| Geragos to argue second change of venue Thursday - April 15, 2004 A month before the scheduled start of opening statements, the judge in the Scott Peterson double- murder trial agreed Thursday to hold a hearing on moving the trial yet again. Judge Alfred Delucchi scheduled the hearing for May 7. The move would be the second for People vs. Peterson. The case originated in Stanislaus County, where Scott is alleged to have killed his pregnant wife, Laci. To get away from massive publicity in and around Modesto, the original judge moved the trial to San Mateo County. But Peterson's defense says another move is necessary after two women allegedly lied in bids to get on the jury -- so they could convict his client. Attorney Mark Geragos indicated that more so-called stealth jurors are in the jury pool, waiting to be screened for the case. People who tip off Geragos about such jurors, Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi said, must be prepared to testify under oath. That sparked a sometimes testy 20-minute exchange between the judge and the defense lawyer, with Geragos repeatedly saying that such a decree would have a "chilling effect" on whistleblowers. Delucchi countered that he needed solid information to decide if prospective jurors were lying to get on the panel, or simply the targets of false accusations by people with axes to grind. "You listen to what I'm telling you, Mr. Geragos," Delucchi said. "I'll tell you one more time. ... I'm not going to take statements from nameless, faceless people that are impugning these jurors." Geragos said the judge's statement in open court would have a "chilling" effect on people with egitimate information who want to come forward. Anyone who comes to him with an accusation about a stealth juror is thoroughly checked out by his office before being addressed in open court. "I'm not going to make a fool out of myself exposing some looney tune just released out of Atascadero," Geragos said. Atascadero is the location of a state hospital for the insane. Whistleblowers would not always be compelled to testify in court, though, Delucchi said. The judge indicated that he was satisfied the information provided on the first two accused stealth jurors warranted their dismissal, but stopped short of saying the two had deliberately lied to get on the panel to convict Peterson. In the first case, prosecutors agreed to have the juror dismissed after questioning a witness who said he heard the woman bragging on a bus trip that Peterson would "get what's due him." Prosecutor Rick Distaso filed documents in court Thursday regarding that prospective juror, but the records were not immediately available to the public. Delucchi noted that he dismissed the second juror in question after she omitted from her questionnaire that she had sought a restraining order against an abusive husband who had threatened to kill her. "The thing that was compelling to the court was that she did not disclose she was a victim of domestic violence," Delucchi said. Thursday, Geragos renewed his call for one of three remedies to counter alleged juror bias: -Moving the trial again - Giving the defense more challenges to dismiss jurors. -Having separate juries decide Peterson's guilt or innocence, and whether he would be executed if convicted. Prosecutors indicated in court they would oppose such moves. Delucchi initially proposed setting the hearing on the issue for May 10. Geragos requested the change to May 7 to allow him more time to either appeal the ruling or to allow for a second jury to be seated before opening statements in the trial May 17. Geragos has been pressing for a trial in Los Angeles, noting that is the most populous county in the state, thus offering the broadest jury pool. Geragos' office is located there. "You can't guarantee that there won't be stealth jurors in Los Angeles," Delucchi said at the close of Wednesday's court session. In other developments Thursday morning, two more jurors -- a divorced Teamster who works the graveyard shift, and a former social worker now involved with adoptions -- qualified for the final round of jury selection. That brings to 40 the number of jurors who have qualified so far. Delucchi hopes to have at least 70 jurors for the final selection phase, set for May 10, when attorneys must try to whittle the pool to 12 jurors and six alternates. HOME INDEX LACI TRIAL NEWS COURT DATES SCOTT ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE NEWS VENUE NEWS JURORS-WHO ARE THEY? |
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