Peterson Lawyer Gets Police Tapes
The judge overseeing the murder trial of Scott Peterson ordered that logs of telephone calls made between Peterson and his lawyer and investigator earlier this year be turned over to his new defense attorney, Mark Geragos.
Police listened in on or recorded at least two of the 69 calls between Peterson and Modesto attorney Kirk McAllister as part of widespread monitoring that also taped Peterson's calls with reporters. Geragos said he expected to receive the police records Tuesday afternoon.
"Once we see exactly what was taped, we'll file the appropriate motions," the Los Angeles attorney said. The judge's order did not cover the calls to reporters.
In a pretrial hearing held Tuesday, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami also said he was also considering a gag order on lawyers in the case to prevent leaks fueling news stories.
Girolami said he would rule by the end of the week whether to unseal police reports and arrest warrants and autopsy results of Peterson's slain wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son. Those documents were being sought by newspapers.
But the judge told Charity Kenyon, a lawyer representing The Modesto Bee and four other California newspapers, that the documents would most likely remain impounded at least until the July 15 preliminary hearing. There, prosecutors who are seeking the death penalty will show the evidence needed to take the case to trial.
Kenyon, arguing that the documents be made public, told the judge that Peterson's right to a fair trial could be protected other ways, including moving it to another county and sequestering a jury. But Girolami asked aloud whether, given the great amount of publicity in the case, 12 fair jurors could be found anywhere in California if the information was unsealed.
"The trial of the century happens quite regularly in California," Kenyon said, citing other high-profile cases including the Polly Klaas murder, the Unabomber case and the 1970s kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
Prosecutor David Harris disputed media assertions that members were being deprived of their rights.
"If they were being excluded, they would not be in the court arguing now," he said.
Peterson is charged with two counts of murder and special circumstances that have made his case a death penalty prosecution. Stanislaus County authorities allege that Peterson killed his 27-year-old wife inside their Modesto home on Dec. 23 or 24. An autopsy this month failed to determine the cause of death.
Peterson, 30, a specialty fertilizer salesman, told police he last saw his wife about 9:30 a.m. Dec. 24 as he was leaving for a fishing trip at the Berkeley Marina.
Modesto detectives arrested Peterson in San Diego on April 18, just days after the bodies of his wife and unborn son, Conner, washed up in the San Francisco Bay about three miles from where Peterson said he went fishing.
Since taking Peterson's case May 2, Geragos has suggested that Modesto members of a satanic cult killed Laci Peterson and her unborn son. He has also hinted that a female mystery witness could lead authorities to the real killer and free Scott Peterson.
Meanwhile, CBS affiliate KOVR is reporting Peterson has written letters from his jail cell to his former girlfriend, Amber Frey.
Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, would not confirm whether Peterson has been trying to communicate with her client while in jail. However, she told KOVR reporter Gloria Gomez "my guess is the defense is not going be happy with Scott Peterson's efforts to reach out to Amber, when he has."