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Peterson Case Gagged
Aired June 13, 2003 - 14:03 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Mum is the word in the Laci Peterson murder case. By order of the judge now, he says his gag order may be the only way to shut up lawyers, police officers and potential witnesses.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has more from Modesto, California.
Rusty -- I would have to say this was probably expected, right?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was no surprise, believe me, Heidi. And everyone involved in this case, as you said, the attorneys, police, all of the court staff over here and potential witnesses have better keep their mouth shut or else. And that means they could be slapped with contempt of court charges and perhaps even hefty court fines.
As expected, Al Girolami, the judge here, slapped on a sweeping gag order because he cited massive publicity. There have been so many leaks over the past few weeks involving stories about satanic cults and also a partial autopsy release on the unborn fetus, those all favored the defense, but the judge also blasted the prosecution and even the attorney general of California for making inappropriate statements. The attorney general had said at one time that this was a slam-dunk case.
So, he's very worried that even with a change of venue, there is so much incessant chatter on the local and the national media that it will be very difficult to find an impartial jury.
Now, we spoke with three of Laci Peterson's very close friends, one of whom was one of the last people to speak to Laci the night before she disappeared, Stacey Boyers, and she's very happy about the gag order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY BOYERS, LACI PETERSON'S FRIEND: I'd like to see this case tried in the courtroom. I don't want to see it publicized. I don't want to hear about it on the news.
DORNIN: Do you think it could influence potential jurors to hear things?
BOYERS: You know, I don't know. I mean, this is our first time having to deal with anything like this. We do know. But we do know that it's hard to turn on the TV and hear how your friend was murdered and the details of it. And, you know, it would just be best if the details were kept inside the courtroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: And in the courtroom, there will be the judge using a precedent of Shepherd vs. Maxwell. Remember the TV show, "The Fugitive?" Well, it was based on Sam Shepherd accused of killing his wife. The Supreme Court overturned his guilty conviction and released him from prison because there was so much publicity and chided the judge in that case. Of course, they don't want anything like that to happen here. They want Scott Peterson to get a fair trial.
In another courtroom, while one judge was sealing evidence, the other one was unsealing. Judge Beauchesne unsealed eight search warrants that were conducted before Scott Peterson was arrested. They will be opened on July 8, one day after an appeals court's final decision becomes valid. That's barring, of course, any appeals by the prosecution or the defense.
Meantime, it looks like that July 16 preliminary hearing will be put on hold -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, that is just what I was going to ask you, Rusty, if this gag order would have any impact on that July 16 preliminary hearing.
DORNIN: Well, it's not the gag order. They've got to get a certain number of witnesses, of course, you know, in line. And it's summertime. People have had vacations planned for a long time. And apparently a few of their witnesses on the prosecution side are not going to be able to be here.
Now, of course, the defense could demand to go ahead with it, but they're saying, look, these are people we need to talk to, too. So, they're probably going to agree to it, but that won't be called for. They're not going back in court -- scheduled to go back in court until June 26, so we may not hear about the date until then.
COLLINS: Very good. CNN's Rusty Dornin breaking it down for us. Thanks so much, Rusty, live from Modesto, California, today.
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 June 13, 2003 - 14:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Mum is the word in the Laci Peterson murder case. By order of the judge now, he says his gag order may be the only way to shut up lawyers, police officers and potential witnesses.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has more from Modesto, California.
Rusty -- I would have to say this was probably expected, right?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was no surprise, believe me, Heidi. And everyone involved in this case, as you said, the attorneys, police, all of the court staff over here and potential witnesses have better keep their mouth shut or else. And that means they could be slapped with contempt of court charges and perhaps even hefty court fines.
As expected, Al Girolami, the judge here, slapped on a sweeping gag order because he cited massive publicity. There have been so many leaks over the past few weeks involving stories about satanic cults and also a partial autopsy release on the unborn fetus, those all favored the defense, but the judge also blasted the prosecution and even the attorney general of California for making inappropriate statements. The attorney general had said at one time that this was a slam-dunk case.
So, he's very worried that even with a change of venue, there is so much incessant chatter on the local and the national media that it will be very difficult to find an impartial jury.
Now, we spoke with three of Laci Peterson's very close friends, one of whom was one of the last people to speak to Laci the night before she disappeared, Stacey Boyers, and she's very happy about the gag order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY BOYERS, LACI PETERSON'S FRIEND: I'd like to see this case tried in the courtroom. I don't want to see it publicized. I don't want to hear about it on the news.
DORNIN: Do you think it could influence potential jurors to hear things?
BOYERS: You know, I don't know. I mean, this is our first time having to deal with anything like this. We do know. But we do know that it's hard to turn on the TV and hear how your friend was murdered and the details of it. And, you know, it would just be best if the details were kept inside the courtroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: And in the courtroom, there will be the judge using a precedent of Shepherd vs. Maxwell. Remember the TV show, "The Fugitive?" Well, it was based on Sam Shepherd accused of killing his wife. The Supreme Court overturned his guilty conviction and released him from prison because there was so much publicity and chided the judge in that case. Of course, they don't want anything like that to happen here. They want Scott Peterson to get a fair trial.
In another courtroom, while one judge was sealing evidence, the other one was unsealing. Judge Beauchesne unsealed eight search warrants that were conducted before Scott Peterson was arrested. They will be opened on July 8, one day after an appeals court's final decision becomes valid. That's barring, of course, any appeals by the prosecution or the defense.
Meantime, it looks like that July 16 preliminary hearing will be put on hold -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, that is just what I was going to ask you, Rusty, if this gag order would have any impact on that July 16 preliminary hearing.
DORNIN: Well, it's not the gag order. They've got to get a certain number of witnesses, of course, you know, in line. And it's summertime. People have had vacations planned for a long time. And apparently a few of their witnesses on the prosecution side are not going to be able to be here.
Now, of course, the defense could demand to go ahead with it, but they're saying, look, these are people we need to talk to, too. So, they're probably going to agree to it, but that won't be called for. They're not going back in court -- scheduled to go back in court until June 26, so we may not hear about the date until then.
COLLINS: Very good. CNN's Rusty Dornin breaking it down for us. Thanks so much, Rusty, live from Modesto, California, today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
