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American Morning
Peterson Case, DNA Test on Hair Challenged by Defense
Aired November 04, 2003 - 07:18 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is day five in the preliminary hearing for Scott Peterson in Modesto, California. His attorneys have been trying to discredit evidence that could be used to put Peterson on trial for murder.
Rusty Dornin up early for us, live in Modesto.
Rusty -- good morning there.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, if you poured molasses into this courtroom, it wouldn't make things move much more slowly than they are. Three out of the last four days of the preliminary hearing have been spent as DNA 101.
Yesterday, the DNA expert for the defense spent the entire day on the stand trying to discredit the forensic technique. Mitochondrial DNA -- that's the type of DNA that was extracted from that single strand of hair that was found in needle nose pliers on the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat.
Now, the defense witness was attacking the reliability of that, saying that there are too many mutations, too much chance for contamination, and it should not be admitted as evidence.
Now, meantime, defense attorney Mark Geragos, who was interrupted several times yesterday because a jury on a murder trial he was on in Los Angeles last week is deadlocked. Now, he has gone down to Los Angeles today. He will not be in court today.
Attorney Kirk McCallister, who is actually Scott Peterson's first attorney here in Modesto, he will be cross examining detective John Ebbers (ph). That is the man who we left on Friday, the policeman who first interviewed Scott Peterson when his wife disappeared on December 24. He's the one that Scott Peterson told that he didn't know what kind of bait he was using, and he didn't really know what fish he was fishing for when he went up to the Berkeley Marina.
So, today, we are going to be hearing from that policeman. We're not sure if it's going to be a short day, or if the judge is going to want to call more witnesses. Apparently, Mark Geragos has asked the judge, please reserve the right for me to cross examine these people, and do not be too anxious to move forward. We'll see how the judge feels about that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rusty, getting another education on this mitochondrial DNA. A simple question for you this morning: How often is that used in court cases? DORNIN: Well, apparently it came into use about 20 years ago, and then it was not really used as primary evidence until '96 in a Tennessee murder case. In California, it has rarely been used, but it was used last year. If you'll remember, the David Westerfield case, the kidnapping and murder of little Danielle van Dam. Hair was used as part of the evidence.
Apparently, it's not been used in California as the sole piece of evidence. And the judge here was concerned about that. He wanted to hear more arguments about that.
But, of course, the U.S. military uses it. They've used it and it was used September 11 to identify victims, and the FBI has been using it also since the mid '90s.
HEMMER: Rusty, thanks -- Rusty Dornin live in Modesto.
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 November 4, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is day five in the preliminary hearing for Scott Peterson in Modesto, California. His attorneys have been trying to discredit evidence that could be used to put Peterson on trial for murder.
Rusty Dornin up early for us, live in Modesto.
Rusty -- good morning there.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, if you poured molasses into this courtroom, it wouldn't make things move much more slowly than they are. Three out of the last four days of the preliminary hearing have been spent as DNA 101.
Yesterday, the DNA expert for the defense spent the entire day on the stand trying to discredit the forensic technique. Mitochondrial DNA -- that's the type of DNA that was extracted from that single strand of hair that was found in needle nose pliers on the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat.
Now, the defense witness was attacking the reliability of that, saying that there are too many mutations, too much chance for contamination, and it should not be admitted as evidence.
Now, meantime, defense attorney Mark Geragos, who was interrupted several times yesterday because a jury on a murder trial he was on in Los Angeles last week is deadlocked. Now, he has gone down to Los Angeles today. He will not be in court today.
Attorney Kirk McCallister, who is actually Scott Peterson's first attorney here in Modesto, he will be cross examining detective John Ebbers (ph). That is the man who we left on Friday, the policeman who first interviewed Scott Peterson when his wife disappeared on December 24. He's the one that Scott Peterson told that he didn't know what kind of bait he was using, and he didn't really know what fish he was fishing for when he went up to the Berkeley Marina.
So, today, we are going to be hearing from that policeman. We're not sure if it's going to be a short day, or if the judge is going to want to call more witnesses. Apparently, Mark Geragos has asked the judge, please reserve the right for me to cross examine these people, and do not be too anxious to move forward. We'll see how the judge feels about that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rusty, getting another education on this mitochondrial DNA. A simple question for you this morning: How often is that used in court cases? DORNIN: Well, apparently it came into use about 20 years ago, and then it was not really used as primary evidence until '96 in a Tennessee murder case. In California, it has rarely been used, but it was used last year. If you'll remember, the David Westerfield case, the kidnapping and murder of little Danielle van Dam. Hair was used as part of the evidence.
Apparently, it's not been used in California as the sole piece of evidence. And the judge here was concerned about that. He wanted to hear more arguments about that.
But, of course, the U.S. military uses it. They've used it and it was used September 11 to identify victims, and the FBI has been using it also since the mid '90s.
HEMMER: Rusty, thanks -- Rusty Dornin live in Modesto.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
