| Mon, May. 03, 2004 Scott Peterson's lawyer asks judge to allow trial to move again Mark Geragos filed another motion this morning to move the high-profile trial, saying a fair and impartial jury panel cannot be found in San Mateo County. As of 12:30 p.m., the motion was not yet available to the public. Pretrial publicity has polluted the jury pool in most of the state, leaving the state's most populated county -- Los Angeles County -- as the only likely place where a fair and impartial jury can be seated, attorney Mark Geragos has said. A hearing on this issue is set for May 11, less than two weeks before opening statements in the trial are scheduled to start. Geragos has made no secret of his desire to move the trial to Los Angeles, saying the state's most populous county offers a broad jury pool to dilute publicity. Upward of half the potential jurors called in for interviews have said they believe Peterson is guilty of killing his wife Laci, 27, and the couple's unborn son. Peterson is charged with two murder counts to which he has pleaded not guilty. Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami moved the trial to San Mateo County earlier this year after deciding that people in and around Modesto, where police believe the slaying occurred, were too connected to the case. Girolami passed up Geragos' request to move the trial to Orange or Los Angeles counties, saying they were too inconvenient for witnesses. Santa Clara and Alameda counties also were passed over. The change-of-venue motion comes on what was supposed to be the final week of jury selection. But Judge Alfred Delucchi said last week that another 100 jurors would be called in to help pad the pool of qualified jurors in the case. The defense attorney previously said his motion would seek one of three remedies to counter alleged juror bias in San Mateo County: -Moving the trial -Having two juries on the case. The first would decide Peterson's guilt or innocence. The second jury would decide whether he should be executed if he's convicted. -Providing the defense additional challenges to dismiss potential jurors during final phase of jury selection. District Attorney James Brazelton has called moving the trial a second time "unprecedented," and prosecutors are expected to oppose Geragos' requests. Juror qualification suffered a setback this morning after one juror already sent to the final jury pool indicated in a letter that his or her employer would not pay for lengthy juror service. The juror was excused from the process. With one new juror qualified this morning, the total again rose to 56, leaving the case in the same position as it ended on Thursday. Delucchi is hoping to find at least 70 people for that phase of the trial. Juror 9700, who had law enforcement officers in her family, said she had not heard a lot about the case and wanted to be fair to Peterson. The mother of three said she envisioned her own sons in Peterson's position and decided that she would want fair-minded people to judge their cases. "I just wanted to be sure that I'm open to the whole picture," she said. Opening statements are scheduled for May 24, a week later than originally planned. HOME INDEX TRIAL NEWS LACI SCOTT JURORS EVIDENCE-NEWS ALIBI-WITNESS LIST VENUE CHANGE SCOTT'S AFFAIRS |
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