Peterson tell-all book is released

People who think Modesto's Scott Peterson was wrongly convicted in the murders of his pregnant wife and unborn son will find something to cheer in the case's latest book, released Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of jurors' death-sentence decree.

Those convinced he's guilty, though, won't have any trouble dismissing "Presumed Guilty" as an excuse to make a quick buck by a little-known defense attorney fired from Peterson's camp before the case came to trial in June 2004.

In fact, Matt Dalton was sacked before Peterson's fall 2003 preliminary hearing — only six months after he was hired by lead attorney Mark Geragos.

Dalton's best claim to inside information is having met almost daily with Peterson in jailhouse consultations. But the book's revelations about Modesto's best-known convicted killer are few and far between.

Perhaps Dalton, now in private practice in Southern California, was hamstrung by concerns that ethical lawyers usually don't stoop to kiss-and-tells. Geragos, saying Dalton had no right to reveal case secrets, unsuccessfully sued to stop the book.

Subtitled "What the Jury Never Knew about Laci Peterson's Murder and Why Scott Peterson Should Not Be on Death Row," and co-written with author Bonnie Hearn Hill, the book is the first of seven written about the compelling case to argue Peterson's innocence.

At 194 pages, it's also the shortest.

Two obscure online publications defending Peterson were not picked up by book publishers. Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, published "Presumed Guilty."

Dalton relies heavily on his interviews with several people who support alternate explanations for Laci Peterson's Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance.

"For reasons unknown to me, none of the eyewitnesses from the neighborhood who reported seeing Laci were presented to the jury," Dalton wrote. "I had regarded this as the strongest evidence the defense had."

But he conveniently disregards key trial testimony casting doubt on every one of those sightings.

Neighbor Karen Servas told jurors she found the Petersons' dog alone in the street with a leash attached at 10:18 a.m. Dec. 24, 2002, and put it in their back yard. That's how Scott Peterson told police he found the dog when he returned from fishing that evening.

That alone would throw all of Dalton's witnesses — and the main premise of his book — out the window, because they claimed they saw Laci Peterson with her dog after that time.

Also missing from "Presumed Guilty" is any mention of Dalton's public bunglings in the short time Geragos employed him.

In August 2003, Dalton ignored a court-imposed gag order to outline a human sacrifice theory in front of two Bee journalists. Geragos fired him shortly afterward.

In his book, Dalton says the firing resulted from his failed conspiracy to hijack the Peterson case from Geragos and deliver it to another law firm.

Geragos on Tuesday said he had not read Dalton's book and refused further comment.

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

This story was originally published December 14, 2005 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Peterson tell-all book is released."