalty will likely be disturbing and emotional, as "prejudicial" evidence --such as pleas from Laci's family to put her killer to death --will be allowed by the judge. After a rocky start, Distaso wins The case against Peterson was not the "slam dunk" California Attorney General Bill Lockyer predicted. With no direct evidence linking Peterson to his wife's murder, prosecutors David Harris, Rick Distaso and Birgit Fladager relied on circumstantial evidence to cobble together their case. Distaso, the lead prosecutor from Modesto, was lambasted by legal gurus in the first few months of the trial for a slow, plodding delivery and a dwelling on minutiae. But he began to gain steam when Peterson's former mistress testified. Geragos, by contrast, never let up and battered many of the district attorney's most promising witnesses in blistering cross-examinations. The legal gurus swooned. But Geragos' case started to fizzle once the prosecution rested in early October. Peterson's fate may have been cemented after his defense presented a weak case, said Robert Talbot, a law professor at University of San Francisco Law School. "I think Geragos' biggest mistake was putting on a defense. Everything he did strengthened the prosecution," he said. The most damaging element of Geragos' defense case came in what was supposed to be his shining moment. Dr. Charles March, a fertility specialist, was supposed to convince the jury that the Petersons' baby had been alive days after Laci vanished. After a solid cross-examination by David Harris, March's credibility was ruined, his calculations disproved. By closing arguments, the once-sheepish Distaso was authoritative, strong and succinct. "Laci Peterson was dead to Scott Peterson a long time before he actually killed her," Distaso said, reminding the jury that he told Frey that he had "lost his wife" weeks before she disappeared. DA's strongest evidence Legal experts said the prosecution's most powerful evidence was the fact that the remains washed ashore right where Peterson told police he was fishing when Laci vanished. The jury also heard two weeks of testimony from Amber Frey, a Fresno massage therapist and single mother with whom Peterson was having an affair. Prosecutors played hours of secretly recorded phone calls, catching Peterson in a web of lies. Frey was not in court Friday, but her attorney Gloria Allred said the Fresno woman was pleased with the outcome. "It is an emotional time for her ... she's always sad this is a matter for the jury to decide." Xavier Taylor, a friend of the Peterson family who sat in court with them every day, said the family is devastated, but that an appeals court will have the final say. "I do believe the appeals process will go forward and Scott Peterson will get his justice then," Taylor said. "I was about 100-percent sure that he was innocent. There are multiple doubts in this case from beginning to end." International audience The sensational murder trial captured the nation's attention, and was followed internationally by everyone from al-Jazeera to the London tabloids. The intense media focus began a few days after Laci disappeared, as police divers searched the shallow waters of San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley Marina for the 27-year-old former substitute teacher's body. Four months after Laci vanished, the bodies washed up on the eastern Bay shore. By that time, Peterson had relocated from his suburban tract home in Modesto to the San Diego area, where his parents live. Peterson was arrested the day authorities identified the bodies using DNA analysis. His hair and eyebrows were died orange, and his maroon Mercedes contained almost $15,000 cash and camping and survival gear. After his arrest, lead Modesto Police Det. Craig Grogan sat next to Peterson as they drove from San Diego County back to Modesto. Grogan told Peterson that they had identified the bodies as his wife and unborn son. Grogan testified that a tear rolled down Peterson's cheeks upon hearing the news. Staff writers Josh Richman and Tim Hay contributed to this story. HOME INDEX LACI CONNER SCOTT TRIAL VERDICT LACI'S FAMILY ATTORNEYS WIRETAPS JURY LACI'S ALBUM PG1 PG2 |
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| LACI & CONNER "We love you, May God Be With Your family, Rest in peace." DEBORAH ~ LANSING, MI - GUESTBOOK |
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