| Peterson defense blasts wiretaps Attorney Kirk McAllister said the taps were an example of 'underhanded' tactics by police. May 14, 2003 Amber Frey's Phone Was Also Tapped The phone of Amber Frey, Scott Peterson's former mistress, was also tapped by investigators while they were trying to tie the Modesto man to the murder of his pregnant wife and unborn son, Fox News reported Wednesday. According to Fox News reporter Rita Cosby, who was appearing on KTVU's Mornings On 2, investigators monitored calls between the two just as they did the phone conversations between Peterson and several reporters. "She had her phone also listened to by investigators," said Cosby, quoting her sources in the case. "They recorded conversations with Scott Peterson where he said, 'I love you.' 'I want to spend my life with you.'" Defense attorneys reacted strongly Tuesday to disclosures that law enforcement had intercepted telephone calls between Scott Peterson and members of his defense team. The attorneys said they were considering several possible actions against the district attorney's office, if they determine that the calls were taped. The options include asking the California Bar Association to discipline lawyers involved and seeking dismissal of charges against Peterson. "It would be unfathomable that in the year 2003 any law enforcement agency would listen to conversations between a client and his attorney or defense investigator," said Mark Geragos, Peterson's lead attorney. "But obviously they both received notification." The Stanislaus County district attorney's office sent notices this week to Modesto attorney Kirk McAllister and an investigator working for him that their "communications were intercepted." McAllister represented Peterson during much of the nearly four-month investigation into the disappearance of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson. Scott Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn son. McAllister rejoined the defense team this month. Prosecutors maintain that no conversations protected by law, including those between an attorney and client, were monitored. "We certainly followed the law," Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said. "Every call will be intercepted, but it doesn't mean it was monitored." Investigators stopped recording certain conversations as required by state law, Goold said. "I don't think we're in possession of any privileged material," Four journalists from The Bee— reporters Michael G. Mooney, Ty Phillips and Patrick Giblin and columnist Judy Sly — also received notices that their calls were intercepted. More than a dozen other reporters were similarly notified, sources said. An official with the district attorney's office confirmed the notices involved the Peterson case, but said media and defense team phones were not tapped. "They were lines involved in the Peterson investigation exclusively, not the media," Goold said, adding that calls by reporters and others were intercepted after they called a tapped line. Bee Executive Editor Mark Vasché said the taps were disturbing and that the newspaper would seek to listen to the tapes involving its staff. "It's a little unsettling knowing that your conversations were being recorded and listened to," he said. "It goes to the integrity of a free press. The conversations journalists have with sources are privileged communications, in our view, protected by the law. Goold declined to say what lines were tapped, but he indicated there was more than one. McAllister said he received notices from the district attorney's office that "communications were intercepted" by two wiretaps in the investigation. According to the notices, one ran Jan. 10 to Feb. 4. Another ran April 15 to April 18, the day Peterson was arrested. "The police were saying for four months, including Chief Roy Wasden, that Scott was not a suspect, and at the same time they were surreptitiously wiretapping him," an angry McAllister said. "If they're lying to the public, what else may we expect of them?" McAllister said the wiretapping was an example of "underhanded" tactics by investigators. "It's a game to these police officers, and it's a game without rules at this point," McAllister said. "It's about making a case on Scott — and now we can add by hook or by crook or any other surreptitious means they can convince a judge to approve — and ignore any other evidence." Modesto police spokesman Doug Ridenour declined to address McAllister's contentions. "I'm not going to respond to other kinds of allegations," Ridenour said. "We're just not going to get into the bantering back and forth. The investigation is turned over to the district attorney, and now theyhave to prosecute the case." Goold dismissed the notion that police lied about whether Peterson was a suspect. "I do not share Mr. McAllister's opinion," he said. "The police were also careful to say they had not ruled out anybody (as a suspect) anytime they were asked." Defense attorneys said they will consider a range of actions if the tapes reveal legally protected conversations. McAllister said they could move to suppress the evidence at trial, seek State Bar action against the district attorney's office, or bring a separate case alleging civil rights violations. Geragos said it was premature to discuss possible action before a May 27 hearing in the case, but he said he would seek access to the tapes and might move to dismiss the charges if prosecutors violated attorney-client privilege. If convicted, Peterson faces the death penalty. Defense attorneys reacted strongly Tuesday to disclosures that law enforcement had intercepted telephone calls between Scott Peterson and members of his defense team. MAY 14, 2003 Reporters Seeking Scott Peterson Tapes Reporters recorded on wiretapped phone calls to murder suspect Scott Peterson filed a request Wednesday to listen to the tapes, and some may try to bar their conversations from being used as evidence. Lawyers representing 11 reporters filed motions in a county court in Modesto to review intercepted phone calls to determine whether they would invoke laws that protect reporters' notes. Journalists are protected by state and federal laws from revealing unpublished work, and interviews caught on wiretaps should be treated the same way as documents protected under attorney-client privilege, said Duffy Carolan, a lawyer representing reporters from The Modesto Bee, ABC and NBC. John Goold, a Stanislaus County prosecutor, said his office will not contest the motions at a June 6 hearing. A judge could allow reporters to review tapes of their own conversations, which are currently sealed by the court. Goold called the practice "an investigative tool." He said authorities had hoped to hear Peterson make damaging admissions. Prosecutors notified 66 people whose conversations were intercepted from Jan. 10 to Feb. 4 under a court-ordered wiretap to gather evidence in the disappearance of Laci Peterson, 27, a pregnant substitute teacher. Executive editor Mark Vasche of the Modesto Bee says he's not happy that investigators had been able to eavesdrop on his reporters. Prosecutors said interviews Scott Peterson gave reporters may have been monitored in case the fertilizer salesman confessed. Defense lawyer Kirk McAllister, one of Scott Peterson's lawyers, also was notified that investigators intercepted calls. McAllister said he is skeptical of claims that recording equipment was shut off when it became clear that it was Scott Peterson's lawyer on the other end of the line. Investigators intercepted calls between Peterson and one of his lawyers, but such calls are privileged conversations and any information from them can't be used. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST MAGAZINES WIRETAP INDEX PRELIMINARY HEARING INDEX EVIDENCE-NEWS |
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