Peterson Jury Hung??

[Fabulous Shadow]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - In a sign of possible discord in the jury room, the judge in Scott Peterson's murder case lectured the panel Monday about the importance of deliberating with an open mind.

"Do not hesitate to change your opinion for the purpose of reaching a verdict if you can do so," Judge Alfred A. Delucchi said after summoning jurors to the courtroom just an hour and half after they resumed deliberations.

"The attitude and conduct of jurors at all times is very important," he added. "It is rarely helpful for a juror at the beginning of deliberations to express an emphatic opinion on the case."

The jurors listened with serious, even grim expressions before they were sent back into the jury room to deliberate.

It was not immediately clear what led to the judge's instructions, but trial observers speculated jurors are beginning to reach a deadlock.

"They're stuck," said Jim Hammer, a former prosecutor and trial regular. The judge "clearly has indications that they're beginning to hang."

Earlier Monday, Delucchi denied a defense motion for a mistrial after jurors examined the boat prosecutors claim Peterson used to dispose of his wife's body.

Defense lawyer Mark Geragos claimed jurors violated the judge's orders by doing "a juror experiment" when several panelists got inside the boat and rocked it from side to side.

The defense has argued that it would have been nearly impossible for Peterson to have heaved his wife's 153-pound body over the edge of the boat without tipping.

As an alternative to a mistrial, Geragos asked the judge to show jurors a videotaped experiment performed by the defense apparently showing that the boat would have tipped. Delucchi denied the motion.

Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried. Prosecutors claim Peterson killed Laci around Dec. 24, 2002, then sunk her weighted body in the bay.

Defense lawyers claim someone else abducted Laci and killed her, then framed her husband.

The sequestered jury began deliberations Wednesday and recessed for the weekend. Jurors were monitored in a hotel where they could watch only sports and movies on television, and could use a computer without access to the Internet. They were forbidden from discussing the case.

Jurors have two choices should they decide to convict Peterson - first- or second-degree murder. First-degree convictions, carrying the death penalty of life without parole, would mean jurors believe Peterson planned the killings in advance. Second-degree murder convictions don't require a finding of premeditation, and carry sentences of 15-years-to-life for each count.

Also Monday, the presiding judge of the courthouse ruled against media attorneys who were seeking to have cameras stationed about 40 feet down a hallway from the courtroom. Last week, Delucchi banned television and still cameras from the courtroom for the verdict, but said he would allow a live audio broadcast.


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Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[twonabomber]

i'm telling you, he's gonna walk.

[Brett]

I'm with you twona, he's so gonna walk...just like fucking OJ.

[Fabulous Shadow]

How would Peterson have got Lacis body into that boat and dumped it without anyone seeing him? Covered in a blue tarp? Like that isn't obvious...

[BITEYOASS]

If he does walkout, then he has to watch out for psycho vigilantees with nothing to lose.

[Fabulous Shadow]

OJ didn't...

[Brett]

OJ didn't what? Decapitate two people? So what exactly is the rationality for finding his DNA all over the crime scene and the bodies? He's a murderer and so is Scott Petersen, come on now.

No one will do anything to Petersen if he walks, nobody's ever done anything to OJ.

[Brett]

Originally posted by Fabulous Shadow
How would Peterson have got Lacis body into that boat and dumped it without anyone seeing him? Covered in a blue tarp? Like that isn't obvious...

Who knows, he probably cut her up in pieces. And doesn't seem like anybody saw him either way. Even if the evidence isn't all that great (seems good enoigh to convict him to me), he's guilty. Even if he gets off, he's still guilty. He had the MO, and he certainly had the means to carry it out. Guilty, guilty, guilty. There is absolutely no evidence suggesting anyone else did it.

Maybe after he gets off, Petersen can help OJ find the real killers. :p

[Roth & Roll]

Originally posted by Brett
OJ didn't what? Decapitate two people? So what exactly is the rationality for finding his DNA all over the crime scene and the bodies? He's a murderer and so is Scott Petersen, come on now.

No one will do anything to Petersen if he walks, nobody's ever done anything to OJ.

I don't think that's what FAB meant. I think she's referring to the fact that no vigilantes hunted down OJ after he was acquitted.

What does one have to do to get busted for murder in California anyway?

:rolleyes:

[Rikk]

Originally posted by Brett
OJ didn't what? Decapitate two people? So what exactly is the rationality for finding his DNA all over the crime scene and the bodies? He's a murderer and so is Scott Petersen, come on now.

No one will do anything to Petersen if he walks, nobody's ever done anything to OJ.

OJ did it. One listen to the Bronco chase phone call tapes (OJ talking to Vanatter) will convince you of that. He goes on about how he doesn't deserve to live and poor Nicole. Dude practically admits his guilt several times on that tape. And the prosecution didn't end up entering it into evidence, even though it would have got in.

[Brett]

Originally posted by Roth & Roll
I don't think that's what FAB meant. I think she's referring to the fact that no vigilantes hunted down OJ after he was acquitted.

What does one have to do to get busted for murder in California anyway?

:rolleyes:

Who the hell in their right mind would want to spend the rest of their lives in jail to kill two tools like OJ and Scott Petersen? Won't happen.

Dude maybe they'll get Robert Blake, one last shot.

[Fabulous Shadow]

Originally posted by Roth & Roll
I don't think that's what FAB meant. I think she's referring to the fact that no vigilantes hunted down OJ after he was acquitted.

What does one have to do to get busted for murder in California anyway?

:rolleyes:

that IS what I meant R&R.

I think to be convicted in Cali there has to be hard evidence. Witness, DNA, Confession, Murder Weapon. Californians would rather let a guilty person go free than send an innocent one to prison.

[Fabulous Shadow]

Originally posted by Rikk
OJ did it. One listen to the Bronco chase phone call tapes (OJ talking to Vanatter) will convince you of that. He goes on about how he doesn't deserve to live and poor Nicole. Dude practically admits his guilt several times on that tape. And the prosecution didn't end up entering it into evidence, even though it would have got in.

I agree that OJ did it NOW but in the beginning I just didn't want to believe that a man who once loved a woman enought to marry her and have children with her could do such a thing to her in the long run. Sorry, but I want to believe in the fairy tale.

[Fabulous Shadow]

Originally posted by Brett
Who knows, he probably cut her up in pieces. And doesn't seem like anybody saw him either way.

That's why there was so much BLOOD evidence...

[twonabomber]

they never said Laci was cut up, did they?

[Fabulous Shadow]

No, Brett just thought perhaps...

[twonabomber]

oh, i couldn't remember if they said it or not.

i think this case was in the media too much, and the police were starting to look inept.

[manwiththedogs]

Originally posted by twonabomber
they never said Laci was cut up, did they?
Not cut up, just alot of damage from being in the water for so long.

[EbDawson]

Originally posted by Fabulous Shadow
How would Peterson have got Lacis body into that boat and dumped it without anyone seeing him? Covered in a blue tarp? Like that isn't obvious...

That hot blond on Court TV, Grace something, I got a real bad crush on her. Anyway, she went out on that harbor on a boat on TV and showed how it was pretty easy for someone to dump a body in broad daylight without anyone seeing it. Not a lot of traffic in that harbor and all Peterson would have to do is wait so that no one was within a couple hundred yards of him. No problem.

[Fabulous Shadow]

Two jurors bumped off... Gonna be a hung jury. If there is a conviction,(which I doubt) Peterson has a easy appeal NO DOUBT!

[Cathedral]

Infidelity doesn't make him a murderer, and his lack of compassion doesn't make him a murderer.
Claiming he was fishing, and taking the wrong tackle for the type of fishing doesn't make him a murderer.
Being in the same water where his dead family was found, doesn't make him a murderer.

Yeah right, and my ass shits gold bars...

Sad thing here is that the fucking Jury is a mess and they're gonna make damn sure he walks.

We can hope that Laci's brother will take him out if he walks, and then claims temporary insanity...No Jury would convict him for killing Scott.

[Igosplut]

Originally posted by manwiththedogs
Not cut up, just alot of damage from being in the water for so long.

Remember that the next time you eat lobster..........

[Fabulous Shadow]

The jury has reached a verdict. They will read it at 1:00 PST.
My call... INNOCENT

2 new jurors, I just can't see them reaching a gulity in only 4 hours of diliberations.

anyone else care to guess?

[ALinChainz]

Guilty as the day is long.

[Figs]

If he is innocent, I am going to go on a "fishing trip" as well...

[Ally_Kat]

Originally posted by ALinChainz
Guilty as the day is long.

IAWTP His smirk never settled right with me.

[Ally_Kat]

Watching FOX now. They made OJ like rhymes? WTF. I bet he walks :(

[Steve Savicki]

Originally posted by Brett
Maybe after he gets off, Petersen can help OJ find the real killers. :p
LOL!

[LoungeMachine]

GUILT OR INNOCENCE AS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH THE AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

That being said......

He's as guilty as OJ

and will probably be able to go golfing with him by Sunday.

[Ally_Kat]

GUILTY!

First degree

[guwapo_rocker]

GUILTY!!!

[Ally_Kat]

Guilty

of Conner's death, too!

second degree on that one

[twonabomber]

wow.

[Figs]

My wife is safe for now...

On to plan B...

[SoCalChelle]

Scott Peterson Convicted of Murdering Wife

9 minutes ago Top Stories - AP


By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Scott Peterson (news - web sites) was convicted Friday of murdering his pregnant wife and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay in what prosecutors in the made-for-cable-TV case portrayed as a cold-blooded attempt to escape marriage and fatherhood for the bachelor life.


Peterson, 32, could get the death penalty. The former fertilizer salesman was convicted of one count of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Laci, and one count of second-degree murder in the death of the son she was carrying.


Peterson stared straight ahead as the verdict was read, then looked at each of the jurors as they were polled to confirm their decisions. The jurors looked serious and unsmiling, and none appeared to look back at Peterson. Outside court, cheers broke out among the hundreds of onlookers who gathered to hear word of the verdict.


The verdict came after a five-month trial that was an endless source of fascination to the tabloids, People magazine and the cable networks with its story of an attractive, radiant young couple awaiting the birth of their first child, a cheating husband, and a slaying for which prosecutors had no eyewitnesses, no weapon, not even a cause of death.


The verdict followed a tumultuous seven days of deliberations in which two jurors were removed for unspecified reasons and the judge twice told the panel to start over.


The jury of six men and six women were told to return Nov. 22 to begin hearing testimony on whether Peterson should die by lethal injection or get life in prison without parole.


Laci Peterson (news - web sites), a 27-year-old substitute teacher, was eight months pregnant when she vanished around Christmas Eve 2002. Four months later, her headless body and the remains of her fetus were discovered along the shoreline about 90 miles from the couple's Modesto home — not far from where her husband claims he was fishing alone the day of her disappearance.


Peterson was soon arrested in the San Diego area, more than 400 miles from home, carrying nearly $15,000, his hair and goatee bleached blond.


Police never were able to establish exactly when, how or where Laci died.


At trial, prosecutors presented 174 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, from wiretapped phone calls to videotaped police interrogations, depicting Peterson as a liar and a philanderer who was sweet-talking his girlfriend, massage therapist Amber Frey, at the same time he was trying to show the world he was pining for his missing wife.


Prosecutor Rick Distaso told the jury that Peterson could not stand the thought of being trapped in a "dull, boring, married life with kids," and either strangled or smothered his wife and dumped her weighted-down body overboard from his fishing boat.


"He wants to live the rich, successful, freewheeling bachelor life. He can't do that when he's paying child support, alimony and everything else," Distaso said. "He didn't want to be tied to this kid the rest of his life. He didn't want to be tied to Laci for the rest of his life. So he killed her."


The jury heard how Peterson had bought a two-day ocean-fishing license days before Laci disappeared, yet claimed his fishing trip was a last-minute substitution for golf because of blustery weather. Prosecutors also offered evidence suggesting he used a bag of cement mix to make concrete anchors to sink his wife's body into the bay.


Peterson never took the stand. His lawyers argued that he was the victim of a frame-up. They suggested that someone else — perhaps homeless people, sex offenders or suspicious-looking characters spotted in the neighborhood — abducted Laci while she walked the dog, then killed her and dumped the body in the water after learning of Peterson's fishing-trip alibi.


Peterson's lawyers also offered evidence that the fetus may have died days or weeks after Laci's disappearance, when Scott was being watched closely by the police and the media.


And they explained his lies and inconsistent statements about his affair and his activities around the time of Laci's disappearance as the mutterings of a man in the midst of a breakdown over his missing wife.


Defense attorney Mark Geragos acknowledged the jurors probably hated Peterson, and pleaded with them not to convict him simply because the prosecution had made him look like a "jerk and a liar."





Geragos also noted the lingering questions about how Laci died. "Maybe the logical explanation for the fact that we have no evidence of her struggling in that house, dying in that house is because it didn't happen in that house," he said.

In addition, Geragos said police found that someone had used a computer in the Petersons' home on the morning Laci vanished — after authorities contend Laci was already dead — to search Web sites for a scarf and a sunflower-motif umbrella stand. He suggested the user was Laci.

The story proved irresistible to the cable networks, which almost every night brought in experts to pick apart the two sides' legal strategies and expound on some of the soap opera aspects of the case, which included hours of secretly taped calls in which Peterson spun out elaborate tales to Frey.

Frey herself testified, saying that Peterson told her during their affair that he had "lost his wife." But she said that in all their recorded conversations, he repeatedly professed his love for his wife and never said anything to incriminate himself in her slaying.

In January, the case was moved from Modesto to Redwood City after defense attorneys argued Peterson had been demonized in his hometown to the point that he couldn't get a fair trial.

The verdict came after about eight hours of deliberation by the final 12 jurors.

[Fabulous Shadow]

I can't believe it. Not that I dont agree with it, I just didn't think the judge would accept a Guilty verdict so soon after replacing too jurors. Seems to mee like they just kept kicking off the jurors that didn't go for the guilty verdict. Can they DO that? Peterson has an easy appeal. Any words Sharky?

[ALinChainz]

Not how it went.

First juror wouldn't particpate in deliberations, even after the re-reading of the instructions.

Second was the foreman from the start, but was painfully slow in everything, filled like 20 notebooks of notes. The others wanted a new foreman, he was replaced, and then wanted off if he wasn't the foreman.

To me, this case was clearly a guilty verdict, I wasn't suprised at it's speedy conclusion.

[Fabulous Shadow]

I'm glad there was justice for Laci and Connor. I just hate this type of thing. The guilty verdict brings no peace.

[ALinChainz]

It sure don't.

Can't even fathom it really.

[Antman]

Hung jury? What does penis size have to do with it?

[Fabulous Shadow]

Originally posted by Antman
Hung jury? What does penis size have to do with it?

To quote my DIVA Switch! LMFAOBT!

Justice for Laci and Conner. Death for Scott?

[Steve Savicki]

The Petersons already hate the Rocha's (Laci's maiden name)... now the hate will only escalate.

The Peterson family hates Laci's because the Rocha's took all of Connor's belongings including the crib out of Scott's house without Scott's permission.

Sad, these cases never end happy. Both families have lost so much. :(

[Ally_Kat]

Originally posted by Steve Savicki


The Peterson family hates Laci's because the Rocha's took all of Connor's belongings including the crib out of Scott's house without Scott's permission.


And Scott took Connor's life without Laci's permission. Not to mention Laci's life...

[Fabulous Shadow]

So Steb=ve, what are you in for? ;)

[MAX]

Thank goodness that justice was indeed served.

[Fabulous Shadow]

It's just a shame to think that a man could find it in him to do this to anyone, let alone his WIFE. While I accept it, I still don't want to believe it. :(

[ALinChainz]

Found this interesting in a weird way ...



Peterson's mother, Jackie, bowed her head slightly, but in the seats reserved for the defendant's family and friends, only one person cried: A young woman who works as a personal assistant to Peterson's lead attorney, Mark Geragos.


Why her ... hmmmm.

[ALinChainz]

This too ...



The high-profile Los Angeles lawyer, who has been the public face of Peterson's defense since shortly after his arrest, opted to remain in southern California and tend to other cases rather than be on hand for deliberations.

Throughout the trial, Geragos often put his arm around his client's shoulder and joked and laughed with him as if they were close friends, but for the reading of the verdict, Geragos' chair beside Peterson was occupied by Nareg Gourjian, a junior associate from his firm. Second-chair lawyer Pat Harris was also at the table.



Geragos not even there ... hmmmm.

[Fabulous Shadow]

He had made it clear to the judge that he would not be in court on Fridays. I guess the verdict was no different HUH? What a jackass, not even being there to support his client. I think he knew Scott was going down and didn't want to be there to face there jurors decision. SCUMBAG! Ya know other than getting Winnona off for her shoplifting charges, i don't think he's ever got ANYONE off has he?

[ALinChainz]

Only 14 witnesses in 6 days for a defense that was suppose to prove Peterson "stone cold innocent".

The girl crying made me think about the mail he had been getting in jail, and how the Menendez boys got like fanmail ...

Why would women write this guy ... I could see hate mail ...

[Fabulous Shadow]

Well Al, Scott is a good looking guy. Typically the kind of guy I'd go for. There are women out there who get sympathetic. Look at the Night stalker Richard Ramirez, he got married in prison and he's ugly. I think there are some womwn out there who get turned on by this sick shit!