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Judge Imposes Gag Order in Scott Peterson Case
Aired June 13, 2003 - 15:44 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: And turning now to the murder case against Scott Peterson. A couple of important developments to tell you about here. The biggest being a gag order on everyone involved, including potential witnesses.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is following the case. She joins us now on the phone from Modesto to explain why the judge decided to take this action now -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, we've been hearing a lot of people talking about this case that really aren't related to it. We'll hear a lot more of that, because those directly related to the Scott Peterson case, the attorneys, the police, the members of the court staff here are going to have a gag order.
They are not going to be able to s discuss any aspects of this case. Judge Al Girolami, no surprise when he slapped that gag order yesterday afternoon. He cited massive publicity. And of course there's been a lot of leaks in the past couple weeks coming out, even citing satanic cults, also partial autopsy reports on Laci Peterson's unborn son, Connor.
The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) defense -- now, the judge said the prosecution was also at fault. He blasted prosecutors and even state attorney general, Bill Lockyer, who at one point had said this case was a slam-dunk. He said the incessant chatter that's going on with this and the national and local media just make it very difficult to pick an impartial jury.
Now, we spoke with three of Laci Peterson's very close friends, and one of them, Stacy Boyers, says the gag order is a good idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: You were the one of the last people to talk to Laci before her mother did. So you may be called as a witness. How do you feel about possibly being under that gag order?
STACEY BOYERS, FRIEND OF LACI PETERSON: That's fine with me. We don't discuss the case. We try to make a tribute to Laci, we try to tell about her life. So the gag order doesn't -- that's fine. We don't need to talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, as the judge in one courtroom who will hear the trial is slapping a gag order, another judge in a separate courtroom said that he would like to see the search warrants unsealed, eight search warrants conducted before Scott Peterson was arrested in April. That will not happen until July, however, because there is another final decision on that issue coming down from the appeals court on July 7, on July 8. Those search warrants should be unsealed.
Now, that's, of course, barring any appeals by the prosecution or the defense. And what we're hearing now is the July 16 preliminary hearing is not going to happen. That's going to be delayed because of vacations for some of those witnesses that are going to be testifying -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Very good. Rusty Dornin coming to us from Modesto, California, today. Thanks so much, Rusty.
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 - 15:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And turning now to the murder case against Scott Peterson. A couple of important developments to tell you about here. The biggest being a gag order on everyone involved, including potential witnesses.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is following the case. She joins us now on the phone from Modesto to explain why the judge decided to take this action now -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, we've been hearing a lot of people talking about this case that really aren't related to it. We'll hear a lot more of that, because those directly related to the Scott Peterson case, the attorneys, the police, the members of the court staff here are going to have a gag order.
They are not going to be able to s discuss any aspects of this case. Judge Al Girolami, no surprise when he slapped that gag order yesterday afternoon. He cited massive publicity. And of course there's been a lot of leaks in the past couple weeks coming out, even citing satanic cults, also partial autopsy reports on Laci Peterson's unborn son, Connor.
The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) defense -- now, the judge said the prosecution was also at fault. He blasted prosecutors and even state attorney general, Bill Lockyer, who at one point had said this case was a slam-dunk. He said the incessant chatter that's going on with this and the national and local media just make it very difficult to pick an impartial jury.
Now, we spoke with three of Laci Peterson's very close friends, and one of them, Stacy Boyers, says the gag order is a good idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: You were the one of the last people to talk to Laci before her mother did. So you may be called as a witness. How do you feel about possibly being under that gag order?
STACEY BOYERS, FRIEND OF LACI PETERSON: That's fine with me. We don't discuss the case. We try to make a tribute to Laci, we try to tell about her life. So the gag order doesn't -- that's fine. We don't need to talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, as the judge in one courtroom who will hear the trial is slapping a gag order, another judge in a separate courtroom said that he would like to see the search warrants unsealed, eight search warrants conducted before Scott Peterson was arrested in April. That will not happen until July, however, because there is another final decision on that issue coming down from the appeals court on July 7, on July 8. Those search warrants should be unsealed.
Now, that's, of course, barring any appeals by the prosecution or the defense. And what we're hearing now is the July 16 preliminary hearing is not going to happen. That's going to be delayed because of vacations for some of those witnesses that are going to be testifying -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Very good. Rusty Dornin coming to us from Modesto, California, today. Thanks so much, Rusty.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
