WITH DEFENSE SET TO TAKE OVER NEXT WEEK, LEGAL ANALYSTS DISCUSS STRENGTH OF CASE
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Mercury News
Prosecutors rested their case against Scott Peterson on Tuesday by portraying him on the day of his arrest as a man in disguise and on the run -- with bleached hair and nearly $15,000 cash, survival gear and a letter from Amber Frey.
Whether they've proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt after 19 weeks and more than 170 witnesses will be up to the jury, which won't begin deliberations until at least the end of the month after the defense presents its case starting Tuesday.
But that didn't stop legal analysts outside the courthouse Tuesday from weighing in with their best guesses.
Paula Canny, a former San Mateo County prosecutor, said she believes the prosecution proved its case with the help of Scott Peterson, ``who lied to everyone,'' acting as his own worst enemy.
But Michael Cardoza, a former prosecutor from Alameda County, says the jury probably will be divided into two camps -- one driven by emotion that believes intuitively that Peterson is guilty, and the other driven by ``cold logic'' that believes the prosecution didn't present enough evidence.
Over the course of deliberations, Cardoza said, ``I see logic overtaking emotions.''
In the courtroom Tuesday, prosecutors presented Modesto detective Jon Buehler as their last witness to describe the day of Peterson's arrest in San Diego -- near his parents' house -- on the street outside the entrance to Torrey Pines Golf Course. It was April 18, 2003, just a few days after the bodies of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son washed up separately along San Francisco Bay. She had been missing for 4 1/2 months, since Christmas Eve 2002.
f Police had trailed Peterson for several hours the morning of his arrest, when Peterson failed to elude them numerous times. He was pulled over while driving an older red Mercedes that he had purchased days earlier -- with $3,600 in $100 bills -- using the name of his mother, Jacqueline.
Peterson had grown a goatee and bleached it, and his hair was an orange color. Inside the car, police found nearly $15,000 in mostly $100 bills. He had his brother's driver's license, his mother's Chevron credit card and a $130 check made out to him from his half-sister.
He had many changes of clothes, a backpack, at least three knives, folding scissors and saw, a fishing pole, binoculars, a parka, a water purifier, and a hammock. He also had a snorkel and mask, and pots and pans, leather gloves, duct tape, and a shovel.
In the back seat were ``missing'' fliers of Laci Peterson as well as an enlarged photo of himself and his wife sitting at a party. Laci Peterson was waving at the camera.
Peterson also had a letter from his mistress, Amber Frey, who had cooperated with police from the moment she learned Peterson was married to the missing Modesto woman. She secretly recorded calls for police for about six weeks before telling Peterson they should no longer communicate. Police contend Peterson killed his wife so he could be with Frey.
The letter was dated Feb. 16, 2003, shortly after their last recorded call. In it, she told him to read the book ``The Purpose-Driven Life,'' about turning your life to God in 40 days.
``I'm praying for you,'' wrote the single mother and massage therapist who asked him to send the book back when he finished it.
Also in Peterson's car was a Mapquest computer printout dated two days earlier -- April 16 -- with driving directions and a map to Frey's workplace, American Bodyworks.
Outside the courthouse, Frey's lawyer, Gloria Allred, said she found the map ``chilling,'' especially since he carried in his car a shovel, duct tape and rope.
``I have concerns,'' Allred said. ``I'm very glad he was arrested when he was.''
As much as Tuesday's testimony, especially the contents of Peterson's car, may have made him look suspicious, some legal analysts thought the prosecution should have rested its case on a stronger note. ``I think the prosecution should have saved some of its strongest evidence for last,'' said former San Mateo County prosecutor Dean Johnson, ``so when the prosecution rests the jury still has its hair standing on end. The prosecution didn't do that.''
Some of the strongest evidence against Peterson is what most people knew even before the prosecution began its case in June:
• The bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son washed up within a mile of where Peterson told police he had been fishing the day she vanished.
• Peterson was having an affair with Frey and had told her that he had ``lost'' his wife two weeks before she actually disappeared and would be spending his first holidays without her.
Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, has told the jury that Peterson was framed by the real kidnappers, who abducted Laci Peterson while she was walking their dog. They threw her in the bay after hearing Peterson's widely reported alibi.
During the course of the trial, prosecutors have tried to show that if Laci Peterson was kidnapped, the abductors had less than 10 minutes to do it. The prosecution showed cell phone records indicating Peterson left his house at 10:08 a.m. and the couple's dog turned up in front of their house with its leash still on at 10:18 a.m. Police believe Peterson planted his leashed dog to support his story that he left his wife alive and well as she prepared to take the dog for a walk.
Prosecutors also have pointed out that the remains of an 80-pound bag of cement remain unaccounted for. Peterson said he used the bag of cement to make an eight-pound anchor for his boat. Police believe he used the rest to make more anchors to weigh down his wife's body.
Prosecutors were criticized early in the case for allowing the defense to turn prosecution witnesses to their advantage numerous times in the first two months of the trial. The prosecution's case seemed to str engthen when Frey took the stand and her recorded phone calls with him were played, where he seemed more like a man on the make than a grieving husband.
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fOR YOU Friend
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Prosecutors in the Scott Peterson murder trial called to the stand their 174th and final witness, a police investigator who portrayed the former fertilizer salesman as a man on the run because he killed his pregnant wife, Laci.
Modesto Detective Jon Buehler wrapped up 19 weeks of testimony by the state's witnesses, describing the details of Peterson's arrest on April 19, 2003. The defense begins its case next Tuesday.
Buehler told jurors that Peterson had a large backpack and an overnight bag stuffed with everything from hunting knives and a water purifier to snorkeling and fishing equipment to a shovel and duct tape. Much of the camping equipment had been purchased a month earlier, he said.
Peterson also had several changes of clothes, including seven pairs of shoes, jackets, pants, shorts and sweaters. He had four cell phones, two driver's licenses — his and his brother's — six credit cards, including one in his half-sister's name, and nearly $15,000 in cash.
Prosecutor Dave Harris showed photographs of the equipment, found in a Mercedes that Peterson had bought earlier using his mother's first name.
Peterson's attorney Mark Geragos showed photos of similar clothes and equipment found in Peterson's truck months earlier, portraying him as a guy who simply lived out of his vehicle.
Buehler also testified that Peterson also had with him "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?", a book girlfriend Amber Frey had given him, along with a card dated Feb. 16, 2003.
"I can only hope that this will come to an end soon," Frey wrote. "I wish I could go back in time. I'm praying for you and your family."
Several flyers advertising a reward for Laci's safe return were found in the trunk, Buehler said.
On the day he was arrested, Peterson drove a circuitous nearly 170-mile route in Southern California in what prosecutors suggested was an attempt to evade police. Defense lawyers have maintained Peterson was trying to elude media scrutiny.
The prosecution effectively portrayed Peterson as a man capable of murdering his wife, experts said.
"He lied to everybody," said Paula Canny, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor who has been watching the trial. "The strongest evidence the prosecution has is what Scott Peterson said and what Scott Peterson did."
But former prosecutor Chuck Smith said the prosecution's case "ended with more of a whimper, than a bang." He said it would have been more effective to end with a witness who brought the whole case together or ends it with a powerful new fact.
"The prosecution did neither," Smith said.
Defense lawyers were expected to take at least a week for their case. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi has told jurors they should be able to begin deliberations by the end of the month.
The state alleges Peterson killed his eight-months pregnant wife in their Modesto home on or around Dec. 24, 2002, then dumped her body into the bay. Her badly decomposed remains — and that of her fetus — washed up in April 2003, not far from the marina where Peterson launched his boat that Christmas Eve morning for what he said was a solo fishing trip.
Geragos maintains someone else abducted and killed Laci, then framed Peterson after learning of his widely publicized alibi.
I still have questions about the water purifier that they only told the jury about..but never showed them.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
The prosecution and the defense in the Scott Peterson murder trial worked being closed doors Wednesday -- a day after the prosecution rested its case.
Prosecutors called 174 witnesses over 19 weeks, hoping to convince jurors in a circumstantial case that it would not be reasonable to believe that anyone other than Peterson killed his pregnant wife, Laci.
Prosecutors took jurors from the days and months before Laci disappeared on Dec. 24, 2002, to mid-April 2003, when her body and that the couple's unborn son washed up the shore of San Francisco Bay in the same area where Peterson said he had gone fishing.
Much of the most powerful evidence was Peterson's own words in the weeks after his wife disappeared, with prosecutors trying to show that he hardly behaved like a heartbroken husband.
Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey, testified about their affair.
After Laci disappeared, Frey recorded their conversations as Peterson tried to woo her.
"You know, in my mind we could be wonderful together and I could, I could care for you in any and every way," Peterson said in one of the recorded conversations.
Other witnesses testified that Peterson told them he was golfing, not fishing, on the day Laci disappeared. And, jurors heard him on tape seemingly lying to family members and reporters -- including about his baby's nursery.
"Can't go in there ... that door is closed until there's someone to put in there," Peterson said.
Investigators later found that room was being used for storage.
As for physical evidences, prosecutors introduces a hair consistent with Laci's that was found wrapped around pliers in Peterson's new boat. Detectives also testified about cement that could have been used to weigh Laci's body down in the water.
Finally this week, a police detective testified about arresting Peterson in Southern California, about 30 miles north of the Mexican border. Peterson had changed his appearance, had $15,000 in cash, bags of camping and fishing equipment, several changes of clothes, two driver's licenses, and six credit cards.
Hmm...wierd...where's the mention of that water purifier?? Not to mention the Viagra that was never there!
Defense attorney Mark Geragos will begin calling witnesses on Tuesday. He's expected to present experts who will dispute the age of the fetus Laci was carrying.
The defense is expected to take about two weeks to present their case. The jury could begin deliberations by the end of the month.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
"Prosecutor Dave Harris showed photographs of the equipment, found in a Mercedes that Peterson had bought earlier using his mother's first name."
This was in your post, guess you wee looking for a list. I got that and posted it for proof to some people who didn't believe I had seen that info.lol
AS If.
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
Delta said this in post #5 : "Prosecutor Dave Harris showed photographs of the equipment, found in a Mercedes that Peterson had bought earlier using his mother's first name."
This was in your post, guess you wee looking for a list. I got that and posted it for proof to some people who didn't believe I had seen that info.lol
AS If.
D
Yes...Im looking for a list..
Anyhow...regardless of that...its already been stated by the officers (all of them!) following him that he was never headed for the border...
So..this "gear" in his car is totally useless for arguing that..especially when your own witnesses agreed that he was never headed that way.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
My wirtness is expressingh his own opinion, mine is Scott was heading for the border and fleeing . Camping gear has been testifed to being in his trunk. Why?
Was he planning to go and do Amber in as Gloria has indicated? Or morelikel;y trying to escape to a country where extradition is not applicable to Us for Capital Murder cases. I guess the jury will give us our real answer when they find him Guilty. Oh btw the "witness" had photos of the items found in Scotts trunk and the jury has seen them ,ALL OF THEM.
D
.
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
Delta said this in post #7 : My wirtness is expressingh his own opinion, mine is Scott was heading for the border and fleeing . D
.
Sorry D... 5 detectives that say he WASNT headed for the border take over your opinion that he was.
Kevin Kolbe, CA DOJ
Peter Shear, CA DOJ
Claude Jubrian, CA HP
Sonia Ramos, CA DOJ
Ernie Limon, CA DOJ
This group of witnesses participated in the surveillance in San Diego just prior to and/or including Scott's arrest. All testifed about Scott's knowledge that he was being followed and the various contacts they had with him, which included bluntly asking them what agency they were with to clapping his hands.
On cross, they all likewise admitted that the purpose was to keep their identity as LE concealed, they were in unmarked cars, Scott was recording their license plate numbers, and he never was seen trying to flee towards the Mexican border.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
Splain me where in hades was he going to use all the camping gear? At Momma's house in the backyard,like a kid playing campout unti lit gets dark and then runs in the house. I remember my brothers doing that. No fear delta would consider staying at the Holiday Ind camping out.lol
It makes no sense,no sense. At least be open mided enough to think about
it, The Jury will, and I do know that for sure.
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
Delta said this in post #9 : Splain me where in hades was he going to use all the camping gear? At Momma's house in the backyard,like a kid playing campout unti lit gets dark and then runs in the house. I remember my brothers doing that. No fear delta would consider staying at the Holiday Ind camping out.lol
It makes no sense,no sense. At least be open mided enough to think about
it, The Jury will, and I do know that for sure.
D
D...
Im not gonna get into something that everyone already knows...
Scott was heading home according to all the detectives that arrested him...
He was heading AWAY from the border....not towards it.
You can pretend all you want that he was headed towards the border..but the truth is now known to us and to eveyone in court...
HE WAS HEADED BACK TOWARDS HIS MOTHERS HOUSE, NOT TOWARDS THE MEXICAN BORDER...
If they are gonna argue that he needed it because he was fleeing, they should have left off the witnesses that said otherwise...ALL 5 said he was headed home...
How you can keep arguing otherwise knowing this information is beyond me.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
Hard Headed Me, Still no explanation for the items found in his trunk. Bugs me.if he wasn't going to Mexico or somewhere where he could use camping equipment what is the reason for items in his trunk? You can't answer it either.
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
Delta said this in post #11 : Hard Headed Me, Still no explanation for the items found in his trunk. Bugs me.if he wasn't going to Mexico or somewhere where he could use camping equipment what is the reason for items in his trunk? You can't answer it either.
D
No..I cant answer it...
But then again..who cares?
If he wasnt headed to the border as we know now...the things in his car no longer mean anything...
They argued that he had them to flee...but now we know that their own witnesses said he wasnt..so their own argument about these things are null and void.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
Wait until next week when the pros brings this issue up again. In cross or someway. They are already talking about bringing Amber back.
Ho Ho and Away we go.
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
mystic said this in post #3 : Prosecution Rests Its Laci Peterson Case
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Prosecutors in the Scott Peterson murder trial called to the stand their 174th and final witness, a police investigator who portrayed the former fertilizer salesman as a man on the run because he killed his pregnant wife, Laci.
Modesto Detective Jon Buehler wrapped up 19 weeks of testimony by the state's witnesses, describing the details of Peterson's arrest on April 19, 2003. The defense begins its case next Tuesday.
Peterson also had several changes of clothes, including seven pairs of shoes, jBuehler told jurors that Peterson had a large backpack and an overnight bag stuffed with everything from hunting knives and a water purifier to snorkeling and fishing equipment to a shovel and duct tape. Much of the camping equipment had been purchased a month earlier, he said. jackets, pants, shorts and sweaters. He had four cell phones, two driver's licenses — his and his brother's — six credit cards, including one in his half-sister's name, and nearly $15,000 in cash.
Prosecutor Dave Harris showed photographs of the equipment, found in a Mercedes that Peterson had bought earlier using his mother's first name.
Peterson's attorney Mark Geragos showed photos of similar clothes and equipment found in Peterson's truck months earlier, portraying him as a guy who simply lived out of his vehicle.
This wasn't true he lived high on the hog at the Radissons
Buehler also testified that Peterson also had with him "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?", a book girlfriend Amber Frey had given him, along with a card dated Feb. 16, 2003.
"I can only hope that this will come to an end soon," Frey wrote. "I wish I could go back in time. I'm praying for you and your family."
Several flyers advertising a reward for Laci's safe return were found in the trunk, Buehler said.
On the day he was arrested, Peterson drove a circuitous nearly 170-mile route in Southern California in what prosecutors suggested was an attempt to evade police. Defense lawyers have maintained Peterson was trying to elude media scrutiny.
The prosecution effectively portrayed Peterson as a man capable of murdering his wife, experts said.
"He lied to everybody," said Paula Canny, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor who has been watching the trial. "The strongest evidence the prosecution has is what Scott Peterson said and what Scott Peterson did."
But former prosecutor Chuck Smith said the prosecution's case "ended with more of a whimper, than a bang." He said it would have been more effective to end with a witness who brought the whole case together or ends it with a powerful new fact. This is just the sameol same ol, Maybe next week the female will takeover and do the cross
"The prosecution did neither," Smith said.
Defense lawyers were expected to take at least a week for their case. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi has told jurors they should be able to begin deliberations by the end of the month.
The state alleges Peterson killed his eight-months pregnant wife in their Modesto home on or around Dec. 24, 2002, then dumped her body into the bay. Her badly decomposed remains — and that of her fetus — washed up in April 2003, not far from the marina where Peterson launched his boat that Christmas Eve morning for what he said was a solo fishing trip.
Geragos maintains someone else abducted and killed Laci, then framed Peterson after learning of his widely publicized alibi.
I still have questions about the water purifier that they only told the jury about..but never showed them.
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
10-06-2004 08:44 PM
