From wikipedia some info on the Scott Peterson trial
Prior to his arraignment, Peterson had been represented by veteran criminal defense attorney from Modesto, California, Kirk McAllister. McAllister had met with Peterson prior to Peterson's arraignment. When Peterson was arraigned, he told Judge Nancy Ashley that he could not afford the services of a private attorney.
Chief Deputy Public Defender Kent Faulkner was also one of the attorneys assigned to the case.[16] Subsequently, Peterson indicated that he had sufficient funds to hire private counsel and attorney Mark Geragos, who had done other high-profile criminal defense work.[16]
On January 20, 2004, due to increasing hostility to Peterson in the Modesto area, a judge moved Peterson's trial from Modesto to Redwood City, California.[17]
The trial, the People of the State of California v. Scott Peterson, began in June 2004 and was followed closely by the media. The lead prosecutor was Rick Distaso, and Geragos led Peterson's defense.
Prosecution witness Amber Frey engaged her own attorney, Gloria Allred, to represent her interests. Allred was not bound by the gag order imposed on everyone else involved in the trial. Although she maintained that her client had no opinion as to whether Peterson was guilty, Allred was openly sympathetic to the prosecution. She appeared frequently on television news programs during the trial.[18] Allred played a key role in keeping many facts about her client's past from the public eye.[19]
Peterson's defense lawyers based his case on the lack of direct evidence, and downplayed the significance of circumstantial evidence.[20] They suggested that the remains of the fetus were that of a full-term infant, and theorized that someone else had kidnapped Laci, held her until she gave birth, and then dumped both bodies in the bay. However, the prosecution's medical experts were able to prove that the baby had never grown to full term, and died at the same time as his mother.[21] Geragos suggested that a Satanic cult kidnapped the pregnant woman.[22] He also claimed that Peterson was "a cad"[20] for cheating on his pregnant wife, but not a murderer.
Early in the trial, one juror was removed due to juror misconduct and was replaced by an alternate, this on a complaint by CourtTV. A videotape showed the juror and Brent Rocha, Laci Peterson's older brother, speaking as they passed one another in the courthouse.[23] Later, during jury deliberations, the jury foreman, attorney Gregory Jackson, also requested his own removal, most likely because his fellow jurors wanted to replace him as foreman.[24] Geragos told reporters that Jackson had mentioned threats he had received when he requested to be removed from the jury.[25] Jackson was also replaced by an alternate. On November 12 the reconstituted jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder with special circumstances for killing Laci and second-degree murder for killing the unborn baby she carried. The penalty phase of the trial began on November 30 and concluded December 13, when at 1:50 P.M. PST, the twelve-person jury recommended a death sentence for Peterson.
In later press appearances, members of the jury stated that they felt that Peterson's demeanor—specifically, his lack of emotion, and the phone calls to Amber Frey in the days following Laci's disappearance—indicated that he was guilty. They based their verdict on "hundreds of small 'puzzle pieces' of circumstantial evidence that came out during the trial, from the location of Laci Peterson's body to the myriad lies her husband told after her disappearance." They also decided on the death penalty because they felt Peterson betrayed his responsibility to protect his wife and son.[26]
Evidence
In order to avoid recognition by the press, Peterson changed his appearance and purchased a vehicle using his mother's name. He added two pornographic television channels to his cable service only days after his wife's disappearance;[27] the prosecution suggested that this meant Peterson knew his wife would not be returning home. He expressed interest in selling the house he had shared with his wife,[28] and did sell Laci's Land Rover.[29]
Testimony for the prosecution included Ralph Cheng, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, and an expert witness on tides, particularly of the San Francisco Bay. Cheng admitted during his cross-examination that his findings were "probable, not precise";[30] tidal systems are sufficiently chaotic, and he was unable to develop an exact model of the bodies' disposal and travel. The prosecution explored an affair by the defendant with Amber Frey, and the contents of their taped telephone calls.[31]
Geragos seemed quite confident that Dr. Charles March could single-handedly exonerate Peterson, by showing that the fetus Laci carried died a week after prosecutors claimed that the fetus died. Under cross-examination, March admitted basing his findings on an anecdote from one of Laci's friends that she had taken a home pregnancy test on June 9, 2002. "Prosecutors pointed out that no medical records relied on the June 9 date and March became flustered and confused on the stand—and even asked a prosecutor to cut him 'some slack'—undermining his credibility."[32] Summing up this key defense witness, Stan Goldman, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles said, "There were moments today that reminded me of Chernobyl."[33]
Motives
The prosecution presented Scott Peterson's affair with Amber Frey and money as a motive for the murder. Prosecutors surmised that Peterson killed his pregnant wife due to increasing debt and a desire to be single again.[34]
Sentencing
San Quentin State Prison, where Peterson is incarcerated
On March 16, 2005, Judge Alfred A. Delucchi formally sentenced Peterson to death, calling the murder of his wife "cruel, uncaring, heartless, and callous."[35] The prescribed method of execution was lethal injection. He also denied the defense's request (which was based on evidence of juror misconduct and media influence) for a new trial and ordered Peterson to pay $10,000 toward the cost of Laci Peterson's funeral.
In the early morning hours of March 17, 2005, Peterson arrived at San Quentin State Prison. Peterson was reported not to have slept the night before, being too "jazzed" to sleep, calling some to question his state of mind.[36][37] Peterson joined other inmates in California's sole death row facility while his case is on automatic appeal to the Supreme Court of California in San Francisco. National Geographic made a documentary on San Quentin prison, with Scott Peterson's admission to the prison being covered in Part Two of the documentary.[38]Source URL: https://wallpaper-com.blogspot.com/2011/07/scott-peterson-trial.html
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Prior to his arraignment, Peterson had been represented by veteran criminal defense attorney from Modesto, California, Kirk McAllister. McAllister had met with Peterson prior to Peterson's arraignment. When Peterson was arraigned, he told Judge Nancy Ashley that he could not afford the services of a private attorney.
Chief Deputy Public Defender Kent Faulkner was also one of the attorneys assigned to the case.[16] Subsequently, Peterson indicated that he had sufficient funds to hire private counsel and attorney Mark Geragos, who had done other high-profile criminal defense work.[16]
On January 20, 2004, due to increasing hostility to Peterson in the Modesto area, a judge moved Peterson's trial from Modesto to Redwood City, California.[17]
The trial, the People of the State of California v. Scott Peterson, began in June 2004 and was followed closely by the media. The lead prosecutor was Rick Distaso, and Geragos led Peterson's defense.
Prosecution witness Amber Frey engaged her own attorney, Gloria Allred, to represent her interests. Allred was not bound by the gag order imposed on everyone else involved in the trial. Although she maintained that her client had no opinion as to whether Peterson was guilty, Allred was openly sympathetic to the prosecution. She appeared frequently on television news programs during the trial.[18] Allred played a key role in keeping many facts about her client's past from the public eye.[19]
Peterson's defense lawyers based his case on the lack of direct evidence, and downplayed the significance of circumstantial evidence.[20] They suggested that the remains of the fetus were that of a full-term infant, and theorized that someone else had kidnapped Laci, held her until she gave birth, and then dumped both bodies in the bay. However, the prosecution's medical experts were able to prove that the baby had never grown to full term, and died at the same time as his mother.[21] Geragos suggested that a Satanic cult kidnapped the pregnant woman.[22] He also claimed that Peterson was "a cad"[20] for cheating on his pregnant wife, but not a murderer.
Early in the trial, one juror was removed due to juror misconduct and was replaced by an alternate, this on a complaint by CourtTV. A videotape showed the juror and Brent Rocha, Laci Peterson's older brother, speaking as they passed one another in the courthouse.[23] Later, during jury deliberations, the jury foreman, attorney Gregory Jackson, also requested his own removal, most likely because his fellow jurors wanted to replace him as foreman.[24] Geragos told reporters that Jackson had mentioned threats he had received when he requested to be removed from the jury.[25] Jackson was also replaced by an alternate. On November 12 the reconstituted jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder with special circumstances for killing Laci and second-degree murder for killing the unborn baby she carried. The penalty phase of the trial began on November 30 and concluded December 13, when at 1:50 P.M. PST, the twelve-person jury recommended a death sentence for Peterson.
In later press appearances, members of the jury stated that they felt that Peterson's demeanor—specifically, his lack of emotion, and the phone calls to Amber Frey in the days following Laci's disappearance—indicated that he was guilty. They based their verdict on "hundreds of small 'puzzle pieces' of circumstantial evidence that came out during the trial, from the location of Laci Peterson's body to the myriad lies her husband told after her disappearance." They also decided on the death penalty because they felt Peterson betrayed his responsibility to protect his wife and son.[26]
Evidence
In order to avoid recognition by the press, Peterson changed his appearance and purchased a vehicle using his mother's name. He added two pornographic television channels to his cable service only days after his wife's disappearance;[27] the prosecution suggested that this meant Peterson knew his wife would not be returning home. He expressed interest in selling the house he had shared with his wife,[28] and did sell Laci's Land Rover.[29]
Testimony for the prosecution included Ralph Cheng, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, and an expert witness on tides, particularly of the San Francisco Bay. Cheng admitted during his cross-examination that his findings were "probable, not precise";[30] tidal systems are sufficiently chaotic, and he was unable to develop an exact model of the bodies' disposal and travel. The prosecution explored an affair by the defendant with Amber Frey, and the contents of their taped telephone calls.[31]
Geragos seemed quite confident that Dr. Charles March could single-handedly exonerate Peterson, by showing that the fetus Laci carried died a week after prosecutors claimed that the fetus died. Under cross-examination, March admitted basing his findings on an anecdote from one of Laci's friends that she had taken a home pregnancy test on June 9, 2002. "Prosecutors pointed out that no medical records relied on the June 9 date and March became flustered and confused on the stand—and even asked a prosecutor to cut him 'some slack'—undermining his credibility."[32] Summing up this key defense witness, Stan Goldman, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles said, "There were moments today that reminded me of Chernobyl."[33]
Motives
The prosecution presented Scott Peterson's affair with Amber Frey and money as a motive for the murder. Prosecutors surmised that Peterson killed his pregnant wife due to increasing debt and a desire to be single again.[34]
Sentencing
San Quentin State Prison, where Peterson is incarcerated
On March 16, 2005, Judge Alfred A. Delucchi formally sentenced Peterson to death, calling the murder of his wife "cruel, uncaring, heartless, and callous."[35] The prescribed method of execution was lethal injection. He also denied the defense's request (which was based on evidence of juror misconduct and media influence) for a new trial and ordered Peterson to pay $10,000 toward the cost of Laci Peterson's funeral.
In the early morning hours of March 17, 2005, Peterson arrived at San Quentin State Prison. Peterson was reported not to have slept the night before, being too "jazzed" to sleep, calling some to question his state of mind.[36][37] Peterson joined other inmates in California's sole death row facility while his case is on automatic appeal to the Supreme Court of California in San Francisco. National Geographic made a documentary on San Quentin prison, with Scott Peterson's admission to the prison being covered in Part Two of the documentary.[38]Source URL: https://wallpaper-com.blogspot.com/2011/07/scott-peterson-trial.html
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