Peterson faces deposition in wrongful death

Scott Peterson's next public appearance — on videotape to be shown in September at a wrongful death trial in Modesto — might be extremely short.

The death row inmate likely will simply invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, his attorney said in court papers.

A judge ruled Thursday that survivors of Peterson's slain wife have a right to tape his deposition, even if he mutters only a few words.

Still unresolved, however, is whether the tape will see the light of day outside a courtroom.

Peterson, 33, was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Her Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance touched off a media firestorm resulting in nine books, two made-for-TV movies, and thousands of news articles and hours of news coverage.

Peterson "seeks to prevent the proliferation of additional media fodder in order to protect his right to an appeal and possible retrial," wrote Pat Harris, his attorney. Calls to Harris' office Thursday were not returned.

Death sentences are appealed automatically and often take a decade or more to carry out. Maintaining his innocence, Peterson's family has hired legal specialists in hopes of overturning the sentence.

No one from Harris' Los Angeles law firm, Geragos & Geragos, appeared Thursday at a scheduled hearing in Modesto. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne ruled in favor of Laci Peterson's parents, Sharon Rocha and Dennis Rocha.

They seek $25 million in the wrongful death lawsuit and want to bar Scott Peterson from selling his story.

Their Modesto attorneys, Adam Stewart and Gary Davis, traveled to San Quentin State Prison in January in an initial attempt to videotape Scott Peterson, who refused.

Beauchesne, citing state law, declined to seal from public view the anticipated recording, and lawyers on both sides engaged in a nasty dispute in the briefs they wrote.

Davis said selling the video would be "repugnant. It is not something I would do, consider doing or ever said would be done," he wrote in a court document.

Beauchesne directed Stewart to propose "a remedy which addresses (Peterson's) legitimate concerns" about "commercialization or unnecessary circulation of the videotape."

That could prove to be tricky, because such items normally don't come into a court's possession until trial, the judge noted. Even then, sealing would first require a hearing, Beauchesne wrote.

Stewart has said he wants to ask Scott Peterson if he loved his wife and if he wanted to be a father. Stewart also has said he wants "a jury to watch his reaction to every question I ask."

Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at 578-2390 or gstapley@modbee.com.