2 Mar 2004 Delucchi's rulings on wire-tap and dog tracking evidence
Judge Delucchi ruled to allow wire-tap evidence
Geragos' argued that LE did not have sufficient necessity to conduct wiretaps
On January 10, they had an unprecedented number of people cooperating with the investigation
They had a number of tips forwarded to them
They still had scientific evidence not yet returned
They were waiting for logs and other types of materials
Distaso argued sufficient necessity did exist:
The standard is whether there is evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
There was no case without the bodies being found
Delucchi based his decision on:
Necessity requirements are met when it is shown that ordinary investigative procedures employed in good faith would likely be ineffective, or when normal investigative procedures, not yet tried, would likely fail.
The affidavit filed in Wiretap Number 2 and Wiretap Number 3 showed that both of these conditions were met.
The investigators were reasonable in their attempts to monitor all of the calls, and there was no action on the part of the DA or the investigators that was so egregious as to require the exclusion of the witnesses, a dismissal of the charges, or suppression of the wiretap.
Judge Ladine did not abuse his discretion in authorizing the wiretap.
Judge Delucchi ruled to allow only a portion of the dog-tracking evidence: Trimble's trailing at the Berkeley Marina on December 28.
The other dog-tracking evidence was not corroborated, and this kind of evidence must be corroborated before it can be admitted.
Anderson's evidence demonstrates that Trimble had a scent at the Marina, ostensibly Laci's scent.
That is corroborated by the fact that Laci and Conner washed ashore just 2 to 2 1/2 miles away, in the Bay.
The inference that can be drawn is that Laci somehow or other was at the marina on or about the day she disappeared.
4 Mar 2004 Jury Selection begins
Starting with 1000 summoned for jury duty, the questionnaire pruned the list down to 317. Then began the Hovey voir dire process to eliminate any of the Prospective Jurors who have a conscientious or religious objection to capital punishment. Delucchi questions each Prospective Juror about capital punishment, then lets the Defense and Prosecution ask questions.
The trial will start with 12 panelists, plus six alternates. Delucchi needs a minimum of 70 qualifiers from this round (80 is the goal) because both sides get 26 peremptory challenges, or chances to dismiss Prospective Jurors without providing reasons.
22 Mar 2004
Judge Delucchi will allow the jury to hear the media interviews Scott did after Laci's disappearance. In his court filing, Geragos had argued that their prejudicial effect would outweigh their probative value, but Delucchi disagreed, saying "They're not being offered to the truth but rather as circumstantial evidence of the defendant's state of mind."
Mark Geragos: "I'm not supplying any witnesses names for a penalty phase because there is not going to be a penalty phase." Judge Delucchi warned Geragos: "You're doing so at your own risk," and that, should Scott be convicted, Geragos would not be allowed to call witnesses during the penalty phase.
Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective
Juror #1
The first juror qualified is an environmental investigator for San Jose. Balding
and bespectacled, with a pen sticking out of his shirt pocket, the man -- known
only as juror number 4663 -- said he could put aside any preconceived notions
and give Peterson a fair trial.
"I'll look at all the factors and weigh them," he told defense attorney Mark
Geragos. Geragos also asked the man if he had ever heard anyone express that
Peterson was innocent. "No," the man said. "That's me. My position is that he
has to be proven guilty, and I'll take a look at (the evidence)."
23 Mar 2004
The media will not have access to the juror questionnaires. "If this information was disclosed...it would have a chilling effect on jurors answering the voir dire questions honestly," Delucchi said.
Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective
Juror
#2
The first juror qualified Tuesday was a former nurse who said she would be able
to handle viewing grisly autopsy photographs of the bodies of Laci Peterson and
the couple's fetus.
Prosecutor Rick Distaso also asked the woman if she thought circumstantial
evidence was enough to convict someone of murder. The prosecution most likely
will attempt to convict Peterson based almost exclusively on circumstantial
evidence.
The woman said based on what she has seen on TV, she did not think people could
be convicted solely on circumstantial evidence, but that if she was instructed
to do so in this trial, she could.
Prospective Juror #3
The second woman who qualified Tuesday is a mother who works at San Francisco
International Airport. She said she has avoided most of the coverage of the case
on television and newspapers because she has not been interested in it.
When asked by Geragos to describe her feelings about extramarital affairs, the
woman said she would not be happy if her own husband had an affair, but that
knowledge of Peterson's affair with Amber Frey would not induce her to think he
is guilty of murder.
Prospective Juror #4
Another who made the cut is a man with graying hair and glasses who said he was
opposed to capital punishment on his survey, but changed his answer under
questioning from the judge.
Prospective Juror #5
The fourth new prospect sat in the jury box with her purse clasped in her lap. A
former JC Penney employee with four children, the woman said she has chosen not
to watch any coverage of the case and can be fair.
Prospective Juror #6
The last one to make the cut Tuesday was a woman with short black hair who said
she was not strongly for or against the death penalty. "You have to decide by
what the person did," she said.
The woman, an assistant manager for a financial company who giggled at times
during questioning, said she is an independent person who is unswayed by others.
"I don't care what other people think. I go by my own thoughts," she said.
24 Mar 2004 Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective
Juror #7
A burly man with a gray mustache and dark brown hair, the former officer told
the court Wednesday morning that he had been arrested twice, and that he
understands what it means to be wrongly accused of a crime.
After leaving his job as a police officer in 1974, the man said he was arrested
for assaulting a police officer after a confrontation during a labor-union
demonstration. The prospective juror said he was approached by an officer
carrying a baton, and that he grabbed the baton away, and was later charged with
assault. The charges were later dropped, he said.
Prospective Juror #8
Wearing a bright red shirt and matching lipstick, the other qualified juror
supervises nine people in an optician's office at a local medical facility.
Since this case involves the murder of an unborn child, Prospective Jurors have
been asked if they have ever lost a child of their own. This woman told
prosecutor David Harris that she had had a miscarriage previously, but that the
experience would not affect her judgment. "I could set that aside," she said.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos also was interested in her comments regarding
whether or not Scott Peterson should take the stand. He wanted to know if she
would hold his silence against him, if he chooses not to testify.
"If he feels he needs to speak his piece, then he should. If he doesn't, that's
OK," she said.
25 Mar 2004 Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective Juror #9
The computer programmer, a large man who owns his own business, told prosecutor
Rick Distaso that he lost his 1-year-old daughter in 2000 to congenital heart
defects. Distaso asked if this experience would color the man's opinion of the
case. He replied it would not.
Distaso also spent time questioning the man about his political affiliations
after learning he had recently joined the American Civil Liberties Union.
Despite his political leanings, the man, a Democrat, said he had no bias against
prosecutors and that he can be fair.
The programmer fits perfectly the Prospective Juror profile that is sought by the defense.
Jury-selection experts have said that defense attorney Mark Geragos will favor
men who are analytical -- typically people who are engineers or computer
programmers. Experts say prosecutors will look for women, preferably mothers,
and people who tend to be ruled more by emotion than logic.
Prospective Juror #10
The second Prospective Juror qualified Thursday is a woman who works for an elementary
school who described herself as "very active" in her religion. While she also
told Distaso she believed adultery to be a sin, the woman said she would not
make the leap that just because Peterson had an extra-marital affair he was a
murderer.
"Everyone has the right to live their lives the way they want to. Not judging
others is also a tenet of my religion," she said.
The woman told the court she has discussed the case with others, including her
husband, but that she has reserved judgment. "People tell me he's guilty, and
that annoys me a little bit. Nobody knows, because they haven't heard all the
evidence," she said.
29 Mar 2004 Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective Juror #11
The computer salesman, who spent two years in the U.S. Army, told the court
Monday that he would make a fair Prospective Juror because he has a sophisticated view of
law enforcement. "I've seen both sides of what the law can do to a family, or an
individual," he said.
The man also told the court that his parents were heroin addicts, and that he
was raised by his maternal grandmother. While he admitted to having had some
substance-abuse issues of his own in the past, he now volunteers with a group
counseling inmates in the County jail on how to overcome addiction.
Prospective Juror #12
A woman who analyzes Nielsen data for Tech TV also was qualified Monday. Wearing
a black hooded sweatshirt, her hands fidgeting with a piece of paper, the woman
told the court that she already has stopped discussing the case with people and
that she can be fair and impartial.
Prospective Juror #13
The third woman who qualified is a nurse employed by San Mateo County. Although
she told the court that she could be fair, the woman acknowledged that, in the
past, she has told co-workers that she thought Peterson was guilty.
Geragos, standing in front of her and looking directly at her, asked her to
explain her preconceived notions. "I'm worried about people who want to get on
this jury who have an agenda," he said. "All I can do is look you in the eye and
ask a question."
The woman told him she has no interest in being on the jury, but that she felt a
civic duty to show up, and if asked to serve, she would. She also said her
previous feelings about the case were based on information obtained through the
media, and said she would need to hear the evidence before truly making up her
mind.
30 Mar 2004
Jude Delucchi: "My optimism just went down the toilet," after 6 days of 2nd round pruning to find an unbiased jury from the 1000 summoned, and discovering that Juror 29308 may be deliberately trying to get onto the jury so she can become the foreman and orchestrate a guilty verdict. The witness who tipped off Geragos' office will be questioned on May 10, and the woman on May 11.
Continued Jury Voir Dire -- Descriptions from San Mateo County Times
Prospective Juror #14
The doctor-attorney works as an in-house lawyer for a
medical company that makes medication for heart patients. Prosecutor Distaso
questioned the man at length about his ability to weigh DNA and other scientific
evidence, concerned that he might discredit expert witnesses because of his own
scientific expertise.
The defense questioned him briefly, asking for details about his legal career.
<Note: This Prospective
Juror
first served as an alternate, the replaced Juror 5, Justin Falconer.
He served as the 1st foreman for the guilt deliberations, then asked
to be removed from the Jury after the other jurors selected another
foreman.>
Prospective Juror
#15
A La Honda woman who works for the Log Cabin Ranch, a
school for male juvenile offenders, and who has a bird-breeding business also
made the cut. The woman told the court that she has not formed any opinions
about the case because she rarely watches the news or reads the newspaper.
She said she spends most of her time with her birds, painting, or playing her
guitar. She also told the court she has six cats.