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American Morning

Interview With KFBK Radio Reporter Chris Filippi

Aired October 31, 2003 - 07:35   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the preliminary hearing in the Scott Peterson case. It gets an early start this morning. Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, has been sparring with forensic experts over a strand of hair that prosecutors say belongs to Laci Peterson. But the day's most revealing development may have come from outside the courtroom.
Chris Filippi is a KFBK radio reporter, and he is live for us in Modesto, California, this morning.

Chris, nice to see you again. Thanks for joining us.

CHRIS FILIPPI, KFBK RADIO REPORTER: Yes, good morning.

O'BRIEN: OK, let's talk a little bit about Mark Geragos. He sat around and went back and forth, not very pleasantly at points, with the forensic expert who is part of the prosecution's case. Give us a little description of what happened.

FILIPPI: Yes, they really did go back and forth on this mitochondrial DNA evidence. The defense is really trying to keep this out of the case. They say it's a new type of DNA testing that should not be admitted into court. In fact, it hasn't been used in California courtrooms very much at all.

So, they're really hammering on that. He was talking about the technology, some of its limitations, that it can't come to an exact match the way nuclear DNA can. So, he did score some points, but there is some question whether it's going to be enough to keep this DNA evidence out.

O'BRIEN: Give me a better sense now, after days of this testimony in this preliminary hearing, of how strong you think or it's perceived that the case against Scott Peterson actually is.

FILIPPI: It's hard to say, because we haven't heard any actual testimony about the facts in the case. The first two days have been all about the science of DNA. So, in that respect, we're limited. But we do expect the prosecution case to be relatively strong on the circumstantial points.

So, we'll finally get into that today, as we expect the prosecution to call the housekeeper, the Peterson's housekeeper. She can talk about a couple of things. One, she can talk about the condition of the house the last time she saw it, just before Laci was reported missing. She can also talk about Laci's physical condition. Recall Scott has said that Laci disappeared while she was walking her dog on Christmas Eve. Well, she can say whether or not, just from her observations, whether Laci would have been strong enough to do that.

O'BRIEN: I want to talk about a letter that surfaced. It was apparently obtained by KTVU, and the station says that it was written by Scott Peterson to an unidentified friend several months ago. And here's what it says in the letter, at least part of it: "I was told that they were gone on the car ride back to Modesto by the detectives. I didn't believe. I wouldn't believe them. I only knew it was true on the next morning when I saw a paper." That was written on April 25, 2003.

What do you think is behind the revealing of this letter? Is it a ploy to gain sympathy for Scott Peterson? And could it potentially contradict with some of what's being leaked of what's in the wiretaps, the conversations that Scott Peterson had with Amber Frey?

FILIPPI: Indeed. In fact, there are a series of letters. We understand there are six to seven letters that have been leaked. And certainly the timing of this is no coincidence, because it could lend a favorable light to Scott. It humanizes him. It talks about -- these letters talk about his feelings, what it's like for him in jail, the difficulty of existence. He's been in solitary confinement now for more than six months in that county jail, mostly because of his safety and the possibility that prisoners could threaten him because he's such a notorious suspect.

But indeed, the timing is no coincidence. Here, the eyes of the world, if you will, all of the media are here, and the first couple of days of this prelim have been relatively slow. So, what better time to try and put a human face on Scott Peterson? Because there's still that large potential jury pool out there. Really the whole population of California conceivably could be part of that will jury pool.

O'BRIEN: Well, many more days it looks like will be ahead in this hearing. Chris Filippi from KFBK radio. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

FILIPPI: Yes, you're 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 October 31, 2003 - 07:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the preliminary hearing in the Scott Peterson case. It gets an early start this morning. Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, has been sparring with forensic experts over a strand of hair that prosecutors say belongs to Laci Peterson. But the day's most revealing development may have come from outside the courtroom.
Chris Filippi is a KFBK radio reporter, and he is live for us in Modesto, California, this morning.

Chris, nice to see you again. Thanks for joining us.

CHRIS FILIPPI, KFBK RADIO REPORTER: Yes, good morning.

O'BRIEN: OK, let's talk a little bit about Mark Geragos. He sat around and went back and forth, not very pleasantly at points, with the forensic expert who is part of the prosecution's case. Give us a little description of what happened.

FILIPPI: Yes, they really did go back and forth on this mitochondrial DNA evidence. The defense is really trying to keep this out of the case. They say it's a new type of DNA testing that should not be admitted into court. In fact, it hasn't been used in California courtrooms very much at all.

So, they're really hammering on that. He was talking about the technology, some of its limitations, that it can't come to an exact match the way nuclear DNA can. So, he did score some points, but there is some question whether it's going to be enough to keep this DNA evidence out.

O'BRIEN: Give me a better sense now, after days of this testimony in this preliminary hearing, of how strong you think or it's perceived that the case against Scott Peterson actually is.

FILIPPI: It's hard to say, because we haven't heard any actual testimony about the facts in the case. The first two days have been all about the science of DNA. So, in that respect, we're limited. But we do expect the prosecution case to be relatively strong on the circumstantial points.

So, we'll finally get into that today, as we expect the prosecution to call the housekeeper, the Peterson's housekeeper. She can talk about a couple of things. One, she can talk about the condition of the house the last time she saw it, just before Laci was reported missing. She can also talk about Laci's physical condition. Recall Scott has said that Laci disappeared while she was walking her dog on Christmas Eve. Well, she can say whether or not, just from her observations, whether Laci would have been strong enough to do that.

O'BRIEN: I want to talk about a letter that surfaced. It was apparently obtained by KTVU, and the station says that it was written by Scott Peterson to an unidentified friend several months ago. And here's what it says in the letter, at least part of it: "I was told that they were gone on the car ride back to Modesto by the detectives. I didn't believe. I wouldn't believe them. I only knew it was true on the next morning when I saw a paper." That was written on April 25, 2003.

What do you think is behind the revealing of this letter? Is it a ploy to gain sympathy for Scott Peterson? And could it potentially contradict with some of what's being leaked of what's in the wiretaps, the conversations that Scott Peterson had with Amber Frey?

FILIPPI: Indeed. In fact, there are a series of letters. We understand there are six to seven letters that have been leaked. And certainly the timing of this is no coincidence, because it could lend a favorable light to Scott. It humanizes him. It talks about -- these letters talk about his feelings, what it's like for him in jail, the difficulty of existence. He's been in solitary confinement now for more than six months in that county jail, mostly because of his safety and the possibility that prisoners could threaten him because he's such a notorious suspect.

But indeed, the timing is no coincidence. Here, the eyes of the world, if you will, all of the media are here, and the first couple of days of this prelim have been relatively slow. So, what better time to try and put a human face on Scott Peterson? Because there's still that large potential jury pool out there. Really the whole population of California conceivably could be part of that will jury pool.

O'BRIEN: Well, many more days it looks like will be ahead in this hearing. Chris Filippi from KFBK radio. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

FILIPPI: Yes, you're 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.