Scott Peterson Trial

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The State of California VS Scott Peterson Scott Peterson had previously been represented by Kirk McAllister who was a veteran Criminal Defense Attorney from Modesto, California, prior to his arraignment. Prior to PetersonÕs arraignment, McAllister met with him. During his arraignment Peterson indicated to Judge Nancy Ashley that he couldnÕt afford the services of an attorney from the private sector. Tim Bazar who was from the Public DefenderÕs Office of Stanislaus County, was then appointed by the Judge. Kent Faulkner who was the Chief Public Defender was also assigned to the case as well. Peterson subsequently indicated that he had acquired sufficient funds to hire private counsel and attorney Mark Geragos who had done other high profile criminal defense work, became his lawyer. Due to the increasing hostility towards Peterson, on January 20, 2004 the trial was moved to Redwood City from Modesto California by the Judge. The trial began in June 2004 and was watched closely by the media. Mark Geragos was in charge of Peterson's defense and Rick Distaso was the lead prosecutor for the State. The star witness for the prosecution, Amber Frey, had her own attorney. Gloria Alfred was hired to protect her from the news media. Allred was not bound by the gag order imposed on everyone else involved in the trial. Although Allred maintained that her client had no opinion as to whether Peterson was guilty, she was blatantly sympathetic towards the prosecution. She made regular appearances on television news programs during the trial. Allred played a key role in keeping many facts about her client's past out of the public eye. Peterson's defense lawyers based his case on the lack of direct evidence, and downplayed the significance of all of the circumstantial evidence. They also suggested that the remains of the fetus were that of a full term infant, and speculated that someone might have kidnapped the pregnant Laci and held her until after 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. Mark Geragos also suggested that a Satanic cult had kidnapped Laci. He also claimed that Peterson was a cad 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 Court TV. It was shown by videotape that Brent Rocha, Laci PetersonÕs older brother, and the juror spoke to each other as they passed one another in the courthouse. Later on, during jury deliberations, the foreman of the jury foreman, attorney Gregory Jackson, requested his own removal. The most reasonable explanation for this was that his fellow jurors wanted him replaced as foreman. Geragos told reporters that Jackson had mentioned numerous threats that he had received when he requested to be removed from the jury. Jackson was also replaced by an alternate. Peterson was ultimately convicted Peterson of first degree murder with special circumstances for the murder of Laci and the second degree murder for the murder of the unborn baby she was carrying by the reconstituted jury on November 12th. The penalty phase of the trial began on November 30 and concluded December 13, when at 1:50 P.M. PST, Scott Peterson was recommended to be sentenced to death by the twelve person jury. In press appearances later on, members of the jury said that they thought that Peterson's demeanor specifically his lack of any emotion displayed during the trial combined with all the phone calls to Amber Frey in the days after Laci's disappearance indicated that his guilt. They based their verdict on hundreds of small puzzle pieces of circumstantial evidence that came out during the trial. These included the location of Laci Peterson's body and the numerous lies Peterson told after her disappearance. They also decided on the death penalty since they thought Peterson had betrayed his responsibility to protect his wife and son. <