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Laci Peterson Case: Still Searching for Evidence
Aired May 16, 2003 - 14:04 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, most of us are fascinated or repulsed, or both by the field of forensic pathology. But few know as much about it as Dr. Michael Baden. You know Dr. Baden from any number of, or many explosive court cases. We're glad to have him with us here on LIVE FROM.
Doctor, good to see you. Good afternoon.
Let's talk about this case. Do you think it's going to be hard to prove how Laci Peterson died?
DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It may be hard to prove, but most bodies are gotten out of water like this, a cause of death can be arrived at. So it depends how much of the body was there. And this is the kind of case that does also depend on the experience of the doctor doing the autopsy.
PHILLIPS: In a case like this, that's getting so much media attention, you would assume that the doctor doing the autopsy would have a lot of experience, right?
BADEN: Well, usually the jurisdiction is wherever the body is found, and most jurisdictions in this country do not have trained forensic pathologists. So this would require often getting a forensic pathologist from a nearby area that they work with.
But remember, there's a lot of jealousy in these things with -- and in some cases, jurisdictions don't want to bring in outside experts. I don't know the situation in Modesto.
PHILLIPS: That's what I want to know, you don't know any details on this case. That's interesting. We'll have to look into that and find out.
Let's talk about why the autopsy is sealed. Obviously for, you know, reasons of the case that's ongoing, but, why seal it?
BADEN: Most jurisdictions, like New York, the autopsy is not released to the general public in general. The cause of death is released. And what's odd here is the cause of death has not yet been given out. In California, the rules are different than many other states and causes -- the autopsy becomes more of a public record.
But it appears in this situation that both the prosecutor and the defense attorney approach the judge and asked for the record to be sealed. Each thinks that it would be harmful to their side of the case to have it released. PHILLIPS: Even releasing the cause of death.
BADEN: Well, the cause of death is different. The cause of death should be a public record, even if the autopsy report is sealed, and the cause of death is going to be very important in this matter.
PHILLIPS: So what gives officials the right not to release the cause of death?
BADEN: Well, I think this is going to be argued, about May 27th or so, there is going to be an argument about releasing the autopsy and/or the cause of death.
But if, in fact, the doctors in Modesto were not able to arrive at a cause of death, that would be a big plus for the defense, because it's hard -- it's an additional burden for the prosecution to prove homicide beyond a reasonable doubt, if a cause of death is not determined.
PHILLIPS: Well, Dr. Baden, I know this is a bit of a gruesome question, but I need to ask you this, because it's something that a lot of people have been wondering and been asking, especially since the beginning. When the body was found, when Laci Peterson 'body was found, the head not attached to the torso, nor the legs. From what you know about this case thus far, what are the possibilities of how that happened?
BADEN: Well, if, in fact, from the leaks we're getting, because we don't have the autopsy report, the head was not attached and one or more of the extremities was not attached, that indicates to me, from my experience of 45 years, that there was a dismemberment of the body before the body was placed into the water, and dismemberments are commonly done for two things. One, ease of getting rid of the body in different pieces, and also to obscure identity of the body.
PHILLIPS: What about the possibility, you know, they are looking for these anchors, something that could have anchored the body down. These anchors that could have been tied to the body, maybe around the neck, maybe around other parts of the body. The body decomposes, could the parts of the body just separate from the torso?
BADEN: That's possible, if there were a weight that was tied around the neck, and the weight ate into the skin of the neck. That could possibly cause a separation of the head from the rest of the body, even if the body were placed intact.
However, it's extremely rare for other extremities to also be involved in that kind of a separation. So I think, based on everything we've seen, though, thus far, if, in fact the -- there's more than one separation between the extremities and the head, that is more likely to have been occurred before the body was disposed of, and those separations, those dismemberments, provide important tool mark evidence, just like a finger print or ballistics match, an instrument that's used to dismember a body, a saw, an ax, leaves unique changes in the edges of the bone, that can be matched up by the criminalists in the crime lab as toolmark evidence. PHILLIPS: We'll be following this case closely of course, and if indeed that autopsy does get released, sir, we'll be talking to you again. Also, indeed if we find out about a cause of death.
We sure thank you, Dr. Baden, for your time.
BADEN: Good to speak to you. Thank you.
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 16, 2003 - 14:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, most of us are fascinated or repulsed, or both by the field of forensic pathology. But few know as much about it as Dr. Michael Baden. You know Dr. Baden from any number of, or many explosive court cases. We're glad to have him with us here on LIVE FROM.
Doctor, good to see you. Good afternoon.
Let's talk about this case. Do you think it's going to be hard to prove how Laci Peterson died?
DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It may be hard to prove, but most bodies are gotten out of water like this, a cause of death can be arrived at. So it depends how much of the body was there. And this is the kind of case that does also depend on the experience of the doctor doing the autopsy.
PHILLIPS: In a case like this, that's getting so much media attention, you would assume that the doctor doing the autopsy would have a lot of experience, right?
BADEN: Well, usually the jurisdiction is wherever the body is found, and most jurisdictions in this country do not have trained forensic pathologists. So this would require often getting a forensic pathologist from a nearby area that they work with.
But remember, there's a lot of jealousy in these things with -- and in some cases, jurisdictions don't want to bring in outside experts. I don't know the situation in Modesto.
PHILLIPS: That's what I want to know, you don't know any details on this case. That's interesting. We'll have to look into that and find out.
Let's talk about why the autopsy is sealed. Obviously for, you know, reasons of the case that's ongoing, but, why seal it?
BADEN: Most jurisdictions, like New York, the autopsy is not released to the general public in general. The cause of death is released. And what's odd here is the cause of death has not yet been given out. In California, the rules are different than many other states and causes -- the autopsy becomes more of a public record.
But it appears in this situation that both the prosecutor and the defense attorney approach the judge and asked for the record to be sealed. Each thinks that it would be harmful to their side of the case to have it released. PHILLIPS: Even releasing the cause of death.
BADEN: Well, the cause of death is different. The cause of death should be a public record, even if the autopsy report is sealed, and the cause of death is going to be very important in this matter.
PHILLIPS: So what gives officials the right not to release the cause of death?
BADEN: Well, I think this is going to be argued, about May 27th or so, there is going to be an argument about releasing the autopsy and/or the cause of death.
But if, in fact, the doctors in Modesto were not able to arrive at a cause of death, that would be a big plus for the defense, because it's hard -- it's an additional burden for the prosecution to prove homicide beyond a reasonable doubt, if a cause of death is not determined.
PHILLIPS: Well, Dr. Baden, I know this is a bit of a gruesome question, but I need to ask you this, because it's something that a lot of people have been wondering and been asking, especially since the beginning. When the body was found, when Laci Peterson 'body was found, the head not attached to the torso, nor the legs. From what you know about this case thus far, what are the possibilities of how that happened?
BADEN: Well, if, in fact, from the leaks we're getting, because we don't have the autopsy report, the head was not attached and one or more of the extremities was not attached, that indicates to me, from my experience of 45 years, that there was a dismemberment of the body before the body was placed into the water, and dismemberments are commonly done for two things. One, ease of getting rid of the body in different pieces, and also to obscure identity of the body.
PHILLIPS: What about the possibility, you know, they are looking for these anchors, something that could have anchored the body down. These anchors that could have been tied to the body, maybe around the neck, maybe around other parts of the body. The body decomposes, could the parts of the body just separate from the torso?
BADEN: That's possible, if there were a weight that was tied around the neck, and the weight ate into the skin of the neck. That could possibly cause a separation of the head from the rest of the body, even if the body were placed intact.
However, it's extremely rare for other extremities to also be involved in that kind of a separation. So I think, based on everything we've seen, though, thus far, if, in fact the -- there's more than one separation between the extremities and the head, that is more likely to have been occurred before the body was disposed of, and those separations, those dismemberments, provide important tool mark evidence, just like a finger print or ballistics match, an instrument that's used to dismember a body, a saw, an ax, leaves unique changes in the edges of the bone, that can be matched up by the criminalists in the crime lab as toolmark evidence. PHILLIPS: We'll be following this case closely of course, and if indeed that autopsy does get released, sir, we'll be talking to you again. Also, indeed if we find out about a cause of death.
We sure thank you, Dr. Baden, for your time.
BADEN: Good to speak to you. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
