RSS Electronic Edition | Newsletters Subscribe | Customer Service Contact Us | Community Buy Photos Modmomsclub

Special Reports - The Peterson Case - Peterson: Trial Updates

Monday, Mar. 14, 2005

Peterson moves for new trial

E-Mail Print

Scott Peterson of Modesto should get a new trial because the judge and jurors committed several errors in his trial last year, his lawyers argued in documents released this morning.

Also, prosecutors failed to provide “new exculpatory evidence” to his defense team as required, his lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors rebutted each argument in a written response also unveiled today, saying the double-murder verdict leading to a death sentence is appropriate.

Judge Alfred Delucchi will consider the new trial motion Wednesday. If he denies Peterson’s request, Delucchi is expected to formally sentence the 32-year-old Modesto man.

Delucchi’s options: death by lethal injection, as jurors recommended Dec. 13, or life in prison without parole.

Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos accuses Delucchi of acting illegally by:

Allowing jurors to learn that Peterson ordered pornography cable channels two weeks after his pregnant wife, Laci, disappeared.

Refusing to seat two juries, one to determine Peterson’s guilt and another to decide his fate.

Allowing evidence suggesting that a trained dog followed Laci Peterson’s scent to the end of a pier.

Permitting jurors to hear recordings of Peterson’s statements to girlfriend Amber Frey that were irrelevant to the case.

Letting prosecutors introduce evidence collected from tapping Peterson’s phone.

Excluding a defense video suggesting that Peterson’s boat was so small it would capsize if a weighted pregnant woman were tossed out.

Giving jurors the option of second-degree murder in the death of Peterson’s unborn son, Conner.

Refusing to move the trial to Los Angeles County.

Removing two jurors during the trial.

Allowing jurors to climb in and rock the trailered boat without giving the defense team a chance to counter the “unauthorized experiment.”

For the full story, see Tuesday’s Bee or www.modbee.com.