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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Catherine Crier
Aired April 19, 2003 - 14:19 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.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: She disappeared on Christmas Eve, and two days before Easter, her family heard the news they hoped never to hear. Authorities say the remains of a woman and a fetus found last week are Laci Peterson and her unborn child. Her husband Scott Peterson has been arrested and is facing double murder charges. CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now live from Modesto, California -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jonathan, what we understand Scott Peterson was arrested just outside of the parking lot of the Torrey Pines (ph) Golf Course just north of San Diego, arrested without incident. He was brought here very late last night and only to be greeted by a crowd of jeering people outside of the jail. People angry about what has happened during this whole past four months.
Now, if you look at the pictures of Scott Peterson before he left Modesto and when he was arrested, you can see a very different look. He's sporting a different hair color. He's grown a beard and lost a few pounds. Police were very concerned that he might have fled had he learned that the bodies were ID'ed. That's one of the reasons that they picked him up before the announcement was made. They were concerned that he might flee down to Mexico. Police Chief Roy Wasden said, however, they did not need to identify the bodies to make an arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ROY WASDEN, MODESTO, CALIF. POLICE: We believe that we were very close to having enough information to make an arrest in this case. Of course, the discovery of the remains were -- it really accelerated everything forward. But we were -- the detectives were working towards that conclusion. They were consulting with the prosecutors, the district attorney's office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, sources very close to the investigation did tell me that the searchers will be going back out, looking for some very specific things. One would be the weights that they believe are still at the bottom of the bay that may have been used to weigh down Laci Peterson. They believe if they can compare the cement shavings from that with cement shavings that were found on the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat, it would be equivalent to a smoking gun.
Now, the family here of course has been devastated by this news and asked to be left alone for this Easter weekend. Meantime, out in front of Laci's house, there has been a shrine where people have just been coming by with flowers and toys and notes to Laci and to her unborn son, Connor -- Jonathan.
KARL: All right, Rusty Dornin in Modesto, thank you very much.
Police have been watching Peterson closely ever since his wife disappeared, but he had not been named a suspect in the case. His arrest came shortly before the bodies of Laci Peterson and her infant son were positively identified. So what happens next? Joining us now to talk about all the legal angles is "Court TV's" Catherine Crier. Catherine, thank you for joining us.
CATHERINE CRIER, COURT TV: You bet.
KARL: So what kind of evidence -- was there any direct evidence that we know of that led to the arrest of Scott Peterson?
CRIER: No. But as we've seen in more and more cases of late, circumstantial evidence is finally in the minds of citizens. The equivalent of direct, it always has been. You have got direct, which is the eyeball, the eyewitness, but circumstantial evidence, particularly with all of the amazing forensics we have today, really is oftentimes more reliable than an eyewitness.
Now, whether someone comes forward now and says, well, you know, I did see him moving a large trunk or I did see something that I didn't put in place beforehand, that may still be to come, but as you heard from the police chief, they were prepared to go forward even before the identification of the body, so I think they have more than they have been tell us.
KARL: Much has been made of how he changed his appearance.
CRIER: Yes.
KARL: And you can take a look at the picture the kind of before and after Scott Peterson. He was found from San Diego, not far from the Mexican border. Did they think he was a flight risk? I mean (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
CRIER: Well, let's use our common sense. There are a lot of people that -- of course this man is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty in the court of law. But this is someone who did not come forward when the bodies were located, demonstrated no concerns, shall we say, at least publicly about who they might be, had changed his appearance and was locating himself close to the border. I think it's a reasonable assumption that the police would be concerned about a flight risk.
KARL: Now, he did throughout this, at least in the early stages, cooperate with the media. He did interviews -- I mean, with many different media outlets. During that time, was he also cooperating with the police?
CRIER: No, he was not. We know from the very beginning he refused to take a polygraph. He did not come in and have conversations with them. And of course, people including her family began to plead with him, and of course once the information about the affair came out, that Laci Peterson's family, her mother and father backed off, and changed their attitude quite a bit, but yes, he's gone public to seem sympathetic on the air about pleading for his wife, but he disappeared pretty quickly, and we could understand why, because the evidence certainly was putting him at the top of the suspect list.
KARL: We are running out of time, but what would his lawyer be doing at a time like this? Here is a guy who changed his appearance, a guy who has a mountain of circumstantial evidence. What would his lawyer be doing that the point?
CRIER: Well, I'm going to be really catty and say I'd be working on a good plea bargain, since it's a capital case and a double homicide. But obviously what I expect is that Scott will tell him all about his alibi and he is going to try to strengthen that based, primarily on the fact that the forensics may not be able to show cause of death. That doesn't matter. There is ample circumstantial evidence. If I were the prosecutor, I'd be ready to try the case.
KARL: All right, "Court TV's" Catherine Crier, thanks very much.
CRIER: You are welcome.
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 April 19, 2003 - 14:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: She disappeared on Christmas Eve, and two days before Easter, her family heard the news they hoped never to hear. Authorities say the remains of a woman and a fetus found last week are Laci Peterson and her unborn child. Her husband Scott Peterson has been arrested and is facing double murder charges. CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now live from Modesto, California -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jonathan, what we understand Scott Peterson was arrested just outside of the parking lot of the Torrey Pines (ph) Golf Course just north of San Diego, arrested without incident. He was brought here very late last night and only to be greeted by a crowd of jeering people outside of the jail. People angry about what has happened during this whole past four months.
Now, if you look at the pictures of Scott Peterson before he left Modesto and when he was arrested, you can see a very different look. He's sporting a different hair color. He's grown a beard and lost a few pounds. Police were very concerned that he might have fled had he learned that the bodies were ID'ed. That's one of the reasons that they picked him up before the announcement was made. They were concerned that he might flee down to Mexico. Police Chief Roy Wasden said, however, they did not need to identify the bodies to make an arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ROY WASDEN, MODESTO, CALIF. POLICE: We believe that we were very close to having enough information to make an arrest in this case. Of course, the discovery of the remains were -- it really accelerated everything forward. But we were -- the detectives were working towards that conclusion. They were consulting with the prosecutors, the district attorney's office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, sources very close to the investigation did tell me that the searchers will be going back out, looking for some very specific things. One would be the weights that they believe are still at the bottom of the bay that may have been used to weigh down Laci Peterson. They believe if they can compare the cement shavings from that with cement shavings that were found on the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat, it would be equivalent to a smoking gun.
Now, the family here of course has been devastated by this news and asked to be left alone for this Easter weekend. Meantime, out in front of Laci's house, there has been a shrine where people have just been coming by with flowers and toys and notes to Laci and to her unborn son, Connor -- Jonathan.
KARL: All right, Rusty Dornin in Modesto, thank you very much.
Police have been watching Peterson closely ever since his wife disappeared, but he had not been named a suspect in the case. His arrest came shortly before the bodies of Laci Peterson and her infant son were positively identified. So what happens next? Joining us now to talk about all the legal angles is "Court TV's" Catherine Crier. Catherine, thank you for joining us.
CATHERINE CRIER, COURT TV: You bet.
KARL: So what kind of evidence -- was there any direct evidence that we know of that led to the arrest of Scott Peterson?
CRIER: No. But as we've seen in more and more cases of late, circumstantial evidence is finally in the minds of citizens. The equivalent of direct, it always has been. You have got direct, which is the eyeball, the eyewitness, but circumstantial evidence, particularly with all of the amazing forensics we have today, really is oftentimes more reliable than an eyewitness.
Now, whether someone comes forward now and says, well, you know, I did see him moving a large trunk or I did see something that I didn't put in place beforehand, that may still be to come, but as you heard from the police chief, they were prepared to go forward even before the identification of the body, so I think they have more than they have been tell us.
KARL: Much has been made of how he changed his appearance.
CRIER: Yes.
KARL: And you can take a look at the picture the kind of before and after Scott Peterson. He was found from San Diego, not far from the Mexican border. Did they think he was a flight risk? I mean (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
CRIER: Well, let's use our common sense. There are a lot of people that -- of course this man is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty in the court of law. But this is someone who did not come forward when the bodies were located, demonstrated no concerns, shall we say, at least publicly about who they might be, had changed his appearance and was locating himself close to the border. I think it's a reasonable assumption that the police would be concerned about a flight risk.
KARL: Now, he did throughout this, at least in the early stages, cooperate with the media. He did interviews -- I mean, with many different media outlets. During that time, was he also cooperating with the police?
CRIER: No, he was not. We know from the very beginning he refused to take a polygraph. He did not come in and have conversations with them. And of course, people including her family began to plead with him, and of course once the information about the affair came out, that Laci Peterson's family, her mother and father backed off, and changed their attitude quite a bit, but yes, he's gone public to seem sympathetic on the air about pleading for his wife, but he disappeared pretty quickly, and we could understand why, because the evidence certainly was putting him at the top of the suspect list.
KARL: We are running out of time, but what would his lawyer be doing at a time like this? Here is a guy who changed his appearance, a guy who has a mountain of circumstantial evidence. What would his lawyer be doing that the point?
CRIER: Well, I'm going to be really catty and say I'd be working on a good plea bargain, since it's a capital case and a double homicide. But obviously what I expect is that Scott will tell him all about his alibi and he is going to try to strengthen that based, primarily on the fact that the forensics may not be able to show cause of death. That doesn't matter. There is ample circumstantial evidence. If I were the prosecutor, I'd be ready to try the case.
KARL: All right, "Court TV's" Catherine Crier, thanks very much.
CRIER: You are welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
