Peterson’s neighbor testifies about dog

1:25 p.m., PDT: REDWOOD CITY - Scott and Laci Peterson’s next-door neighbor testified that she found the couple’s dog, with a damp leash but with dry fur, at 10:18 a.m. the day Laci Peterson was reported missing.

“The leash had - it was dirty, it had leaves and grass clippings on it,” Karen Servas testified. “It was moist.”

Servas said the front gate to the Peterson home was locked and a side gate that opens to the driveway was open at least 90 degrees. She saw no one in or around the home, put the golden retriever, McKenzie, in the backyard and left, she testified.

Servas’ testimony could provide a key anchor for a timeline the prosecution contends shows Scott Peterson lied about what he did Dec. 24, 2002 - the day his wife was reported missing.

Prosecutors contend Peterson murdered his pregnant wife and unborn son, Conner, late Dec. 23 or early Dec. 24 and used a fishing boat purchased two weeks before to ferry their bodies to the San Francisco Bay.

Peterson’s defense attorneys have said his wife was likely abducted while walking the dog.

Peterson told police his wife was mopping the last time he saw her, and she planned to shop and walk the dog that day, a detective testified at Peterson’s preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors contend cell phone records show Peterson left his Modesto home at 10:08 that morning. Coupled with Servas’ testimony, that gives his wife 10 minutes to finish mopping, change her clothes, get the dog together, go on a walk and be abducted, prosecutors contend.

“All of these things are impossible,” prosecutor Rick Distaso said at a legal proceeding in January. “If those things are impossible, then this man murdered Laci Peterson.”

Servas’ apparently key position in the prosecution case might have been the reason for a sometimes-testy cross-examination today by Peterson’s attorney Mark Geragos.

Under questioning by Geragos, Servas acknowledged she had mistakenly testified at Peterson’s preliminary hearing last fall about the time she left her house later in the day and saw a package in the Peterson’s mailbox.

Servas previously testified that happened at 5:05 p.m., but today said it happened at 4:05 p.m.

But Servas said she arrived at the 10:18 a.m. figure by using a stopwatch while retracing her steps the morning of Dec. 24, 2002, and deducting that from a time-stamped receipt from a Christmas ornament purchase she made that morning.

Geragos also questioned her about whether she had filed a complaint with the Modesto police about him after a reporter from The Globe tabloid magazine showed up at her work.

Servas acknowledge she had lodged the complaint, saying she thought Geragos’ comment earlier in the day about seeking a “mystery woman” were related to the Globe reporter tracking her.

Geragos is expected to continue cross-examining Servas when court resumes after the lunch.

This story was originally published June 9, 2004 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Peterson’s neighbor testifies about dog."