Peterson verdict being announced!!!

by Billygoat 37 Replies latest social current

  • Billygoat
    Billygoat

    At 3 pm Central Time today on MSNBC. I know it's really fast, which has me a little worried. I hope we don't have another OJ fiasco on our hands.

    Andi

  • Joyzabel
  • truthseeker1
    truthseeker1

    Guilty of murder 1 and 2, with special circumstances....he is gonna be

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    Mofo is guilty as sin... with all of the conflicting evidence that was presented in court, the main thing that stands out in my mind is the fact that he dyed his hair blond, grew facial hair and tried to leave the country under his brothers name and with $10,000 dollars.

  • Billygoat
    Billygoat
    the main thing that stands out in my mind is the fact that he dyed his hair blond, grew facial hair and tried to leave the country under his brothers name and with $10,000 dollars.

    Else,

    That's what got me too!!! If you're NOT guilty, why are you running???

    Andi

  • Joyzabel
    Joyzabel

    or how heartless he was talking to his mistress and sounding like nothing happened after the news hit of his pregnant wife missing.

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    Jury finds Peterson guilty

    REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- Jurors found Scott Peterson guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son.

    Prosecutors had accused Peterson of killing his 27-year-old wife, Laci Peterson, on or around December 24, 2002, in their home in Modesto, California. They said he dumped her body, weighted with homemade cement anchors, in San Francisco Bay. Evidence showed he purchased a boat not long before her death.

    After 184 witnesses testified for 23 weeks, defense attorney Mark Geragos said in closing arguments that prosecutors had introduced no direct evidence that Peterson killed anyone, and he admonished jurors to weigh only the evidence and to put aside their feelings about his client.

    "I don't care if you hate Scott Peterson," Geragos had said.

    During his closing arguments, prosecutor Rick Distaso told jurors that it was a common-sense case in which a man killed his wife and that Peterson was the only one who could have killed Laci.

    The verdict came after San Mateo Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi's dismissal and replacement Tuesday of juror No. 7, a woman who reportedly did her own research on the case. On Wednesday, the judge dismissed juror No. 5, a doctor and lawyer who was the panel's foreman. The reason for his dismissal was not given.

    Replacement juror No. 6, a firefighter, was named the new jury foreman. Court watchers observed that he took few notes during the trial and appeared bored at times. CNN's Rusty Dornin said sources said the new foreman may have been able to smooth over tensions in the jury room.

    During the trial, the defense maintained that police bungled the investigation and targeted Peterson to the exclusion of other viable suspects. Geragos claimed Peterson was framed, possibly by a homeless person or a burglar.

    Distaso also theorized that Peterson's motive was not to continue an admitted affair with massage therapist Amber Frey, but freedom from the burden of a wife and son, or if he became divorced, freedom from paying child support.

    Geragos said his client would never murder his wife to be with a woman he had only gone out with a few times, even telling jurors of Peterson's two previous affairs.

    Geragos pointed out that those weights were never found. "If there were anchors, why didn't they find them?" Geragos asked jurors in his summation.

    Laci Peterson was about eight months pregnant when she disappeared.

    Scott Peterson was arrested April 18, 2003, just days after the remains of Laci and their unborn son, whom they planned to name Conner, washed ashore in San Francisco Bay near the marina where Peterson said he launched his boat on a fishing trip on Christmas Eve 2002.

    He had dyed his hair blonde and had nearly $15,000 in cash. Prosecutors said he was preparing to flee to Mexico.

    On January 24, 2003, Frey stepped up to a microphone and told reporters that she had been having an affair with Peterson before and after his wife went missing.

    She said she began cooperating with police when she found out her lover had lied to her about many things, including his marital status.

    During his trial, the prosecution played tapes of phone calls Peterson made to Frey while searches were under way for his missing wife.

    The calls between Peterson and Frey revealed a web of lies by the defendant, including his statement to her that he celebrated New Year's 2003 near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

    In fact, the day that call was made he attended a candlelight vigil for his wife in Modesto.

    Jury selection in the trial began March 4, 2004, and opening statements started June 1.

    Before the six men and six women began deliberating November 3, the judge told jurors they had two choices if they decided to convict: first-degree murder, carrying a possible death sentence or life without parole; and second-degree murder, with the potential of two sentences of 15 years to life.

    Delucchi explained, "First-degree murder you need ... expressed malice and intent to kill and premeditation."

    Second-degree, he said, means Peterson killed them but didn't plan it. The judge added the lesser charge after finding there was ample evidence to support a case that did not involve premeditation.

    The option of the lesser charge was a victory for prosecutors, because evidence against Peterson was largely circumstantial.

    CNN's Rusty Dornin contributed to this report.

  • Double Edge
    Double Edge

    He's toast.

  • Happy Guy :)
    Happy Guy :)

    That's what got me too!!! If you're NOT guilty, why are you running???

    It didn't seem to hurt O.J.

  • Billygoat
    Billygoat
    It didn't seem to hurt O.J.

    That's what I was afraid of!!!

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