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CNN Live Today
Peterson Home Searched
Aired February 19, 2003 - 11:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Detectives returned to Scott and Laci Peterson's home today. They resumed their search for clues in the Christmas Eve disappearance of the pregnant woman.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has been covering the story for some time. Let's go check in with her right now. She is standing by live in Modesto, California this morning.
Hello, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, we're expecting the Modesto police detectives to show up at any time. And when they do arrive at Scott and Laci Peterson's house, they'll have quite an audience. There is an army of print and broadcast journalists awaiting the investigators.
Now, all night long there has been a police vehicle parked in front of Scott Peterson's house. It has been sealed off. He was forced to spend the night somewhere else. And in front of that unmarked car you can see the Dodge pickup that police impounded yesterday. Now that is the pickup he bought about four weeks after his wife disappeared. Now, police confiscated that yesterday, took it down to the station, searched it for evidence, and then did return it here late yesterday.
But they spent 10 hours in Scott Peterson's house yesterday, bringing out bags and bags of material, about 50 grocery bags and hefty bags full of evidence that they collected from the house.
Now, they didn't say what that evidence was, but we could see from some of the labels on the sides of the bags, it was things like photo albums and phone books, among a lot of other things.
Now, they did spend a lot of time searching outside and inside. We could see them even up with flashlights into the eves of the house searching. So they will be back today. They did not say how long. They will be here.
The one thing that's interesting that happened yesterday was Amy Rocha, Laci Peterson's sister, was brought here by investigators, she spent two hours in the house, came out later, was very grim faced, and did not talk to reporters. Police would only say she was there to help detectives.
And, of course, Scott Peterson, we're still being told he is not a suspect but that he has not been eliminated from the investigation; it's the same line that they've had all along. In the meantime, his mother is complaining that the Modesto Police Department is harassing her son. She is complaining to news organizations. The Modesto Police say that's not true. This is all just due course in their investigation, although Mrs. Peterson has a right to say what she wants, so we'll see how long they'll stay here today and if they're expected to wrap up today -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thanks, Rusty, the story gets more and more interesting as it goes along.
Let's move on now, detectives first searched the Peterson home the day after Christmas, you may know that, but what new evidence could they possibly find some 55 days later? Well, that's the question we'll pose to Don Clark, the former FBI special agent and frequent guest on this show. He joins us from Houston.
Glad to have you back on CNN LIVE TODAY.
DON CLARK, FMR. FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Hey, Leon, good to talk to you again.
HARRIS: I got to ask you, first of all, why would you go back 55 days later?
CLARK: Well, Leon, you got to look at what they're doing here; they're conducting a search, and this is not a consent search, which means they had to provide information to an independent body, that being a judge, which really relates to probable cause, so somewhere along the line, Leon, the detectives have gathered something that was sufficient probable cause for a judge to say, OK, here's a warrant, go back in and look at it.
But what are they looking for? Probably very small elements of anything that DNA could possibly detect.
HARRIS: Well, that's what gets me, if you're looking for DNA, why is it then they would confiscate this man's truck? This truck, as we understand, was bought after Laci disappeared, and days after she disappeared, so why would they go and confiscate a truck he acquired after she was gone.
CLARK: Well, Leon, we'd probably just have to guess. And I really hate to guess on police who are out there following information that we don't have access to, but there could very well have been opportunities for something to have been loaded into this vehicle, even subsequent to the disappearance of Laci, and I just think that they don't want to risk any opportunities of missing the smallest piece of evidence that might connect either Scott or somebody to this disappearance.
HARRIS: All right. let me ask you this as well, this search warrant was conducted, and as we saw, Scott Peterson was not there, he was gone, he was outside, but Amy Roach, who is Laci's sister, did go along with the police, they asked her to go along with them, and she went inside along on the search. Why is it the sister would go along inside with the search and not the husband? CLARK: Well, I suspect that the police feel that the sister may be able to help them identify some of the things in there as it relates to Laci as to what Laci might have touched or what she would have in her possession, and keep in mind, Leon, that they are still in an elimination process, so if there may be something in this house that the sister can say one thing about that they don't have to really work and try to discover or rediscover what's taken place, then that can help the investigation and maybe speed the process along.
HARRIS: So you don't look at all these different moves as being moves here as being moves that would be just putting heat on Scott, even though they're not calling him a suspect?
CLARK: Well, you know, again, I'm not going to second-guess them, but I have to tell you, if you start getting a search warrant for a property, which means that you have probable cause, then you've got to be very close to saying that this person is a suspect. If we're still in the elimination process, if Scott is not at all being suspected in this, then why do you need a search warrant? I'm sure consent would be appropriate there, but that's not what we're seeing, so you've got to be talking very close to being a suspect.
HARRIS: Finally here, do you think they may be moving toward an arrest anytime soon, do you think an arrest is imminent? What do your instincts here as an officer tells you?
CLARK: I wouldn't say that arrest is imminent, because it takes a large degree of probable cause to go ahead and make this arrest, and oftentimes, law enforcement officials are looking for that link in that search to make that leap from just being a suspect to being an arrest, so I could not at all say it's imminent. Based on the way they seem to be handling him at this point, it doesn't appear that something has been found to say, we can make that jump to an arrest situation.
HARRIS: We have to jump on to some other news right now, Don Clark in Houston, thanks much, as always. Take care. See you soon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 19, 2003 - 11:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Detectives returned to Scott and Laci Peterson's home today. They resumed their search for clues in the Christmas Eve disappearance of the pregnant woman.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has been covering the story for some time. Let's go check in with her right now. She is standing by live in Modesto, California this morning.
Hello, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, we're expecting the Modesto police detectives to show up at any time. And when they do arrive at Scott and Laci Peterson's house, they'll have quite an audience. There is an army of print and broadcast journalists awaiting the investigators.
Now, all night long there has been a police vehicle parked in front of Scott Peterson's house. It has been sealed off. He was forced to spend the night somewhere else. And in front of that unmarked car you can see the Dodge pickup that police impounded yesterday. Now that is the pickup he bought about four weeks after his wife disappeared. Now, police confiscated that yesterday, took it down to the station, searched it for evidence, and then did return it here late yesterday.
But they spent 10 hours in Scott Peterson's house yesterday, bringing out bags and bags of material, about 50 grocery bags and hefty bags full of evidence that they collected from the house.
Now, they didn't say what that evidence was, but we could see from some of the labels on the sides of the bags, it was things like photo albums and phone books, among a lot of other things.
Now, they did spend a lot of time searching outside and inside. We could see them even up with flashlights into the eves of the house searching. So they will be back today. They did not say how long. They will be here.
The one thing that's interesting that happened yesterday was Amy Rocha, Laci Peterson's sister, was brought here by investigators, she spent two hours in the house, came out later, was very grim faced, and did not talk to reporters. Police would only say she was there to help detectives.
And, of course, Scott Peterson, we're still being told he is not a suspect but that he has not been eliminated from the investigation; it's the same line that they've had all along. In the meantime, his mother is complaining that the Modesto Police Department is harassing her son. She is complaining to news organizations. The Modesto Police say that's not true. This is all just due course in their investigation, although Mrs. Peterson has a right to say what she wants, so we'll see how long they'll stay here today and if they're expected to wrap up today -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thanks, Rusty, the story gets more and more interesting as it goes along.
Let's move on now, detectives first searched the Peterson home the day after Christmas, you may know that, but what new evidence could they possibly find some 55 days later? Well, that's the question we'll pose to Don Clark, the former FBI special agent and frequent guest on this show. He joins us from Houston.
Glad to have you back on CNN LIVE TODAY.
DON CLARK, FMR. FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Hey, Leon, good to talk to you again.
HARRIS: I got to ask you, first of all, why would you go back 55 days later?
CLARK: Well, Leon, you got to look at what they're doing here; they're conducting a search, and this is not a consent search, which means they had to provide information to an independent body, that being a judge, which really relates to probable cause, so somewhere along the line, Leon, the detectives have gathered something that was sufficient probable cause for a judge to say, OK, here's a warrant, go back in and look at it.
But what are they looking for? Probably very small elements of anything that DNA could possibly detect.
HARRIS: Well, that's what gets me, if you're looking for DNA, why is it then they would confiscate this man's truck? This truck, as we understand, was bought after Laci disappeared, and days after she disappeared, so why would they go and confiscate a truck he acquired after she was gone.
CLARK: Well, Leon, we'd probably just have to guess. And I really hate to guess on police who are out there following information that we don't have access to, but there could very well have been opportunities for something to have been loaded into this vehicle, even subsequent to the disappearance of Laci, and I just think that they don't want to risk any opportunities of missing the smallest piece of evidence that might connect either Scott or somebody to this disappearance.
HARRIS: All right. let me ask you this as well, this search warrant was conducted, and as we saw, Scott Peterson was not there, he was gone, he was outside, but Amy Roach, who is Laci's sister, did go along with the police, they asked her to go along with them, and she went inside along on the search. Why is it the sister would go along inside with the search and not the husband? CLARK: Well, I suspect that the police feel that the sister may be able to help them identify some of the things in there as it relates to Laci as to what Laci might have touched or what she would have in her possession, and keep in mind, Leon, that they are still in an elimination process, so if there may be something in this house that the sister can say one thing about that they don't have to really work and try to discover or rediscover what's taken place, then that can help the investigation and maybe speed the process along.
HARRIS: So you don't look at all these different moves as being moves here as being moves that would be just putting heat on Scott, even though they're not calling him a suspect?
CLARK: Well, you know, again, I'm not going to second-guess them, but I have to tell you, if you start getting a search warrant for a property, which means that you have probable cause, then you've got to be very close to saying that this person is a suspect. If we're still in the elimination process, if Scott is not at all being suspected in this, then why do you need a search warrant? I'm sure consent would be appropriate there, but that's not what we're seeing, so you've got to be talking very close to being a suspect.
HARRIS: Finally here, do you think they may be moving toward an arrest anytime soon, do you think an arrest is imminent? What do your instincts here as an officer tells you?
CLARK: I wouldn't say that arrest is imminent, because it takes a large degree of probable cause to go ahead and make this arrest, and oftentimes, law enforcement officials are looking for that link in that search to make that leap from just being a suspect to being an arrest, so I could not at all say it's imminent. Based on the way they seem to be handling him at this point, it doesn't appear that something has been found to say, we can make that jump to an arrest situation.
HARRIS: We have to jump on to some other news right now, Don Clark in Houston, thanks much, as always. Take care. See you soon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
