| Juror's note offers aid in cross- examination of expert in Peterson trial October 19, 2004 A prosecutor cross-examining a defense expert who claims Scott Peterson had no money problems got an unexpected offer of help Tuesday from the jury box. Prosecutor Dave Harris was questioning forensic accountant Martin Laffer about the double-murder defendant's finances when a male juror in the front row passed a note through a court officer to Judge Alfred Delucchi. The veteran judge read the message to himself and announced a juror had a question. He did not specify what the query was, but after telling panelists, "I normally discourage these," he showed the note to Harris and defense lawyer Mark Geragos. Moments later, Harris resumed his cross-examination of the expert with a new focus: Peterson's monthly tax payments. Laffer had testified that Peterson and his wife, Laci, had ample disposable income — just more than $2,000 a month, according to one chart shown to jurors — but under questioning by Harris, Laffer acknowledged that $1,300 of that amount went to taxes. "So, you have $700 extra, not $2,000?" Harris asked. Laffer agreed. The panelist who passed the note — juror No. 8 — stared intently at the witness as he testified. The juror, a member of the Teamsters Union who often works double shifts to make ends meet, has appeared annoyed with Peterson's defense in the past, sneering and crossing his arms when television interviews of the defendant were played in court. Dan Horowitz, a defense attorney who has tried four cases before Delucchi, said it was not unusual for jurors to suggest questions. "Every trial I've had with him, jurors feel so comfortable with the judge that they just start asking their own questions. He has that effect," Horowitz said. He said Delucchi normally asks the witness the question himself and then checks with the juror to see if he or she is satisfied. Horowitz, who was in court when the juror sent the note, speculated that the question was either so basic or so biased that the judge allowed Harris to incorporate it into the cross-examination, rather than read it aloud. The state of the couple's finances at the time of Laci Peterson's Dec. 24, 2002, disappearance is hotly disputed in the trial. Prosecutors have hinted that the fertilizer salesman felt trapped by the prospect of fatherhood and mounting debts. An auditor testified for the prosecution that Peterson had $23,000 in credit card debt and his brother-in-law testified that Peterson was critical of his own management of the business. As he did in testimony Monday, Laffer insisted Peterson was in healthy financial shape. "Does it appear they were doing well for a young couple with a baby on the way at their age?" Geragos asked Laffer. "Yes. They were fine," the expert said. Under questioning by Harris, Laffer said he was getting paid for his testimony, but said he had not yet worked out an exact amount with the defense. The prosecutor questioned Laffer's conclusion that losses in Peterson's business had no effect on him personally because the fertilizer concern was owned by a large Spanish conglomerate. "Were you aware Scott Peterson had said he was a bad salesperson?" Harris asked. "No," Laffer said. The prosecutor later asked, "Are you aware that the business wanted him to increase his productivity tenfold?" Laffer replied that the business plan for the start-up fertilizer company "anticipated losses," and compared it to Internet start-ups that eventually turned a profit. When Harris noted that Tradecorp USA — the company Peterson ran — was no longer in operation, Laffer suggested that was a result of the defendant's legal situation not his job performance. Later, Geragos drove home that point by jokingly reminding Laffer, "He's not exactly going to be running the business out of the Maguire Correctional Facility." A police officer from the East Bay Regional Park Police Department, Timothy Phillips, took the stand after Laffer, but he barely had begun testifying when an alternate juror reported feeling ill. After the lunch break, the juror was still sick and Delucchi said he was sending the entire panel home for the remainder of the day in case the panelist had the flu. "We're concerned if it is the flu, it might spread to other jurors," Delucchi said. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS AUTOPSY EVIDENCE PHOTOS AMBER ROCHA FAMILY TRIBUTES |
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| LACI & CONNER'S FAMILY "I have followed the case from the begining and wept along with you every step of the way" ROBIN ~ CALIFORNIA ~ GUESTBOOK |
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| DAVE HARRIS |
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