Scott Peterson Stale News
Whilst researching other murderers, I found this old tidbit:
Condemned killer Scott Peterson is attempting to halt publication of a book written by a lawyer kicked off his case for violating a judge's gag order....
Matthew Dalton was employed with Geragos & Geragos during the early stages of the Peterson case. He was removed after violating a judge's order not to speak to the media. In an August 2003 conversation with reporters, Dalton floated a human sacrifice theory in the killing of Peterson's wife, Laci.
Peterson was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of his pregnant wife and their unborn son. His lawyers did not pursue the human sacrifice defense at trial. His case is on automatic appeal.
Dalton's book, "Presumed Guilty," is scheduled for publication Dec. 13 by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book's subtitle is "What the jury never knew about Laci Peterson's murder and why Scott Peterson should not be on death row."
I'd like to hear what gloria Allred will say about the book. She said a lot in 2003 (in a story dated September 26):
One of Scott Peterson's attorneys has left his defense team -- and no one
associated with the double-murder case is saying why. Matthew Dalton, whose
role in the high-profile case mostly was confined to behind-the-scenes legwork,
is no longer employed by the Los Angeles law firm of Geragos & Geragos....
"It's damaging to Scott Peterson to have an important part of his defense team
suddenly disappear," said Gloria Allred, a Los Angeles attorney representing
Peterson's former girlfriend. Amber Frey could provide crucial testimony in
court proceedings and Allred, attempting to preserve Frey's credibility,
has crossed swords with Geragos.
"To have division in the ranks at a time when it's important to put together a
good case, I can't see how that would be a benefit to Scott Peterson," Allred said....
Though Dalton largely was relegated to third-tier status behind Geragos and
co-counsel Kirk McAllister of Modesto, he figured in a series of public moves
since his former boss came on the scene in late April:
In May, Dalton suggested to reporters that Laci Peterson's family members
were burglarizing the Petersons' La Loma-area home.
The dead woman's family entered the Covena Avenue home without
coordinating with Scott Peterson's parents and removed truckloads of items,
including her wedding dress, a rocking chair and a crib. The methodical moving
was widely reported and touched off an emotional debate over property
rights of victims' survivors vs. those accused of heinous crimes.
In June, Dalton told a judge in open session that the defense team had evidence
pointing to "real killers" and offered to present it behind closed doors. The
judge scheduled a private hearing; Dalton was seen banging on the door
after it began but was not admitted.
After the meeting, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger
Beauchesne wrote in a decision, "No evidence on the investigation of
'other suspects' was presented."
Outside the courtroom after the initial June hearing, Dalton cryptically
referred to shoes allegedly removed by Laci Peterson's family in May. Though
Dalton called them "important evidence," television pundits criticized the
statement, saying investigators on both sides would have taken possession
of them long ago if they figured in the murders.
In August, Dalton -- despite a court-imposed gag order barring discussion of
most aspects of the case -- outlined a theory involving kidnapping and human
sacrifice, in full view of two Bee journalists.
Dalton, using a map and laptop computer, showed two forensics experts artwork
that he said depicted ritualistic killings. The paintings are on a peninsula near
where Scott Peterson said he fished alone on Christmas Eve, the day his
pregnant wife was reported missing.
Remains of mother and son were recovered within miles of the point in April.
Dalton -- as a photographer snapped flash pictures and a reporter took notes
-- said the defense team placed floats in the water near the paintings and
they drifted near where the bodies were found....
But was the satanic cults defense really Geragos' idea, rather than Dalton's?
Legal scholar Michael Vitiello said it's not uncommon for
lead attorneys to use other lawyers as "fall guys."
In a high-profile case two decades ago, a first-chair attorney wanted to
disassociate himself from a noncredible witness by having Vitiello, a legal
consultant, question the witness in court, he said. Vitiello now is a professor
with Sacramento's McGeorge School of Law.
Perhaps, Vitiello said, Geragos hoped to use Dalton to "float a trial balloon, and
if (it) turns out to be a dud, (Geragos) says, 'It was that (guy) over there.'"
But there's the important question - is Scott Peterson a double murderer, or not? Blame Bush! (!) explores the issues in a highly civilized manner:
[I]s Peterson really guilty of murder, or is he merely the victim of a right-wing plot to undermine Roe v. Wade and ruin everyone's good time?...
[C]ondemning him for the murder of what Christian extremists call an "unborn child" will only give the anti-choice zealots the ammunition they need to completely abolish a woman's constitutional Right to Choose. By making it a double-felony to murder a pregnant woman, Bush's preposterous Unborn Victims of Violence Act was the opening salvo in his immoral war against women's reproductive rights....
Sadly, Scott Peterson's isn't the only blood Bush has on his hands. The Shrub is solely responsible for the mysterious death of Peterson's wife, Laci, as well. From the moment she discovered that she was stricken with pregnancy, Laci Peterson began behaving as if the lifeless lump of goo inside her were actually alive. She named the goo. She bought clothes for the goo. She had a goo shower. Totally oblivious to the feminist's 40 year struggle against male hegemony, she strutted around town like some sort of expectant mother....
It's enough to spark a murderous rage....
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