Peterson's father paints picture of son's life
Pigeon Hohl
/PETERSON01.TMP
Diana Walsh and Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff WriterS
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
The jury in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial has heard much about
how the former fertilizer salesman behaved in the months before and
after his wife disappeared.
They saw what clothes hung in his closet. They heard about the checks
he wrote. They know what he ate for breakfast and how much gas he put in
his car. But the six men and six women who convicted Peterson last month
of killing his wife and unborn son still don't know the man whose life
now rests in their hands, defense attorney Pat Harris told the panel
today.
In his opening statement in the trial's penalty phase, Harris promised
to bring witness upon witness to show the jurors that the image painted
of Peterson during his five-month-long trial was misleading. During the
next week, the defendant's family members, former golf coach, college
professor and former neighbor will be among those testifying about the
"whole life story" of the 32-year-old Peterson, Harris said. And when
they're through, the defense attorney said, he hopes the jurors will
spare Peterson's life.
"We don't know who Scott Peterson is," Harris said. "For the most part,
we dealt with just five months of this man's life. We're going to show
you the 30 years that preceded it ... and when we show you these 30
years, I believe that you will agree that this is a life worth saving.''
The jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder Nov. 12 for killing
his eight-months-pregnant wife, Laci, and second-degree murder for
killing their unborn baby. The panel is now charged with recommending
either a death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of
parole.
Peterson's father, Lee Peterson, was the first defense witness to begin
to sketch his son's life for the jury. Scott Peterson watched,
alternately smiling and wiping tears from his eyes.
The elder Peterson, who has sat in the front row behind his son in the
Redwood City courtroom throughout the trial, looked drawn and sounded
hoarse as he took the stand. After chronicling in detail his own life,
he smiled as he talked about the birth of Scott, the only child he and
his wife, Jackie, had together.
Lee Peterson, who developed a successful packaging business, described
a life of privilege that he had been able to give his son, whom he
called his "best friend." That life included a home with a pool in the
exclusive San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe and regular rounds of golf.
Father and son locked eyes as Lee Peterson said, "I have great respect
for him. I have all these wonderful memories of him as a little guy
growing up."
He said he'd been torn by emotions since Laci Peterson disappeared just
before Christmas 2002.
"I'm frightened, depressed - I guess you would say deeply saddened," he
said. "All the emotions you might associate with someone losing someone
you love and now having your son in this kind of jeopardy.
"It's beyond belief," he said. "It's not something I ever thought I
would have to go through."
Cliff and Linda Griffith
news:pigeon-2BF60E....@news1.east.earthlink.net...
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/01
> /PETERSON01.TMP
>
> Diana Walsh and Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff WriterS
>
> Wednesday, December 1, 2004
>
> to sketch his son's life for the jury. Scott Peterson watched,
> alternately smiling and wiping tears from his eyes.
Some Court TV observers say Scott is still pretty stoic, only wiping his
eyes a time or two.
> Father and son locked eyes as Lee Peterson said, "I have great respect
> for him. I have all these wonderful memories of him as a little guy
> growing up."
Oops! That must be a common phrase in the Peterson family. Scott said in a
TV interview that he would never go back into Conner's room "until there's a
little guy in there". I wonder if the jurors noticed the repetition of "a
little guy". Not that it has anything to do with the choice between the DP
and LWOP, but it jumped out at me when I read what Lee said.
Linda
Scorpi...@attnospam.net
wrote:
>
> Peterson's father, Lee Peterson, was the first defense witness to
begin
>to sketch his son's life for the jury. Scott Peterson watched,
>alternately smiling and wiping tears from his eyes.
And yet he didn't cry when pictures of his dead wife and child were
shown or when his mother in law went off on him. I wonder if they
finally gave him an onion?
Gee dad, I bet Laci never imagined it either.
--
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger. It works the same in any country."
-Hermann Goering (1893 - 1946)
Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, President of the Reichstag, Prime Minister of Prussia and Hitler's designated successor
The second in command of the Third Reich
"These [terrorist] attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible, and this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail…The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."
-George W Bush (1946- )
Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces
President of the United States of America
r.
"Mardy" <M...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:7bjsq09spkih5utdi...@4ax.com...
> kind of eerie...
>
> M
It's typical California male Asshole-ese. Scott & his Dad also refer to each
other as "Chief". Ick.
-r.
Strawberry
Yeah, that jumped out at me, too.
Frankly, some of his testimony may backfire as he talked about:
- A photo of the family having dinner in France (it was actually Monoco,
but he referred to it as France). Gee, was there a little boy in the
background named Francois, by any chance?
- A photo of Scott getting a haircut. Just like the day before Lacy
disappeared.
- Scott as a baby. Maybe Conner would have looked just like that.
- Fishing and golfing and golfing and fishing and golfing and fishing,
woven through their lives from the time Scott was about 3 years old. In
fact, golfing and fishing were still mighty high on Scott's list right
up until he was arrested. Why he was even "fishing" -- no golfing -- no
fishing the very day Lacy disappeared.
- Little Scotty liked to cuddle up and have Lee read to him. Conner
would probably have liked to do that, too.
- Scott was great with his nieces and nephews and would get down on the
floor and horseplay with them. Something he'll never do with Conner.
Why is it that he has so much regard for his nieces and nephews and none
whatsoever for his own child?
r.
"Karen O'Mara" <kso...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com...
> "r." <wi...@treasurehiding.com> wrote in message
news:<31739cF...@individual.net>...
> > It's typical California male Asshole-ese. Scott & his Dad also refer to
each
> > other as "Chief". Ick.
>
Whatever. It's true. I live in California, hear it all the time, always out
the same type of mouths.
> It's a term of endearment... not typical of males, a-h*les, or even
Californians.
>
> Karen
Sbottonarsi
>From: "tinydancer" tinyd...@nowhere.com
>Date: 12/2/2004 3:07 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <pdNrd.74253$IQ.1...@bignews6.bellsouth.net>
>
>
>"Sbottonarsi" <sbott...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20041202173354...@mb-m24.aol.com...
>> >Subject: Re: Peterson's father paints picture of son's life
>> >From: kso...@yahoo.com (Karen O'Mara)
>> >Date: 12/2/2004 1:44 PM Pacific Standard Time
>> >Message-id: <2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com>
>> >
>> >Strawberry <n...@no.no> wrote in message
>> >news:<MPG.1c1832cbc...@news.newsguy.com>...
>> >> Yeah, that jumped out at me, too.
>> >>
>> >> Frankly, some of his testimony may backfire as he talked about:
>> >>
>> >> - A photo of the family having dinner in France (it was actually
>Monoco,
>> >> but he referred to it as France). Gee, was there a little boy in the
>> >> background named Francois, by any chance?
>> >>
>> >> - A photo of Scott getting a haircut. Just like the day before Lacy
>> >> disappeared.
>> >>
>> >> - Scott as a baby. Maybe Conner would have looked just like that.
>> >>
>> >> - Fishing and golfing and golfing and fishing and golfing and fishing,
>> >> woven through their lives from the time Scott was about 3 years old.
>In
>> >> fact, golfing and fishing were still mighty high on Scott's list right
>> >> up until he was arrested. Why he was even "fishing" -- no golfing --
>no
>> >> fishing the very day Lacy disappeared.
>> >>
>> >> - Little Scotty liked to cuddle up and have Lee read to him. Conner
>> >> would probably have liked to do that, too.
>> >>
>> >> - Scott was great with his nieces and nephews and would get down on the
>> >> floor and horseplay with them. Something he'll never do with Conner.
>> >> Why is it that he has so much regard for his nieces and nephews and
>none
>> >> whatsoever for his own child?
>> >
>> >see all of this testimony just in the way you have pointed out.
>> >
>> >Karen
>>
>> Or, the jury may feel sorry for his family and spare him the death
>penalty.
>
>
>I still think they'll give him death.
>
>td
Who knows. It worked for the unibomber.
tinydancer
Karen O'Mara
> other as "Chief". Ick.
You're weird.
Karen O'Mara
>
> Frankly, some of his testimony may backfire as he talked about:
>
> - A photo of the family having dinner in France (it was actually Monoco,
> but he referred to it as France). Gee, was there a little boy in the
> background named Francois, by any chance?
>
> - A photo of Scott getting a haircut. Just like the day before Lacy
> disappeared.
>
> - Scott as a baby. Maybe Conner would have looked just like that.
>
> - Fishing and golfing and golfing and fishing and golfing and fishing,
> woven through their lives from the time Scott was about 3 years old. In
> fact, golfing and fishing were still mighty high on Scott's list right
> up until he was arrested. Why he was even "fishing" -- no golfing -- no
> fishing the very day Lacy disappeared.
>
> - Little Scotty liked to cuddle up and have Lee read to him. Conner
> would probably have liked to do that, too.
>
> - Scott was great with his nieces and nephews and would get down on the
> floor and horseplay with them. Something he'll never do with Conner.
> Why is it that he has so much regard for his nieces and nephews and none
> whatsoever for his own child?
The whole cuddly schmear backfired for me. If I were a juror, I would
Sbottonarsi
>From: kso...@yahoo.com (Karen O'Mara)
>Date: 12/2/2004 1:44 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com>
>
Or, the jury may feel sorry for his family and spare him the death penalty.
RJRSJ1
>news:2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com...
>> "r." <wi...@treasurehiding.com> wrote in message
>news:<31739cF...@individual.net>...
>> > It's typical California male Asshole-ese. Scott & his Dad also refer to
>each
>> > other as "Chief". Ick.
>>
>> You're weird.
>
>Whatever. It's true. I live in California, hear it all the time, always out
>the same type of mouths.
I'm from Indiana - it's a common word here to and it's used on friendly terms.
Karen O'Mara
>
> Or, the jury may feel sorry for his family and spare him the death penalty.
I hope the jurors remember Jackie giving Scott the flee money. Or her
lying on the stand. Or giving Scott a perfect life. I don't think the
jury is going to feel sorry for Jackie and Lee that much. They created
this monster.
Karen
Sbottonarsi
>Message-id: <2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com>
>
I think they are going to feel very sorry for the Petersons. They did not
murder anyone. They have not been convicted of perjury. And if what you say is
true, that they "created this monster," than one can rationalize that Peterson
is not solely responsible for his behavior and should get lwop.
Defendants who don't have a "perfect life" tend to have some very very very bad
aggravating factors introduced in their penalty trials. Still, in those type of
cases, more than a few juries have come back lwop.
Ki...@webtv.net
>>Or, the jury may feel sorry for his family and
>>spare him the death penalty.
>I still think they'll give him death.
Somehow I don't think they will. I wouldn't. Yeah, what he did was bad
but there are much worse things that deserve the death penalty (and
carrying it out).
Mike Ward
3133.bay.webtv.net:
If an intruder killed Laci in the same manner that her husband did I don't
think there would be so many people claiming that this case does not rise
to the level of the DP.
Madelin McKinnon
r.
news:2d2a67aa.04120...@posting.google.com...
> I hope the jurors remember Jackie giving Scott the flee money. Or her
> lying on the stand. Or giving Scott a perfect life. I don't think the
> jury is going to feel sorry for Jackie and Lee that much. They created
> this monster.
>
> Karen
I agree that it seems that his parents are not above stooping to immoral
levels to help their obviously guilty son, but it seems crazy to me to fault
them for "giving Scott a perfect life".
I mean, I only wish I could give my child a perfect life. I think most
parents feel that way.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Why is it his parents fault?
The truth is that SCOTT is responsible for what happened, not his parents.
yaffaDina
I think it's the painting of the perfect life, perfect son to a jury who
has found him guilty of two counts of murder, and now have to decide
life or death for him. To me, telling the jury of his wonderful
relationships with nephews and nieces when he was found guilty of
murdering his own son was very very stupid!
yD
Nancy Rudins
It seems that all this testimony will only convince the jury
that there's all the more reason to impose the DP. He came
from a family that gave him every opportunity to become a
success; no one hated him.
Kind regards,
Nancy
--
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
(lennon/mccartney)
Nancy Rudins nru...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/nrudins/
Nancy Rudins
> In Message-ID:<10rbo62...@news.supernews.com> posted on Tue, 07 Dec
> 2004 10:56:36 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>
>>It seems that all this testimony will only convince the jury
>>that there's all the more reason to impose the DP. He came
>>from a family that gave him every opportunity to become a
>>success; no one hated him.
>
> ...or it may play on any lingering doubts that might have been
> subjugated by the social dynamic of those jury deliberations.
>
There's reports that the jury is looking quite restless
during the defense testimonies. They may just jump out
of their chairs and gang up on Geragos.
Nancy Rudins
> In Message-ID:<10re0om...@news.supernews.com> posted on Wed, 08 Dec
> 2004 07:35:21 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>
>>Bart Bailey wrote:
>>
>>> In Message-ID:<10rbo62...@news.supernews.com> posted on Tue, 07 Dec
>>> 2004 10:56:36 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>>>
>>>>It seems that all this testimony will only convince the jury
>>>>that there's all the more reason to impose the DP. He came
>>>>from a family that gave him every opportunity to become a
>>>>success; no one hated him.
>>>
>>> ...or it may play on any lingering doubts that might have been
>>> subjugated by the social dynamic of those jury deliberations.
>>>
>>
>>There's reports that the jury is looking quite restless
>>during the defense testimonies. They may just jump out
>>of their chairs and gang up on Geragos.
>>
>>Kind regards,
>>Nancy
>
> I wonder how the pre-sculpted jury would react,
> or even if there would be a penalty phase at this time?
>
He might not have been convicted if those three jurors
hadn't been dismissed. At the very least, there would
have been a hung jury. The prosecutor wouldn't drop
it; it probably would have gone to trial again, perhaps
with a change of venue.