| Prosecutors used an expert to attempt to show Peterson lied about a crucial element in the case when he told police he used cement mix to repair his driveway. Prosecutors claim Peterson used the cement to make five anchors, one of which was found in his boat. The others, which they allege he used to sink his wife's body in the bay, have not been discovered. Peterson told police he made only one anchor and used the rest of a 90-pound bag of cement to repair his driveway. Jurors have also heard Peterson tell the same story to his dead wife's brother, Brent Rocha, on a wiretapped telephone call. However, a prosecution witness testified the concrete samples taken by police from Peterson's driveway did not match the concrete in the anchor discovered on the boat. Robert O'Neill, president of Micro-Chem Laboratories, which analyzed the concrete, said the material from the driveway was inconsistent with the material in the anchor. "This is a different mix," O'Neill told jurors. On cross-examination, defense lawyer Mark Geragos vigorously attacked O'Neill's findings, noting that the only difference in the two concrete mixtures was that the sample taken from the driveway contained large gravel-like chunks. All other components in both mixtures were identical, Geragos said. O'Neill acknowledged Geragos' assessment was correct but insisted the two concrete samples were from different mixes. Geragos said Peterson poured the cement mix onto the driveway where the larger rocks already were and that's when the two mixed together. O'Neill disagreed. "The larger rocks were obviously mixed in with the material," he said. It's a key part of the prosecution case and could be powerful if it proves that Peterson lied about where the remainder of the cement mix was used, legal experts said. "This lie is different than a lot of the other lies. This lie goes right to evidence in the case ... and goes right to consciousness of guilt," said Robert Talbot, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, who has been observing the trial. "Now he's lying about crucial evidence which is the prosecution's theory of how the body was weighted down." HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS AUTOPSY CEMENT PLIERS-DNA AMBER ROCHA FAMILY LACI'S ALBUM |
| LACI & CONNER MAY THE TRUTH BE TOLD |
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| SCOTT CAUGHT IN ANOTHER LIE
AS CEMENT EXPERT TESTIFIES September 15, 2004 |