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Science Will be Center Stage Again During Scott Peterson's Preliminary Hearing
Aired November 04, 2003 - 08:11 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: Well, science will be at center stage again today during Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing. Prosecutors say that a human hair found on Peterson's boat has been genetically linked to his wife Laci. He's accused of killing her and their unborn child. But Peterson's lawyers claim that the DNA testing is unreliable.
So, will the evidence be admitted?
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us to talk about it.
Welcome back from Modesto, where you've been camped out for a little while.
Nice to have you back.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Through the miracle of air travel, I was in the courtroom yesterday, here I am today.
O'BRIEN: Like that. Amazing.
TOOBIN: Yes, indeed.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this single strand of hair. It clearly is playing a very big role in the hearing. Would you expect that it will play and equally large role in the trial, assuming this does go to trial?
TOOBIN: It will play an important role, but I don't think it's a critical role because, like a lot of the evidence in this case, it is somewhat prone to different interpretations. The incriminating spin on it is here's this boat that was mysteriously taken into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve, the day she disappeared, and, of course, Laci Peterson's body was found in San Francisco Bay months later.
O'BRIEN: The hair wasn't only on the boat. It was really on a pair of pliers.
TOOBIN: On a pair of pliers, a suspicious circumstance in and of itself.
However, they were married. They lived together. People who live together have what's -- what evidence people call transference -- hair, fibers can go back and forth. So it wouldn't be entirely unexpected to have their hair close to one another. It's incriminating, but not that incriminating.
O'BRIEN: Some people might say if Scott Peterson is guilty of what he is charged with, murdering his wife and their unborn child, there should be a whole heck of a lot more than one single strand of hair from which we're trying to grab DNA.
TOOBIN: That's one of the things that struck me in the courtroom is that there is not an abundance of evidence. One of the theories, apparently, is that Scott killed her in the house and then removed the body and dumped it in the bay. But if he killed her in a house, why isn't there more evidence in the house?
One of the things prosecutors pointed to earlier this week, that where their mops were found, somewhat out of place, especially after hearing from the housekeeper that she didn't put them there. But, you know, if you kill somebody, it's not that easy to do and clean up. So the presence of mops, well, again, it's suggestive, but it's not the kind of evidence that you might expect if a vicious killing took place there.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, we heard from Laci Peterson's sister that Laci didn't even know about the boat. So the idea that a hair could have found its way on the boat that she was never really aware of, I mean that throws another little strange light on all of this.
TOOBIN: It...
O'BRIEN: It's not like somehow she was ever on the boat.
TOOBIN: She -- the sister didn't know about the boat. Laci's mother didn't know about the boat. And most incriminating of all, Scott's father didn't know about the boat. Again, there was, the defense spin was they said, you know, he was private about these things. He didn't know, Scott's father didn't know when he'd bought a car, so he might not have known that he bought a boat.
Again, subject to different interpretations.
O'BRIEN: And now it looks like the preliminary hearing is going on for a longer, much longer time than originally thought.
TOOBIN: Torture, yes. It's a long and boring preliminary hearing. Thanksgiving plans are in jeopardy, I would say, based on the pace at which this is going.
O'BRIEN: Is that your sense then how the trial will go, again, assuming it goes to trial?
TOOBIN: California, everything takes twice as long as it should and high profile cases it takes twice as long. Again, this will be a very long trial.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Toobin, as always, thanks.
TOOBIN: Right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Preliminary Hearing>
Aired November 4, 2003 - 08:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, science will be at center stage again today during Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing. Prosecutors say that a human hair found on Peterson's boat has been genetically linked to his wife Laci. He's accused of killing her and their unborn child. But Peterson's lawyers claim that the DNA testing is unreliable.
So, will the evidence be admitted?
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us to talk about it.
Welcome back from Modesto, where you've been camped out for a little while.
Nice to have you back.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Through the miracle of air travel, I was in the courtroom yesterday, here I am today.
O'BRIEN: Like that. Amazing.
TOOBIN: Yes, indeed.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this single strand of hair. It clearly is playing a very big role in the hearing. Would you expect that it will play and equally large role in the trial, assuming this does go to trial?
TOOBIN: It will play an important role, but I don't think it's a critical role because, like a lot of the evidence in this case, it is somewhat prone to different interpretations. The incriminating spin on it is here's this boat that was mysteriously taken into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve, the day she disappeared, and, of course, Laci Peterson's body was found in San Francisco Bay months later.
O'BRIEN: The hair wasn't only on the boat. It was really on a pair of pliers.
TOOBIN: On a pair of pliers, a suspicious circumstance in and of itself.
However, they were married. They lived together. People who live together have what's -- what evidence people call transference -- hair, fibers can go back and forth. So it wouldn't be entirely unexpected to have their hair close to one another. It's incriminating, but not that incriminating.
O'BRIEN: Some people might say if Scott Peterson is guilty of what he is charged with, murdering his wife and their unborn child, there should be a whole heck of a lot more than one single strand of hair from which we're trying to grab DNA.
TOOBIN: That's one of the things that struck me in the courtroom is that there is not an abundance of evidence. One of the theories, apparently, is that Scott killed her in the house and then removed the body and dumped it in the bay. But if he killed her in a house, why isn't there more evidence in the house?
One of the things prosecutors pointed to earlier this week, that where their mops were found, somewhat out of place, especially after hearing from the housekeeper that she didn't put them there. But, you know, if you kill somebody, it's not that easy to do and clean up. So the presence of mops, well, again, it's suggestive, but it's not the kind of evidence that you might expect if a vicious killing took place there.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, we heard from Laci Peterson's sister that Laci didn't even know about the boat. So the idea that a hair could have found its way on the boat that she was never really aware of, I mean that throws another little strange light on all of this.
TOOBIN: It...
O'BRIEN: It's not like somehow she was ever on the boat.
TOOBIN: She -- the sister didn't know about the boat. Laci's mother didn't know about the boat. And most incriminating of all, Scott's father didn't know about the boat. Again, there was, the defense spin was they said, you know, he was private about these things. He didn't know, Scott's father didn't know when he'd bought a car, so he might not have known that he bought a boat.
Again, subject to different interpretations.
O'BRIEN: And now it looks like the preliminary hearing is going on for a longer, much longer time than originally thought.
TOOBIN: Torture, yes. It's a long and boring preliminary hearing. Thanksgiving plans are in jeopardy, I would say, based on the pace at which this is going.
O'BRIEN: Is that your sense then how the trial will go, again, assuming it goes to trial?
TOOBIN: California, everything takes twice as long as it should and high profile cases it takes twice as long. Again, this will be a very long trial.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Toobin, as always, thanks.
TOOBIN: Right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Preliminary Hearing>
