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American Morning
D.A. Wants Peterson Autopsy Results Made Public
Aired May 30, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the dramatic developments in the Laci Peterson murder case. Live to Modesto and David Mattingly, who is keeping track of all of that for us.
David -- good morning there.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
We had originally expected to hear by today from the judge in this case whether or not the autopsy reports on Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Connor, would be made public. But that decision now up in the air because of yesterday's leaking of excerpts of that report to the news media and the reports of those coming out yesterday.
CNN obtained these excerpts from a source familiar with the investigation. They reveal that baby Connor was found with plastic tape looped one-and-a-half times around the neck, and with what appeared to a post-mortem tear on the upper torso.
The age of the fetus, also according to the source, was 33 to 38 weeks. That is consistent with the time Laci Peterson first disappeared.
The reporting of this information very upsetting to Laci Peterson's family -- that, according to a spokesperson for the Rocha family.
According to the district attorney, neither the family nor the police had seen the autopsy reports. They had been sealed by the court. Both the D.A. and Scott Peterson's defense team had argued to keep that information from being made public. But because they have now been leaked to the media, the D.A. has changed its mind. It is now asking the court to make the entire report public, saying that the excerpts that were released were skewed in the favor of the defense. They now want the entire report made public, so the public can make up its own mind on what is truly accurate and what the full report is trying to say about the condition of Laci Peterson and her unborn son -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, to this point, though, there has been no refuting of that evidence that's been put out yesterday. Is that correct? Or is this a position where the D.A. cannot comment because of rules in place by the judge?
MATTINGLY: The D.A. said in the court motion that it filed yesterday that it cannot comment on this because of the court ruling. If this report is made public, then they will be able to do that. The defense also yesterday not having any comment about what was said -- Bill.
HEMMER: David Mattingly, thanks for that update again in Modesto, California.
A short time ago, I sat down and talked with a well-known pathologist, Michael Baden, well-known for so many murder cases across the country. Based on what we're hearing as of yesterday, what do we know now about the possibility of this murder and how it may be solved? Here is Dr. Baden's response on that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: I think it's dangerous to make any conclusions on partial information, especially because some of what's being released is in contradiction to other leaks that have gone on. For the baby to have been in better condition than the mom means that the baby was in the mom's womb for many months before being released into the water. If this tape is real, if somebody really put the tape around the baby's neck, that means the baby would have been put in at the same time as the mom, four months before, and would not be in the same condition as he is when he was found.
HEMMER: So, if in the water then the baby is along with Laci's body as well, is it possible this cut on the torso, the plastic that we're now hearing described, could this have been debris in the water?
BADEN: Yes, debris causing damage to the baby and debris wrapping around the neck. But we don't know that until we get the whole autopsy report. And these -- bodies in water are very difficult to interpret, because all kinds of fish, rocks, boats, propellers can strike the bodies and cause injuries that are very difficult to distinguish.
HEMMER: Is it possible this could all mean nothing?
BADEN: Well, it means something, but it may not mean as much as the media is playing it up to right now.
HEMMER: What about the D.A. right now going back on the information saying, OK, go ahead and release it to the public. What's the strategy here, and is it possible that some of these reports so far could be inaccurate in trying to refute that?
BADEN: Yes, I think the district attorney probably feels that the public is getting a biased view of what the autopsy findings are, either because what's being released in part or in whole is not accurate, or is being very selective, so that without taking these bits of information in context one can easily get a missed interpretation of what the findings are.
HEMMER: So, then the prosecutor publicly is trying to shoot down some of the theories that have been offered publicly by the defense.
BADEN: That's right. Yes. HEMMER: You gave a statistic recently. You said since Laci disappeared back on the 24th of December, 8,000 murders have occurred in the United States.
BADEN: Yes.
HEMMER: How did you arrive at that figure?
BADEN: There were about -- last year, there were about 19,000 murders in the United States, and just figuring out in five months since Laci, going on the average that we've been going on the past many years, there have been 8,000 murders in that five-month period of time.
HEMMER: Take the next statistic. You say in large cities a third of these 8,000, roughly 2,400, maybe 3,000 will never be solved?
BADEN: That's correct. It's amazing more than a third of the murders in the United States are not solved.
HEMMER: If that is the case then, Doctor, why do you believe this story and this murder has been so prominent?
BADEN: Well, I think it caught the public at a time when young, a pregnant woman who is not a football player, who is not a congressman, who has a wonderful smile...
HEMMER: Not an actor.
BADEN: ... who has this wonderful smile, I think the smile was captivating to everybody. An innocent, wonderful smile that identified her right away, and she looks like a very innocent person who suddenly disappears and then suddenly dies, and a handsome husband who you wouldn't expect this kind of suspicion falling upon.
HEMMER: Is it too early to ask you whether or not this will be solved?
BADEN: Yes, I think this will be solved, but I think it's -- it's not a slam dunk. I think -- remember, in the total context, a cause of death has not been arrived at. It's hard to prosecute a murder without a cause of death. It can be done, but then there has to be some very good forensic-linking evidence. And as of now, with all of the leaks, that hasn't been forthcoming.
So, we don't know what the prosecutor has, but I think it's a solvable case, but it's a difficult case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: June 6, a week from today, back in court, perhaps an answer then as to the release of the autopsy report.
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 May 30, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the dramatic developments in the Laci Peterson murder case. Live to Modesto and David Mattingly, who is keeping track of all of that for us.
David -- good morning there.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
We had originally expected to hear by today from the judge in this case whether or not the autopsy reports on Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Connor, would be made public. But that decision now up in the air because of yesterday's leaking of excerpts of that report to the news media and the reports of those coming out yesterday.
CNN obtained these excerpts from a source familiar with the investigation. They reveal that baby Connor was found with plastic tape looped one-and-a-half times around the neck, and with what appeared to a post-mortem tear on the upper torso.
The age of the fetus, also according to the source, was 33 to 38 weeks. That is consistent with the time Laci Peterson first disappeared.
The reporting of this information very upsetting to Laci Peterson's family -- that, according to a spokesperson for the Rocha family.
According to the district attorney, neither the family nor the police had seen the autopsy reports. They had been sealed by the court. Both the D.A. and Scott Peterson's defense team had argued to keep that information from being made public. But because they have now been leaked to the media, the D.A. has changed its mind. It is now asking the court to make the entire report public, saying that the excerpts that were released were skewed in the favor of the defense. They now want the entire report made public, so the public can make up its own mind on what is truly accurate and what the full report is trying to say about the condition of Laci Peterson and her unborn son -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, to this point, though, there has been no refuting of that evidence that's been put out yesterday. Is that correct? Or is this a position where the D.A. cannot comment because of rules in place by the judge?
MATTINGLY: The D.A. said in the court motion that it filed yesterday that it cannot comment on this because of the court ruling. If this report is made public, then they will be able to do that. The defense also yesterday not having any comment about what was said -- Bill.
HEMMER: David Mattingly, thanks for that update again in Modesto, California.
A short time ago, I sat down and talked with a well-known pathologist, Michael Baden, well-known for so many murder cases across the country. Based on what we're hearing as of yesterday, what do we know now about the possibility of this murder and how it may be solved? Here is Dr. Baden's response on that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: I think it's dangerous to make any conclusions on partial information, especially because some of what's being released is in contradiction to other leaks that have gone on. For the baby to have been in better condition than the mom means that the baby was in the mom's womb for many months before being released into the water. If this tape is real, if somebody really put the tape around the baby's neck, that means the baby would have been put in at the same time as the mom, four months before, and would not be in the same condition as he is when he was found.
HEMMER: So, if in the water then the baby is along with Laci's body as well, is it possible this cut on the torso, the plastic that we're now hearing described, could this have been debris in the water?
BADEN: Yes, debris causing damage to the baby and debris wrapping around the neck. But we don't know that until we get the whole autopsy report. And these -- bodies in water are very difficult to interpret, because all kinds of fish, rocks, boats, propellers can strike the bodies and cause injuries that are very difficult to distinguish.
HEMMER: Is it possible this could all mean nothing?
BADEN: Well, it means something, but it may not mean as much as the media is playing it up to right now.
HEMMER: What about the D.A. right now going back on the information saying, OK, go ahead and release it to the public. What's the strategy here, and is it possible that some of these reports so far could be inaccurate in trying to refute that?
BADEN: Yes, I think the district attorney probably feels that the public is getting a biased view of what the autopsy findings are, either because what's being released in part or in whole is not accurate, or is being very selective, so that without taking these bits of information in context one can easily get a missed interpretation of what the findings are.
HEMMER: So, then the prosecutor publicly is trying to shoot down some of the theories that have been offered publicly by the defense.
BADEN: That's right. Yes. HEMMER: You gave a statistic recently. You said since Laci disappeared back on the 24th of December, 8,000 murders have occurred in the United States.
BADEN: Yes.
HEMMER: How did you arrive at that figure?
BADEN: There were about -- last year, there were about 19,000 murders in the United States, and just figuring out in five months since Laci, going on the average that we've been going on the past many years, there have been 8,000 murders in that five-month period of time.
HEMMER: Take the next statistic. You say in large cities a third of these 8,000, roughly 2,400, maybe 3,000 will never be solved?
BADEN: That's correct. It's amazing more than a third of the murders in the United States are not solved.
HEMMER: If that is the case then, Doctor, why do you believe this story and this murder has been so prominent?
BADEN: Well, I think it caught the public at a time when young, a pregnant woman who is not a football player, who is not a congressman, who has a wonderful smile...
HEMMER: Not an actor.
BADEN: ... who has this wonderful smile, I think the smile was captivating to everybody. An innocent, wonderful smile that identified her right away, and she looks like a very innocent person who suddenly disappears and then suddenly dies, and a handsome husband who you wouldn't expect this kind of suspicion falling upon.
HEMMER: Is it too early to ask you whether or not this will be solved?
BADEN: Yes, I think this will be solved, but I think it's -- it's not a slam dunk. I think -- remember, in the total context, a cause of death has not been arrived at. It's hard to prosecute a murder without a cause of death. It can be done, but then there has to be some very good forensic-linking evidence. And as of now, with all of the leaks, that hasn't been forthcoming.
So, we don't know what the prosecutor has, but I think it's a solvable case, but it's a difficult case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: June 6, a week from today, back in court, perhaps an answer then as to the release of the autopsy report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
