|
|
23 THE COURT: Mr. McAllister?
24 MR. MCALLISTER: Thank you, Your Honor.
25
26 CROSS-EXAMINATION
27 MR. MCALLISTER: Q. Do you know where Mr. Peterson's
28 parents live?
828
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Where is that?
3 A. Solano Beach.
4 Q. Somewhere near San Diego?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Now, Detective Brocchini, when you got this call,
7 you were the on-call detective; is that correct?
8 A. Modesto Police Department, all detectives are on
9 call all the time. I was the detective that got called.
10 Q. Who got called?
11 A. I got called.
12 Q. Okay. And when you got that call, you obviously
13 had no idea at that point what this case would become; is
14 that right?
15 A. That's correct.
16 Q. And in terms of what it became, other than being a
17 tragedy, would it be accurate to say that it was the most
18 publicized case that you ever investigated?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And you have -- can you give us an estimate, just a
21 rough estimate, about how many hours you have yourself
22 worked on this case?
23 A. I could tell you I came to work on Christmas Eve
24 and pretty much didn't go home for four and a half months.
25 I went home in the middle of the night, changed, took a nap,
26 and came back to work and had no days off. So it was a lot
27 of hours I put in.
28 Q. Okay. And would I be also correct in saying that
829
1 when you did try to get some sleep in this case, it was so
2 consuming that there were times when you couldn't sleep?
3 A. There was time when I thought about the case when I
4 should have been sleeping, yeah.
5 Q. Right. And pretty hard to turn off -- turn off the
6 gears when you're working on something like this, isn't it?
7 A. Yes, it is.
8 Q. So when you say four and a half months, would
9 that -- that period of intensity, is that -- does that -- is
10 that book ended by the time when Laci was reported missing
11 to the time of Scott's arrest? Is that what we're talking
12 about, roughly?
13 A. Well, we continued after Scott's arrest, but, yeah,
14 that was the main portion of time.
15 Q. And when you -- sometimes when you would try to go
16 to sleep or you'd wake up before your allotted wake-up time,
17 were you still thinking about the case?
18 A. I thought about the case a lot. I can't say I woke
19 up because of it, but --
20 Q. Were there times when you'll just drive by 523
21 Covena, you know, just to drive by after Laci's
22 disappearance, maybe to see if that generated a new idea
23 about the case, maybe a new lead?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Now, you've got in front of you two awfully big
26 binders. Now, those represent the police reports in this
27 case; is that right?
28 A. The police reports I wrote.
830
1 Q. Okay. Those are just the police reports that you
2 authored?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Is that correct?
5 A. There might be a few pages in there that I didn't
6 author, but yes.
7 Q. Okay. Okay. Now, give me your estimate, again,
8 just an estimate, of how many pages that would be, police
9 reports which you authored in this case.
10 A. 800, 850, maybe around there.
11 Q. And in any of the questioning here, if I'm asking
12 you a question, with that volume of police reports and work
13 that you did, feel free to stop me if you need to resort to
14 the report to refresh your recollection, okay?
15 A. Okay.
16 Q. I mean, you had to do that some when Mr. Distaso
17 was talking with you, right?
18 A. That's right.
19 Q. And you probably had some preparation time with
20 Mr. Distaso before you got on the stand; is that right?
21 A. That's right.
22 Q. So you had a rough idea of the questions that he
23 was gonna ask you off that page, right?
24 A. I knew where he was going, what witnesses I was
25 gonna be asked to Prop 115.
26 Q. Okay. And even so, you needed to resort to the
27 pages sometimes to refresh your recollection, right?
28 A. Right.
831
1 Q. Now, you told us that you were working -- your
2 assignment, pardon me, is crimes against the person, is
3 that -- that's your -- part of the police department that
4 you work?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Is that correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And would that be true for all the period that
9 we've been talking about from December 24th to the present?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And, in fact, your being a detective in the Crimes
12 Against Persons Unit goes back earlier than simply
13 December 22nd of '02, right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. How long have you been working in that division?
16 A. November of 2000.
17 Q. Okay. So -- and when you're working crimes against
18 the person, you're working exclusively -- maybe not
19 exclusively murders, but you're working murders, assaults,
20 things -- serious batteries, those kinds of things, right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And is it accurate to also say that when you're
23 working in that unit or division -- what do you call it,
24 just so I have the nomenclature down?
25 A. I call it robbery/homicide when I answer the phone.
26 It's called Crimes Against Persons.
27 Q. Okay. But when you're working robbery/homicide or
28 crimes against the person, is it also accurate to say that
832
1 you're not doing double duty as a person -- as a detective
2 working child molests or crimes against property or economic
3 crimes, other stuff like that?
4 A. No, that's not accurate.
5 Q. Are you working other things than crimes against
6 the person when you're working in this robbery/homicide
7 detail?
8 A. Sometimes.
9 Q. And how does that happen?
10 A. You get a case like -- that somebody specializes in
11 something, like gangs, for instance, and I was -- worked in
12 the gang unit for many years, and so I still will sometimes
13 pick up a gang case or testify as an expert in criminal
14 street gangs, and that really maybe -- homicide, usually
15 they are a violent crime, like a robbery, a 245 or
16 something, but I just might be there as a gang expert.
17 Q. Okay. Well, and up to 2000, that -- wasn't that
18 your area of specialty, gang work? You testified and
19 investigated a lot of cases in this county relating to gang
20 work.
21 A. Yes, I did.
22 Q. And how about in the area of, for instance,
23 economic crimes, that kind of thing? Have you ever worked
24 in that area?
25 A. I've investigated cases as a patrolman, but I've
26 never specialized in it as a detective.
27 Q. I see. So most of your work has been in the
28 assaultive range, the robbery/homicide, the essentially
833
1 Crimes Against Persons, right?
2 A. A lot of work in narcotics also.
3 Q. Okay. Narcotics. Probably that blends in also
4 with the gang stuff that you did, right?
5 A. That's right.
6 Q. Now, when -- so when -- so as a detective, you get
7 called out, as you did in this case, and then you get
8 initially briefed by the on -- the officers who are already
9 there at the scene; is that accurate?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And then you get a -- you get an overview, a mental
12 overview, and then you start doing what you have to do,
13 right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And then from that point on, you're gathering
16 facts, right?
17 A. Doing my best.
18 Q. Evaluating evidence, right?
19 A. Doing -- yes, I do that.
20 Q. And, obviously, also generating reports, right,
21 like you've done 850 or so pages here?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Now, how does that work? When you've got reports
24 to write, what do you -- it may be different in every
25 department. You type them up yourself on a computer? Do
26 you dictate them? How -- what is your style of doing it?
27 A. I dictate most of them. Some of them are
28 handwritten. I've typed a couple.
834
1 Q. Okay. And then once having dictated, then somebody
2 else presents them to you that this is your report, right?
3 A. It's given back to me, I review it, make
4 corrections, give it back to them, and they print it out.
5 Q. Okay. And just as a way of operating, when you're
6 doing a report, when you're doing reports, do you try to put
7 out all the information that you've gathered, whichever side
8 it may seem to help, whether it's the prosecution's side
9 ultimately or the defense side?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. What you want to get out there is the truth, the
12 whole truth, and nothing but the truth in your reports?
13 A. Well, you can't put everything that's the truth,
14 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, or you'd be
15 giving a verbatim --
16 Q. No.
17 A. But you put in -- you put in your report what will
18 help refresh your memory when it comes time to being up
19 here.
20 Q. Sure. And to give, you know, fairly -- alert the
21 DA who's going to have to review it, the DA isn't there
22 seeing the witnesses and collecting evidence and evaluating
23 it, to give them a clue what the case is about, right?
24 A. I also do that verbally, but yes.
25 Q. And you have cases where a long time, even a longer
26 period of time than we have now elapses before you have to
27 come to court, and it helps preserve your memory of these
28 things, is that also accurate?
835
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. So I've got some questions from the questions you
3 were asked this morning by Mr. Distaso.
4 When you went to 523 Covena, the information that you
5 had -- I mean the general information or the type of call
6 was, what, a missing person?
7 A. Suspicious missing person.
8 Q. And you told us it was around 9:30 when you got
9 there, right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And then you conferred with, what, Officer Evers?
12 A. Sergeant Byron Duerfeldt, Officer Evers, Letsinger
13 and Spurlock.
14 Q. Okay. And did you do that before you went in the
15 house?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Now, when you went -- so the -- and I'm just asking
18 you about your -- the impression that you got at that point
19 before you entered the house. Did you get the information
20 from them that they'd already been through the house and
21 nothing -- and nothing seemed to be missing, ransacked,
22 turned over, anything like that?
23 A. I got the impression that there was nothing
24 missing, ransacked or turned over.
25 Q. Okay. Now, when you -- so then what did you -- and
26 you knew that they had been through the house before you
27 had; is that right?
28 A. Yes.
836
1 Q. So when you go in the house, who did you go in
2 with?
3 A. Evers walked me through first and pointed out some
4 things that were suspicious to him, and then I went through
5 with Evers and Scott.
6 Q. Now, were you shown by Evers the bucket and mop by
7 the front pathway?
8 A. Yes, I was.
9 Q. Now, that would be something that would be right
10 over here, if we're looking at Exhibit Number 79
11 (indicates). Looks like you've got an X there. Is that
12 where the mop bucket was when you saw it?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. So it's right outside the door, and that would be
15 the door to this converted garage we've heard it called?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Is that right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. But that is adjacent to a walkway right up to the
20 front door of the house, right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. So once you go through a gate here up at the --
23 near the front border of the house, to get to the front
24 door, you have to walk right by that bucket?
25 A. That's right.
26 Q. And was that where you saw the bucket?
27 A. Yes.
28 Q. Is that something that Evers pointed out to you?
837
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And so once inside, did you -- when you went
3 through those two -- was it two times only that you went
4 through the house?
5 A. On the 24th?
6 Q. Yeah. First with Evers, and then with Scott and
7 Evers, or was it more times?
8 A. Just those two times.
9 Q. Okay. And how long -- let's say, how long,
10 roughly, were you inside the house the first time with
11 simply Officer Evers?
12 A. About ten minutes.
13 Q. And then roughly how long were you in there with
14 Mr. Peterson?
15 A. About 45 minutes.
16 Q. And when you concluded that approximately 45-minute
17 period with that, had you had sufficient time to go through
18 the house as far as your purposes were at that time with
19 Mr. Peterson?
20 A. Yeah. The 45 minutes too might have been counting
21 the time in the car also, but --
22 Q. Okay.
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. But, I mean, I guess what I'm asking you is nobody
25 hurried you out of there either to go to another scene or
26 Mr. Peterson trying to hurry you out of there, anything like
27 that; is that correct?
28 A. That's correct.
838
1 Q. Okay. So in the time that you were in there,
2 whether it was 45 minutes or a little bit less, was the mop
3 bucket, mop and bucket, rather, was that one of the first
4 things that you had seen?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. So you were on the lookout for any signs inside of
7 any floors having been recently scrubbed down?
8 A. I looked.
9 Q. Okay. Did you see any sign of any moisture on any
10 floor inside the house either of those two times that you
11 were there on December 24th?
12 A. No.
13 Q. And you were looking?
14 A. I was looking.
15 Q. Okay. How about the smell? I asked Officer Evers
16 this, but let me ask you it also. Did you smell any kind of
17 agents, cleaning agents in the air inside, bleach, ammonia,
18 a pungent odor, chlorine, another pretty pungent odor?
19 Mr. Clean I offered before. I don't know if you could smell
20 Mr. Clean. But could you smell any kind of cleaning agents
21 inside?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Now, you got there about 9:30. Did you have an
24 idea of what the original time of the reported missing call
25 was?
26 A. I got called at 7:30, and I -- I don't think
27 anybody told me, but I think it was around 5 o'clock or
28 5:30, from what I remember in my reports.
839
1 Q. Okay. Well, this -- do you have any idea how many
2 people had been walking through the house on the 24th prior
3 to your getting there?
4 A. After the police arrived or before the police
5 arrived?
6 Q. Well, let's say after the police arrived, did you
7 have any information on that?
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. What?
10 A. Three.
11 Q. And those would be --
12 A. Three or four. That would have been the first
13 officers and Scott.
14 Q. And you have no clue how many people would have
15 been through -- through the house prior to the arrival of
16 the first officer?
17 A. That's right.
18 Q. Were there -- while you were there, were there
19 civilian people, people in not -- not police officers coming
20 and going and looking and knocking on doors and things like
21 that?
22 A. The street had a lot of family and friends out
23 there, but nobody was allowed into the house.
24 Q. Well, I didn't ask you about the house, officer. I
25 just asked you if there were a lot of people out there
26 during the time that you were there who were not police
27 officers?
28 A. I answered it. There was a lot of people there.
840
1 Q. And were they doing things like searching and
2 calling and trying to find Laci?
3 A. They were going door to door. They were contacting
4 media outlets. A group of them were -- were like -- went to
5 Dittos and were making fliers with her photo on it.
6 Q. Now, you were asked a question by Mr. Distaso,
7 remember, he asked you several questions about Scott
8 Peterson never withdrawing consent to be in the house,
9 agreeing to take you over to the warehouse, et cetera,
10 et cetera, et cetera? And then there was a point where this
11 morning, I think you told us that Mr. Peterson had -- you
12 had asked his permission, and you'd gotten it, about
13 collecting some evidence. Do you remember that?
14 A. I do.
15 Q. Now, when did that take place?
16 A. After we finished the walk-through, after we
17 finished the search of the truck, and right before we left
18 to go to Trade Corp., I asked him if it would be all right
19 if our ID officer came over, went in the house, photographed
20 it and collected any evidence that he found.
21 And I also told Derrick Letsinger, Officer Letsinger
22 to -- Scott said I -- he could, he consented, so I told
23 Letsinger to wait at the house, don't let anybody go in,
24 when Lovell gets there, tell him what I -- give him my
25 instructions.
26 Q. Okay. Well, can I show you page 7 of 12 of I
27 believe it's your initial report.
28 The first full paragraph under search, does that
841
1 reflect your conversations with Mr. Lovell and Scott
2 Peterson?
3 A. That's what I said.
4 Q. Is there something there that addresses the
5 question of taking anything from his house?
6 A. Look for evidence.
7 Q. Look for evidence, but not collect evidence.
8 A. Well --
9 Q. Right?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. He had no objection to -- and this would be in his
12 absence, right?
13 A. That's right.
14 Q. Because you were gonna go over to the warehouse
15 with Scott, right?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. There's nothing in your report to reflect any
18 consent to take anything by Mr. Lovell; is that right?
19 A. Nothing in my report.
20 Q. Uh-huh. Was there a receipt given for that mop and
21 bucket?
22 A. No.
23 Q. And you told Lovell specifically to take the mop
24 and bucket?
25 A. I did.
26 Q. And where was Mr. Peterson when that happened?
27 A. Standing in the driveway.
28 Q. Okay. And where were you and Lovell at that point?
842
1 A. Well, I never told Lovell, because he wasn't there
2 when I was there. I told Letsinger to tell Lovell to take
3 the bucket.
4 Q. Ah. And where were you and Letsinger then?
5 A. Close by, but I was talking to Letsinger, not to
6 Scott.
7 Q. Right. It was out of earshot for him?
8 A. That's right.
9 Q. Now, was there a reason you didn't want Scott
10 Peterson to hear that you wanted that bucket seized and
11 seized right then?
12 A. I didn't want him to hear. I didn't want him -- I
13 didn't want him to know I was taking it yet.
14 Q. Okay. He agreed to you -- to your going through
15 the house, right?
16 A. That's right.
17 Q. He agreed to -- for Lovell to come and take
18 pictures, et cetera, in his absence --
19 A. That's right.
20 Q. -- right?
21 He hadn't done anything to indicate any withdrawal of
22 consent, was Mr. Distaso's phrase, to anything the police
23 officers wanted to do at that point, right?
24 A. That's right.
25 Q. But you wanted to be surreptitious about this and
26 in his absence get that bucket, right?
27 A. Not just the bucket, but, yes.
28 Q. Okay. What else did you instruct Letsinger to tell
843
1 Lovell?
2 A. To take the towels that were on the washing machine
3 and to look for any other -- I wanted him to use a alternate
4 light source to look for any type of blood or anything and
5 collect it if he found any.
6 Q. Okay. So these are all things you're telling
7 Letsinger out of earshot of Mr. Peterson, and that is
8 triggered by your original suspicion about the bucket by the
9 walkway going to the front door?
10 A. No.
11 Q. No?
12 When you went through the house with Mr. Peterson, do
13 you remember how you did it, what -- where you started, what
14 rooms you went through?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Okay. Could you just -- you don't have to get up,
17 but can you just, you know, look at that board, or not look
18 at the board if you don't need to, and tell us what route
19 you took through the house?
20 A. Came in the -- the front door, which leads into the
21 dining room, went to the right, and I went into that little
22 kitchen area, and I went out the French doors and introduced
23 myself to McKenzie, the dog.
24 We came in -- I came in, I went into the dining room
25 area where the -- I mean the sitting room area where the TV
26 was and the washroom. I went over to the washroom area, and
27 I looked in the washing machine and removed the damp clothes
28 that had been through the spin cycle.
844
1 Then we went down the hallway and went into the master
2 bedroom, went into the spare bedroom, looked -- went into
3 the nursery, went back to the little sitting room where I
4 looked at his phone, and I documented all the numbers, the
5 outgoing, incoming numbers. Then I went outside. That's
6 the best I can --
7 Q. Okay.
8 A. That's the best I can recollect.
9 Q. That's fine. Let me take a look at some pictures
10 here.
11 Like the other officers' information before you went in
12 there, what you saw was you didn't -- let me strike that.
13 You did not see any evidence of overturned furniture,
14 things in disarray, that kind of a scene when you went
15 through the house; is that correct?
16 A. That's correct.
17 Q. Let me show you a picture of this purse. Showing
18 you -- it's Exhibit Number 75. Sorry.
19 And do you recall seeing that in the house?
20 A. I do.
21 Q. Now, did somebody point that out to you as Laci's
22 purse?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And who pointed it out to you?
25 A. Evers.
26 Q. Now, this is certainly a -- at this point, it's a
27 suspicious missing persons case; is that correct?
28 A. Yeah.
845
1 Q. That's what you --
2 A. That's what it is.
3 Q. Is that the category you would put it in or that
4 you were told that it was in?
5 A. I was suspicious.
6 Q. Okay. And while you haven't seen anything to show
7 that there was some kind of altercation in the home -- let
8 me first ask, you didn't see any evidence of some forceful
9 altercation in the home, such as overturned furniture, that
10 kind of thing, right?
11 A. No, I didn't.
12 Q. You were still interested in what valuables
13 would -- of Laci Peterson's would have been present; is that
14 an accurate statement?
15 A. I don't think valuables is the accurate statement.
16 Q. Well, maybe not --
17 A. Personal property? Yeah, I was interested to see
18 if her personal property was there.
19 Q. I mean, important papers, like the stuff we don't
20 leave home for long without, such as driver's licenses,
21 keys, that kind of stuff; is that accurate?
22 A. Purse, yeah, that's accurate.
23 Q. And for a woman, a purse is the usual receptacle
24 for those things, right?
25 A. Yes.
26 Q. So when you first saw the purse and it was pointed
27 out to you, one of you then took the purse off of the hook
28 and looked in it, right?
846
1 A. No. I mean, it was already done. When I first
2 saw -- you're asking did we take it off the hook? No.
3 Q. Did anybody look in the purse while it was still on
4 the hook while you were present?
5 A. I did.
6 Q. Okay. So it's left on the hook, and then what do
7 you physically do with the purse?
8 A. No, I -- I took it off the hook, but not when it
9 was me and Evers. I didn't take it off the hook then.
10 Q. Okay.
11 A. Evers told me the stuff was in there. I took it
12 off the hook when Scott was with me, and I flopped it open.
13 Q. What did Evers tell you was in there?
14 A. Her wallet -- her -- her -- her wallet, her keys.
15 That's all I remember.
16 Q. Okay. Now, I mean, you knew that others had been
17 in -- inside the wallet -- strike that.
18 You knew that others had been inside the purse before
19 you arrived on the scene?
20 A. That's right. Well, no -- yeah, before I got
21 there, yeah, I knew.
22 Q. Right.
23 A. I was told.
24 Q. Because Scott -- I mean, Officer Evers is not
25 blessed with ESP, right?
26 A. Right.
27 Q. I mean, you knew that when he and the other officer
28 are talking, that they had actually gone into the purse to
847
1 see what's in there, right?
2 A. He told me that the wallet and keys were in there,
3 so I assumed he went in the purse.
4 Q. Right. Okay. And this isn't like one of those
5 kid's purses that's see-through plastic, is it?
6 A. No, it isn't.
7 Q. I mean, this is some sort of a fabric bag?
8 A. It's some kind of a plasticky-looking leather or
9 something.
10 Q. Okay. Looks like it's got some kind of a pattern
11 or something on it, but do you remember the texture of the
12 outside of the thing?
13 A. Plasticky leather kind of thing.
14 Q. Okay. And so then -- so first time you're through
15 there, you get this information from the officers, and then
16 you don't do anything with it, or you don't touch the purse,
17 and then when you go through there with Scott Peterson,
18 that's when you take a closer look yourself and go inside
19 the purse; is that correct?
20 A. I didn't go in it, but, yeah, I did, I took it off
21 the hook. He told me there was a Louis Vuitton wallet in
22 there. And, I mean, I don't know what that is, but I wanted
23 to -- okay. So I looked, and there was a wallet in there.
24 I closed it, and I hung it back up. So I know there was a
25 wallet in there.
26 Q. But there's more -- there's more than a wallet
27 there --
28 A. Oh, there was contents in there.
848
1 Q. Okay. And in your thoroughness, you laid out in
2 your report what those contents were, right?
3 A. Oh, I laid out what I was told was in there,
4 Mr. McAllister.
5 Q. Now, I'm referring to page 3 of 12 from that same
6 report.
7 A. That's right.
8 Q. Right?
9 A. That's right.
10 Q. That -- in that report you say the following:
11 "This purse contained Laci's car keys, wallet, sunglasses,
12 and other items of personal property," right?
13 A. That's correct.
14 Q. Did you have Scott Peterson now -- and he's right
15 there standing there with you, right? Did you have him take
16 a look at these items to see, for instance, if credit cards
17 were there or if they were missing?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Did you have him look through the purse himself to
20 see if in fact everything was there?
21 A. No.
22 Q. You weren't interested in totally inventorying the
23 purse of this missing woman at that point?
24 A. No, the Louis Vuitton wallet was there, and that
25 was -- he told me about four or five times, "If the wallet's
26 there, she's not gone" -- I mean, "her stuff is there."
27 Q. Well, whoever Louis Vuitton is -- I share your
28 ignorance in Louis Vuitton, sir.
849
1 A. Thank you.
2 Q. So don't feel bad about that one.
3 A. Okay.
4 Q. But you didn't look in there -- this is at a point
5 where -- I mean, your suspicions here about Scott Peterson
6 had already started forming when you saw the mop bucket as
7 you walked up to the front door, right?
8 A. A lot more than just the mop bucket, but my
9 suspicions were -- but I believe Officer Evers, he said the
10 keys were there, the wallet was there, the sunglasses were
11 there. I didn't need to look too. I looked to see what a
12 Louis Vuitton wallet looked like, and then I hung it back
13 up, but I believed Officer Evers when he said everything was
14 there.
15 Q. And you must have believed, then, Scott Peterson,
16 according to your testimony, then, because if he said the
17 Louis Vuitton wallet was there, then everything was there?
18 A. That was -- made it very suspicious. I don't think
19 Laci would have left home without it.
20 Q. Right. But you were content with taking Scott
21 Peterson's word for that one, that if this wallet was there,
22 then all of the contents, therefore, would all be inside the
23 wallet?
24 A. I was --
25 MR. DISTASO: Objection. Relevance.
26 THE COURT: Sustained.
27 MR. MCALLISTER: Q. There's no -- you had not -- when
28 you put the thing back, let me ask you this, did you put it
850
1 back in the exact same way that it was facing when you
2 pulled it off the hook?
3 A. I don't remember.
4 Q. Do you remember if it had a fold-over thing over
5 the top or -- as you look at this picture now, does that
6 look like the back or the front of it, if you know?
7 A. That looks like the back to me.
8 Q. Oh.
9 A. I can't remember.
10 Q. There was no -- nobody told you there was some
11 weapon in this thing?
12 A. Nobody --
13 Q. The first officer didn't say, "Look out, you know,
14 there's a handgun or something in there"?
15 A. No.
16 Q. So you had no reason of officer safety to worry
17 about handing the wallet to Mr. Peterson to take a closer
18 look, right?
19 A. No, I didn't.
20 Q. And at that point, the purse had been handled by at
21 least the other -- the first team of officers and then by
22 you, so you were not at that point worried about things like
23 fingerprints, correct?
24 A. I don't know who handled it besides me. I wasn't
25 there. But I wasn't worried about fingerprints --
26 Q. Okay.
27 A. -- on that purse.
28 Q. And, in fact, you never -- you never gave
851
1 officer -- or Mr. Lovell, whatever his title is,
2 instructions to seize the wallet or fingerprint it or
3 anything like that?
4 A. No, I didn't.
5 Q. Is that correct?
6 A. That's correct.
7 Q. Now, you said that you went out and introduced
8 yourself to McKenzie, the dog; is that correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And the dog didn't -- didn't try to bite your hand
11 off or leg or anything like that, right?
12 A. That's right.
13 Q. Now, when you were leaving, or about to leave --
14 you actually went through this truck -- the pickup truck, I
15 think you said, is a F-150 Ford?
16 A. Pretty sure that's what it was.
17 Q. And that included climbing up in the bed of the
18 pickup?
19 A. I stood on the back wheel on the outside, and I
20 looked. The tire. So my feet were on the tire, and I
21 lifted the green toolbox lid, and I looked in it, and I kind
22 of moved stuff around in the truck and looked in it. I
23 didn't do a real thorough search, but I looked around in it.
24 But I didn't have to get in it to do that.
25 Q. In other words, you didn't stand in the bed of the
26 pickup to do that?
27 A. No.
28 Q. And what you saw were some umbrellas, patio-type
852
1 umbrellas?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And those were in the bed of the pickup, right?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And the tan tarp, which you then later found maybe
6 that was the tarp, a cover for the boat?
7 A. That's right.
8 Q. Where exactly in the bed of the pickup was that?
9 A. It was bunched up against the green toolbox.
10 Q. Towards the forward end of the pickup bed?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And that was, what, some covering that came with
13 the boat?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And did you later confirm that with the previous
16 owner that that had come with the boat?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And then the umbrellas were down towards the back
19 end of the pickup bed?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And this box that you've been talking about, is
22 like a toolbox that's anchored toward the front end of the
23 pickup bed?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And that had some shotgun shells in it, right?
26 A. Yes.
27 Q. And what else was in that portion of it?
28 A. There was some -- it's red and black nylon rope, it
853
1 looked like it was wound, so maybe it was about 50 or 100
2 feet, maybe 50 feet. There was some clothing in there and
3 some loose shotgun shells in the back rolling around --
4 Q. Uh-huh.
5 A. -- of the box.
6 Q. And then in the interior, you searched the interior
7 of the truck?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And what did you find in the interior?
10 A. Well, I saw the Big 5 bag with the fishing lures
11 and the receipt indicating he bought them on the 20th with a
12 two-day fishing license, I found the camouflage jacket that
13 he said he wore when he was fishing, there was some other
14 clothing in a bag in the back from some different stores
15 from a mall, and there was a gun in the glove box. I mean,
16 there was other things, but I don't recall.
17 Q. Now, at a later point, you came in with a -- you
18 were there when a search warrant was served I believe on the
19 warehouse?
20 A. I was -- I was involved in that search warrant,
21 yeah.
22 Q. Okay. And were you there?
23 A. I showed up there. I wasn't there when they opened
24 the doors and --
25 Q. Okay. At some point you were there?
26 A. Right.
27 Q. And at that point, some of the things which had
28 been in the pickup were found in some shelving somewhere in
854
1 the warehouse, right?
2 A. Some things were on the shelving, some things were
3 in the boat.
4 Q. All right. And the things which were in the boat,
5 now, were what, which had been in the truck?
6 A. The jacket, the camouflage jacket, the fishing
7 lures, the shotgun shells and the rope. And maybe clothes,
8 but I can't say for sure.
9 Q. Okay. And what about the Big 5 receipts or fishing
10 license?
11 A. It was found in the office area. I thought it was
12 found in the garbage can in the office area, but later on I
13 was told it was on a shelf in there.
14 Q. But what -- I couldn't hear the last part of your
15 question (sic).
16 A. I was told it was found on the shelf in the office
17 area, the receipt in the bag.
18 Q. Okay. So of the stuff that you saw on the 24th in
19 the pickup truck, nothing had been thrown away, correct?
20 A. Yeah, the stuff that I remembered and I noted I saw
21 again later.
22 Q. Yeah. It was a different place, but it hadn't
23 been -- it hadn't been thrown away?
24 A. Right.
25 Q. Is that right?
26 A. That's right.
27 Q. Then you told us about this -- in the -- there was
28 a Llama .22 caliber I think in the -- was in the glove box?
855
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And you yourself found that?
3 A. Well, I knew it was in there because he told me
4 before I searched the truck, but --
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. But I'm the one that took it.
7 Q. Okay. And this was -- it looked like an older kind
8 of a pistol?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. The grips were off of it so you could actually see
11 the cartridges through the handle?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. I mean, so the handle, whatever grips that had
14 originally come with this had been knocked off sometime
15 previously?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And was it where Mr. Peterson told you it was?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And so the first thing -- well, when you found it
20 there, was there any .22 caliber ammunition separate from
21 that which was in the pistol?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Did you smell the pistol?
24 A. No, I -- I don't think so. I might have. I don't
25 recall. No. I don't think so.
26 Q. Well, what Mr. Peterson -- one of the things he
27 told you about the pistol was that he had fired it last a
28 month or so before, right?
856
1 A. No, he said he tried to fire it, but it dry fired.
2 So he racked it manually, tried it again, and it misfired
3 again. So he put it in his glove box and forgot about it
4 for a month, so he --
5 Q. Well, then he said he hadn't -- he certainly hadn't
6 shot it in the month?
7 A. That's what he said.
8 Q. Does that refresh your recollection that you wanted
9 to smell it and see if it had been recently fired?
10 A. I don't remember if I smelled it or not. But he
11 told me that after I recovered it, so --
12 Q. Okay. But in terms of all the work that you've
13 done in the area of robbery/homicide, isn't that a very
14 common thing that a detective working those kind of cases
15 does, simply sniff the gun to see if it has that residual
16 smell of having been fired recently? You've done it,
17 haven't you, in the past?
18 A. I've smelled my own gun without having to sniff it,
19 and I know what it smells like. But I also know that if I
20 got up here and said it was recently fired because I smelled
21 it, you'd be raking me over the coals. And I didn't smell
22 it.
23 Q. Well, nobody's here to rake you over the coals,
24 detective. I'm just asking you -- there's a lack of
25 information about you smelling this gun in your report. So
26 my question to you, sir, is: Did you smell it or not? And
27 I guess your answer is no.
28 A. I was breathing in the truck when I recovered it,
857
1 and so I didn't put it to my nose, that I remember, and
2 sniff it. But if there with a strong odor, I might have
3 smelled it, and I don't recall smelling it.
4 Q. Okay. But you were in the enclosure of the pickup
5 truck when you recovered it, right?
6 A. The door was open, but, yeah, I was in the
7 enclosure of the pickup truck.
8 Q. Now, and it was because of your having found the
9 pistol that you were interested in doing the GSR test,
10 right?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And GSR is gunshot residue test, right?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And Mr. Peterson presented his hand or hands for
15 you to make those kind of swabs, whatever you do to do a GSR
16 test, right?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And so you did that test?
19 A. I did.
20 Q. And so you collected some kind of swabs?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And what did you do with those after that?
23 A. I booked them into evidence.
24 Q. Was anything ever done with them?
25 A. No.
26 Q. So they were never tested?
27 A. Not to my knowledge, unless they're done and I
28 didn't know about it.
858
1 Q. Well, I mean, you've kept abreast of -- you had
2 very frequent meetings with the other officers working on
3 this case, right, Officer Grogan, Officer Buehler working
4 different areas of the case?
5 A. I did.
6 Q. And with representatives of the DA's Office
7 periodically, right?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And those are always -- at least included the two
10 gentlemen here, Mr. Distaso and Mr. Harris, right?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. They were working on the case from January or so on
13 anyway, right? Weren't they?
14 A. I don't recall when they came on for sure.
15 Q. Pretty early on, though?
16 A. I don't think it was January.
17 Q. Okay.
18 A. Could have been -- Rick Distaso might have been
19 there in January.
20 Q. Now, but in all that, you'd never seen that any
21 information that anybody's ever conducted the GSR -- or had
22 it -- whatever you do with the GSR test to test it; is that
23 right?
24 A. That's right.
25 Q. When you looked at the cell phone, Laci Peterson's
26 cell phone, you were telling us something about the battery
27 wasn't charging?
28 A. I said the battery wasn't charged.
859
1 Q. Charged?
2 Okay. So was there -- it was hooked up to the, what,
3 the cigarette lighter in the car?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And so did you turn the car on?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Are you telling us it wasn't working at all?
8 A. What?
9 Q. The cell phone.
10 A. No, when I -- when I pushed the power button, it
11 would power on and then immediately shut down, low battery.
12 Q. Okay.
13 A. And the lighter did not work unless the key was on.
14 And I didn't ask Scott for a key to turn the light -- to
15 turn the ignition. So it wouldn't stay on long enough for
16 me even to have reviewed anything on it.
17 Q. Okay. But my question, sir, is when you -- you're
18 not telling us that the cell phone was inoperable?
19 A. No, I'm not.
20 Q. Okay.
21 A. I don't think it was.
22 Q. What it appeared to you was that the battery was,
23 for whatever reason, not sufficient to keep it charged
24 separate and apart from another electrical source, like the
25 battery of the car, right?
26 A. Right.
27 Q. Do you know if Laci Peterson commonly kept a cell
28 phone in the car?
860
1 A. No.
2 Q. Does that mean that you are unfamiliar with whether
3 or not she simply left the cell phone in the car and used it
4 in the car?
5 A. Are you asking me what I know today or what I knew
6 at that --
7 Q. What you knew at that time.
8 A. I didn't know. I just -- all I knew at that time
9 was Scott said he tried to call it, and it was in the car,
10 and I wasn't sure if she carried it or kept it in the car.
11 Q. Now, then, when you're about ready to leave, that's
12 when the keys, your keys somehow had gone somewhere. Where
13 had your keys gone?
14 A. I left my keys in the bed of his truck.
15 Q. Now, you yourself had not climbed into the bed of
16 the truck as I have this; is that right?
17 A. That's right.
18 Q. So had you tossed the keys into the bed of the
19 truck?
20 A. No. I can reach into the bed of the truck, and
21 they were sitting right there.
22 Q. And sitting right where?
23 A. On the hump of the -- or on the -- if you just
24 reach in or look in right inside right where the brown tarp
25 was. I thought maybe I left them in the truck.
26 Q. Okay.
27 A. But I found them in the bed of the truck when I
28 looked.
861
1 Q. Do you have a recollection of setting them in the
2 bed of the truck?
3 A. Yeah, I do. Now.
4 Q. After you found them?
5 A. After I found them.
6 Q. And why did you set them in the truck?
7 A. They were in my hand for some reason. I think I
8 went to get my flashlight, but I can't remember. But they
9 were in my hand, and I set them there to move some stuff
10 around. Then I went from the back of the truck to the
11 inside of the truck, and I was writing some notes regarding
12 the receipt and the bag and what I was seeing in the truck.
13 And then I took that gun and I put it in my pocket, then I
14 locked the car up and I was -- when I got over to my car to
15 leave, I couldn't find my keys. And so I just walked back
16 to the truck and found them.
17 Q. So you were standing on the tire of the truck,
18 leaning over into the bed and writing notes to yourself?
19 A. No. I stood on the tire of the truck just to look
20 inside that big green toolbox.
21 Q. Uh-huh.
22 A. I wrote the notes when I was inside the truck, and
23 I was copying things from the receipt on to my notepad. I
24 was copying the serial number of the gun on my notepad. I
25 must have set those keys in there when whatever -- for
26 whatever reason. I don't know what I did.
27 Q. So did you get back on the tire, did you stand on
28 the tire, look in the bed, and, "Aha, there are my keys"?
862
1 A. No. I just looked, and there they were, and I was
2 relieved.
3 Q. And they are under -- in a wheel well for a, what,
4 a spare tire in the bed of the truck?
5 A. No, a wheel well -- it's a Fleetside type of truck.
6 I mean, they've got little humps. I'm sure you've seen
7 them.
8 Q. Yeah.
9 A. You have a truck.
10 Q. Yeah.
11 A. I think you have -- I've seen your truck. Just
12 like your truck.
13 Q. Yeah. You been following me?
14 A. No comment.
15 But they were right there.
16 Q. So that is in the interior of the truck, but a
17 rounded portion which would be the wheel well or the top
18 or -- the top -- the outside portion of the wheel well
19 inside the bed of the truck, is that --
20 A. It was either on that or on something just as high
21 as that. But they were right there when I saw them, and I
22 picked them up.
23 Q. And you see them there, and they're in plane view
24 and, "Oh, yeah, that's where I put them"?
25 A. Yeah.
26 Q. Okay. Now, let's refer to your report about this
27 same thing. And I'm referring to that same collection of 12
28 pages, page 7. And I'm -- the title of this paragraph, you
863
1 might guess, is, "Keys."
2 A. I see it.
3 Q. Okay. You got it?
4 Now, the paragraph that follows the title, "Keys" --
5 that would be your keys, not Scott's keys, right?
6 A. That's right.
7 Q. Okay. That seems to say, "Scott unlocked the
8 truck, and I was able to find my keys. The keys were under
9 the tarp in the bed of the truck."
10 Now, does that refresh your recollection yet again?
11 A. Yeah. It -- no, they were still on the hump, and
12 they were -- I could see them, but there's a tarp, and it's
13 all bunched up in the back. And, yeah, that refreshes I
14 wrote that, but it's the same answer.
15 Q. Okay. So now they're under a tarp, but you could
16 see them just as completely exposed to your view like you
17 told us before?
18 A. That's right.
19 Q. And obviously Mr. -- Scott Peterson was at least
20 marginally involved in this hunt for your keys, because you
21 asked him for the keys to the pickup again, because you
22 thought you might have left them inside his pickup, right?
23 A. I wasn't sure. So when I was walking back, I said,
24 "Scott, would you unlock your truck again so I could look
25 for my keys?" Before I looked back inside the truck, I saw
26 my keys in the back.
27 Q. Do you remember Scott Peterson giving you an assist
28 by telling you where you had left them?
864
1 A. I don't remember. He might have, but I don't
2 remember.
3 Q. Now, at that point, then, you went over to the
4 warehouse; is that correct?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Now, when you did that, you told us about initially
7 going into the office area there, there's actually, what, a
8 partition or a wall separating an office from the bay
9 portion of this little warehouse?
10 A. There's a door, yeah.
11 Q. What we're looking at here now is Number 87, and
12 this is a diagram of the warehouse. Just dimension-wise, I
13 don't think we heard this before, but to give us an idea,
14 the width of this -- looks like this was Detective House who
15 prepared this?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Looks like it's 23 foot, 7 inches in width?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. That's what he wrote. Does that seem roughly about
20 right to you?
21 A. Seems right to me.
22 Q. Okay. And he's got 70 foot, 3 inches for the
23 length of it. Does that sound about right?
24 A. Sounds about right.
25 Q. Okay. Now, in terms of areas that you have been
26 talking about, what we called the office area would be
27 this -- he's got north I think on the conventional -- let's
28 call this north. The north -- it would be -- the northeast
865
1 corner of this would be the off -- what you call the office
2 area; is that right?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And then the rest of this is just an open bay?
5 A. Except for the small bathroom in the southwest
6 corner.
7 Q. Oh, okay. I didn't know -- then that would be a
8 bathroom, then (indicates)?
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. Okay. And that's -- obviously, then, walls
11 separate the bathroom and the office, except for an interior
12 door here and a door there from the Bay Area?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. So all this area is open?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And some of this product, was that Scott Peterson's
17 term for his fertilizer stuff?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Or is that yours?
20 A. That was mine.
21 Q. Okay. Is that -- is that to indicate fertilizer
22 type of --
23 A. At the time, I didn't know exactly what it was. It
24 was liquid, and it was his product, and I know he was a
25 fertilizer salesman, but I don't know if it was all
26 fertilizer.
27 Q. Okay. What about -- there are a lot of squares and
28 rectangles here, and you indicated that also was product.
866
1 What -- when you looked in there, what did you see? Are
2 these big boxes or crates or bales, or what did it look
3 like?
4 A. It looked like a pallet that would have bladders,
5 something like a big wine bladder, maybe a five-gallon
6 thing, stacked about four feet or five feet high, wrapped in
7 shrink-wrap cellophane, and then on top of it would be
8 another one. And some of them might have been buckets too,
9 but I can't remember, because I didn't look at them all.
10 But it was just double-stacked, shrink-wrapped stuff.
11 Q. Okay. And so you didn't count how many of these
12 there were or anything like that, right?
13 A. No, I didn't.
14 Q. But is this accurate in showing us a big clutter of
15 these things --
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. -- throughout?
18 Was it a pretty cluttered place?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And these seemed to be -- I don't know what the
21 scale would be, but they seem to be pretty close to each
22 other in a lot of instances. Is that accurate, that they
23 were --
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Now, in that office area, when you first went in
26 there, you did see a computer and -- well, did you see a
27 computer?
28 A. Yes.
867
1 Q. Where was it that you saw the computer?
2 A. It was on the desk.
3 Q. Can you -- can you show us in that -- where would
4 that be in the sketch that we have that Detective House
5 prepared?
6 A. Somewhere around 102 or 107. I don't know what
7 those items are, but those numbers there.
8 Q. Those who don't have eagle eyes, that would be 107
9 right there?
10 A. It was just on the desk.
11 Q. This is a desk there?
12 A. Where all those little circles are. It was on that
13 desk.
14 Q. Okay. Somewhere on this desk that I'm pointing to
15 (indicates)?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. It would be on the wall opposite from the front
18 door?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Okay. And then there was also a fax machine?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Do you remember where that was?
23 A. It was on the floor against the north wall.
24 Q. So that would be this wall -- that would be the
25 wall that would be to your right as you walk in?
26 A. Yeah.
27 Q. And it was there that you noticed a fax from that
28 very day; is that correct?
868
1 A. I can't remember if it was in the machine or on the
2 desk, but I saw a fax dated 12-24.
3 Q. Okay. So that might have not even have been in the
4 machine, it might have been something you noticed on the
5 desk when you were looking around the office?
6 A. It was right on top. If I look at my report, I
7 might be able to tell you for sure. But what I remember
8 right now is I saw that fax as soon as I walked in, and I
9 asked him about it.
10 Q. Okay. Why don't you take a look and see if there's
11 any assistance you find in that report.
12 A. It was on top of the desk, the fax.
13 Q. That would be the same desk we were talking about
14 opposite from the front door?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. So when you -- who went in first?
17 A. Scott.
18 Q. And then you followed him in, then?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And then Officer Evers followed you in?
21 A. I think Evers just stayed by the door. I don't
22 even know if he stepped in, but he was right there. He
23 might have stepped in too, but --
24 Q. Now, when -- was Evers doing anything that you
25 noticed?
26 A. No.
27 Q. When you got over there -- I mean, you told -- the
28 reason you were there was you told Scott that you wanted to
869
1 take a look around his warehouse, right?
2 A. No. I said I wanted to look at his boat.
3 Q. Oh, okay. Well, you knew it was in his warehouse.
4 And was he in the office as you looked around the desk area
5 there?
6 A. He was in the office when I saw the fax and picked
7 it up. I didn't really look around -- I mean, he was there,
8 yeah, when I was looking around, yeah, he was in the office
9 when I was looking around.
10 Q. Well, what you've told us is that the lights for
11 some reason didn't get turned on?
12 A. No. I told you he said there was no electricity.
13 Q. Okay. Well, so you have a flashlight with you and
14 you're training it around the room when you --
15 A. Pretty bright light, but I was training it on the
16 desk, but it lights up the room, yeah.
17 Q. Okay. And did you see, you know, any lights on
18 that computer indicating that it was on?
19 A. No.
20 Q. At that point, you'd already learned that Scott had
21 been on the computer that day. He told you that, right?
22 A. He told me he sent an e-mail that day, yeah.
23 Q. Okay. From the warehouse?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. So you knew that there was a computer working there
26 at the warehouse, right?
27 A. I knew there was a computer or fax in that
28 warehouse --
870
1 Q. Okay.
2 A. -- that worked.
3 Q. And more than that, then once you're inside that
4 room, you know the fax is working, because you happen to see
5 a fax that had been received that very same day?
6 A. That's right.
7 Q. Did you -- and while you were in the office, did
8 you pick it up and look at it with your flashlight?
9 A. The fax?
10 Q. Yeah.
11 A. Yeah, I -- I remember picking it up.
12 Q. Okay. And so -- and you've got your flashlight
13 trained on it, right?
14 A. Yeah.
15 Q. And then do you have some discussion with Scott
16 about the time on it that was reflected on the fax?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. And what was that discussion?
19 A. I was just asking him about the time that I saw on
20 the fax. I think it was 1428, which is like 2:30. And it
21 was on the desk, and I was saying, "How could you be in, you
22 know, Berkeley at 1 o'clock and have this fax on your desk
23 at 2:30," something -- something similar to that.
24 Q. Okay. And then you got into a discussion about
25 whether it was Eastern time or Pacific time?
26 A. No, we didn't get into a discussion. He just told
27 me it was New Jersey time, three hours different.
28 Q. Oh, okay. And the bottom line was he couldn't
871
1 remember when he had seen the fax that day?
2 A. Yeah, he couldn't remember if it was before he left
3 to go fishing or when he got back.
4 Q. Okay.
5 A. But he remembered seeing it and reading it.
6 Q. Okay. So then how long are you then in the office
7 while you're having this or any other discussion?
8 A. A minute or two.
9 Q. Did you ever ask him a question there while you
10 were there in the office or at the warehouse, "Gee, how do
11 you have no electricity, but then you seem to have faxes and
12 computers that work"?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Didn't ask him that?
15 A. No.
16 Q. So then where did Scott next go in the warehouse?
17 A. He -- I asked him if he'd roll up the door so I
18 could put my headlights into the warehouse so I could see at
19 least.
20 Q. Okay. Well, did you -- from the office, did you
21 poke your head out that door at least and see where the boat
22 was?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Did you get some feel for the fact there was a boat
25 there?
26 A. Yes.
27 Q. And then you asked him to pull up the rollup door?
28 A. No. I think I asked him first, and he went in
872
1 there, and I kind of followed him and shined my light so
2 he -- it was very cluttered, and there was a trailer right
3 by the door, and I think I even lit the way for him. And
4 then when he got to the door and started opening it, I went
5 out around the office and got in my car and rearranged it so
6 my headlights were facing right into the shop.
7 Q. Okay. And all this, he's cooperating with you,
8 he's opening the door for you, right?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Explaining the fax that you show him, he's talking
11 about that, right?
12 A. Told me about it, yes.
13 Q. And he's not -- at no point while you're at the
14 warehouse is he trying to kick you out or prevent you from
15 doing anything you want to do there, right?
16 A. Other than see. But, yeah.
17 Q. And the thought never came to mind to find a light
18 switch and flip it on?
19 A. I believed him. And I believed that the light --
20 the warehouse didn't have lights.
21 Q. Oh, okay. I'll ask my miner's hat question -- or I
22 would, but I know Mr. Distaso would object to it.
23 THE COURT: Just ask questions, Mr. McAllister.
24 MR. MCALLISTER: Thank you, Your Honor.
25 Q. Now, when you saw the boat there -- then what did
26 you do -- okay, you've got your car repositioned, and now
27 you -- it's -- the lights from the headlights are trained on
28 the interior then of the warehouse?
873
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And then what did you do?
3 A. I got my camera out, and I -- I looked around
4 first, and then I got my camera out and took some pictures.
5 Q. Okay. Look around where?
6 A. The boat. I looked into it.
7 Q. And was this approximately where this boat was in
8 this schematic that Detective House did?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And did you -- did you walk all the way around it?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Where did you go?
13 A. I think I stood on the trailer, because you really
14 couldn't stand between the trailer and the boat. I stood on
15 that trailer, the flatbed trailer, and I took some pictures
16 of the boat. I took some pictures from standing outside in.
17 That was about it.
18 Q. Okay. Could I ask you to step up to the board,
19 Detective Brocchini, and maybe make a mark or two, or
20 however many, to show which area you were standing at when
21 you took any of these pictures?
22 A. It was --
23 THE COURT: It's Number 87, right?
24 THE WITNESS: It's Number 87, Your Honor.
25 I'll put a one and a circle. I know I was standing --
26 like right here would be one photo (indicates).
27 MR. MCALLISTER: Q. Okay.
28 A. I put a two in a circle.
874
1 Maybe right here and a circle (indicates).
2 I know I took one from out here (indicates) --
3 Q. That would be three with a circle?
4 A. Three and a circle.
5 And I took some more, I might have took one or two,
6 maybe -- I don't know exactly where. I just remember I was
7 on that trailer, and I was taking pictures of the boat.
8 I'm going to put four, because I think I took another
9 one of another area of the front, more front of the boat.
10 Q. Okay. So what you've got there, one, two, three
11 and four, those would be the areas where you were standing
12 when you took the various pictures that you took?
13 A. That's what I recall.
14 Q. And so the pictures -- the pictures, other than the
15 one from the foot of the boat, the closeup pictures were
16 taken from the vantage point of standing on the trailer
17 adjacent to the boat itself; is that right?
18 A. That's what I remember.
19 Q. Okay.
20 THE COURT: Why don't we take our break here? We'll
21 start up again at 10 till 3:00.
22 MR. DISTASO: Your Honor, can I inquire as to how much
23 longer Mr. McAllister's going to be? Because I have a
24 witness that's about 20 minutes out if I need to call him.
25 THE COURT: What do you estimate, Mr. McAllister?
26 MR. MCALLISTER: Oh, I think we'll go the rest of the
27 afternoon.
28 MR. DISTASO: Okay. So I won't call anybody else in,
875
1 then.
2 THE COURT: That's fine.
3 (Recess: 2:35 p.m.)
4 ---oOo---
876
1 November 6, 2003. 2:52 p.m.
2 ---o0o---
3 THE COURT: The record will reflect that everyone's
4 present.
5 You may continue the cross-examination, Mr. McAllister.
6 MR. McALLISTER: Thank you, Your Honor.
7 Q. I'm going to get back to the warehouse in a second,
8 Detective Brocchini, but I want to clarify something.
9 We had talked about the Llama .25 caliber pistol, and
10 you had testified this morning, I believe, that you got a
11 call at 2:00 AM from Scott Peterson asking where the gun
12 was.
13 A. He asked me if I took it.
14 Q. Okay. So my question then is, did you take the
15 gun, the pistol surreptitiously without Mr. Peterson knowing
16 it?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Okay. How did you do that? Where was he? You
19 know, how'd that work?
20 A. Well, he was standing outside the truck nearby, and
21 I was searching it, and when I got to the gun, I found it.
22 I wrote the serial number down. I put it in my pocket.
23 Q. Okay. And then you were carrying it around over to
24 the warehouse?
25 A. Yeah, I had it in my pocket over at the warehouse.
26 Q. And whatever he had told you about some alleged
27 misfire, that didn't worry you about maybe it going off in
28 your pocket?
877
1 A. No.
2 Q. But all that happened, as far as you knew, without
3 Mr. Peterson knowing about it, until 2:00 o'clock or
4 whenever he discovered it missing?
5 A. That's right.
6 Q. Is that right?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Now, I think we were in the warehouse and I was
9 asking you about some of these things in the warehouse.
10 I'm going to ask you some -- you're familiar with these
11 photographs, which are 88 to 92. You're familiar with those
12 generally, aren't you?
13 A. I took those.
14 Q. Okay. And one other one I wanted to ask you about.
15 From the testimony we heard this morning, was this not
16 your camera?
17 A. It was the police department camera, but it wasn't
18 mine.
19 Q. Okay. And where -- had you gotten it from the
20 other officer there, Officer Evers?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Where'd you get it?
23 A. I got it from Officer Ridenour, Junior. I called
24 for it when I was at the scene on Covena. He was just a
25 patrolman in the area who had one, and he pulled up, and I
26 took it out of his car, put it in --
27 Q. And when you were over at the warehouse?
28 A. No, when I was on Covena.
878
1 Q. On Covena, okay. So it was a Junior Ridenour?
2 A. Yes, it was.
3 Q. So that narrows it down to -- what? -- about a
4 third of the force?
5 A. We've only got a couple, I think.
6 Q. Okay. But it was a department issue?
7 A. Thirty-five-millimeter camera.
8 Q. Thirty-five millimeter. It's not a digital camera;
9 right?
10 A. No.
11 Q. It's a regular film camera?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Okay. Then what did you do with the camera itself
14 after you were through with it over at the warehouse?
15 A. I think I took the roll out of it and turned it
16 back in to patrol. It was their camera. And I had the film
17 developed.
18 Q. Now, when did you first see that film, sir?
19 A. I saw --
20 THE COURT: Excuse me. Are you talking about the film
21 or the pictures?
22 THE WITNESS: The developed film or --
23 MR. McALLISTER: Q. The developed film, yeah.
24 A. I can't remember. It wasn't much later. Maybe two
25 weeks at the most probably after I took them.
26 Q. From the taking of the pictures?
27 A. Yeah.
28 Q. And in what form do you remember seeing it? Was it
879
1 a contact sheet with a lot of the same pictures on the same
2 sheet or were they individual, discrete photographs?
3 A. Individual, discrete photographs.
4 Q. And do you know who the -- the photographs that
5 which the police department takes, where they process those?
6 Do they do that in-house?
7 A. No. I know they use the Camera Center, and I don't
8 know if they use anybody else.
9 Q. So what you do is you drop them off somewhere at
10 the police department --
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. -- for development?
13 A. Or I hand it to somebody, you know, one of our
14 CSO's works up there and say --
15 Q. Can I have these developed?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. So you saw these a couple weeks after you took the
18 photos?
19 A. I can't be sure, but I know it wasn't longer than a
20 couple of weeks.
21 Q. Was this a -- do you remember the make of the
22 camera?
23 A. It was a Minolta.
24 Q. Do you remember if there was a strap to it or was
25 it just a camera itself?
26 A. There was a strap to it.
27 Q. The questions I wanted to ask you start with this,
28 and pardon my ignorance of boats. But I'm showing you what
880
1 was marked 47, which is a photograph in daylight, and it
2 looks like at the police department of this Game Fisher
3 boat. Now, is that Scott Peterson's boat?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And just for reference points, I'm looking at the
6 seats that go crosswise all the way through from side to
7 side. How many of those are there?
8 A. Well, it looks like there's three seats and a
9 little platform in the front, which I don't know if you want
10 to call it a seat or if I want to call it a seat.
11 Q. Okay. So we've got this thing. Let's just now,
12 for reference, I don't know that it shows really that
13 precisely in Mr. House's diagram, but you've got right in
14 the -- is it the bow?
15 A. It's the front.
16 Q. The front, okay. The front of the boat. You've
17 got a little wedge there could be a seat; right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Okay. But let's talk about from that point aft.
20 A. Okay.
21 Q. I'm getting better at this.
22 It looks like there are two separate seats, and then is
23 there something all the way at the back? It doesn't really
24 show much in this picture.
25 A. There's a third seat. That's a seat.
26 Q. Okay. And that would be farthest back --
27 A. Yeah.
28 Q. -- towards the outboard; right?
881
1 A. Yeah.
2 Q. Okay. So looking at that diagram of the interior
3 of the boat, Mr. House's looks like it may confuse more than
4 help, doesn't it?
5 A. No, I think his is right, except for the little
6 platform in the front.
7 Q. Okay. So if we look at his, we'd have two benches
8 or seats all the way across and then a third one towards the
9 outboard end of the --
10 A. It's a bench seat all the way across, also.
11 Q. Okay. And I'm doing that just as reference points
12 now, because let's go to the seats that we're looking at
13 here in these various photos.
14 Let's start with 88. I guess that's the first in
15 number. Looking at 88, can you tell us in using, unless
16 you've got a better reference point, using the bench seats
17 that we see in that, what that is exactly a picture of?
18 A. Want me to show you on that?
19 Q. Sure. And I'm probably going to ask you to make a
20 mark with a marking pen this time so we can remember it
21 after your testimony. Is that okay?
22 A. All right.
23 Q. I'm giving you the red pungent pen.
24 A. Number 88. I don't know how you want me to do it,
25 but it would be --
26 Q. Roughly the area that the picture shows. How's
27 that?
28 A. Okay. I'm just going to put number 88 right here.
882
1 Q. Okay. And then -- and -- and your vantage point at
2 that point is you're on the trailer; right?
3 A. Standing up here on this trailer.
4 Q. Okay. And so you'd be looking at the-- you'd be
5 looking at the starboard wall of the boat? That's the right
6 side.
7 A. I would be looking -- if you were sitting on it, on
8 the left side of the boat. I would be looking over the left
9 side of the boat into the boat.
10 Q. Okay. Got it.
11 Now, let's look at 89 and see if that shows us some
12 different scene. Then maybe you can tell us where that is.
13 A. It's the front.
14 Q. Okay. Got 89 up there.
15 THE COURT: For the record, he's marking these on
16 People's Number 87. Right?
17 MR. McALLISTER: That is correct, in red.
18 Q. And so what we see there is you can actually see
19 some curvature at the bottom edge of the picture as the boat
20 is coming to a point; is that accurate?
21 A. That's accurate.
22 Q. Okay. This is Number 90. I think that's probably
23 pretty obvious, but what is that showing us?
24 A. It's showing us like the back portion of the boat.
25 Q. All right. And then Number 91? Looks like it's
26 back near the motor area, but you show us.
27 A. (Witness complied.)
28 Q. Okay. And finally then Number 92.
883
1 A. (Witness complied.)
2 Q. Oh, I see. Okay.
3 And would this include what you talked about as an
4 anchor?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. And that I'm talking about the -- in the bottom
7 half of the picture just about midway across, there's a
8 roundish-looking thing. It looks kind of gray in color;
9 right?
10 A. That's right.
11 Q. And that would be the cement, the round cement
12 object that has rebar forming a U-shaped thing at the top?
13 A. Yes.
14 THE COURT: And that photograph is?
15 MR. McALLISTER: That is Number 92, Your Honor.
16 Q. Now, when you -- did you take any shots, other than
17 those that we see here, of anywhere else in the warehouse?
18 A. I took -- I know I took a shot standing outside
19 looking into the warehouse. I think I took a couple of
20 those shots, and I took one of the patrol car door, just--
21 Q. That would roughly be from 3 here, you told us
22 earlier before the break?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. Okay.
25 A. That was about it.
26 Q. But none of the interior, all that stuff on pallets
27 or any of that jazz?
28 A. You would have probably seen it from the photo I
884
1 took from number 3, but I didn't do any closeups of anything
2 else in the shop.
3 Q. Okay. Now, in your report then, you did detail
4 what was in the boat as you saw it on 12/24; is that
5 correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And you reported in your report -- I'm talking
8 about 7 of 12 of that same date of 12/24 -- that you
9 inspected the inside of the boat?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And saw that there were two fishing poles. One was
12 an ultralight-type stream fishing pole, and second was a
13 heavier type fishing pole; right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Now, what is an "ultralight-type stream fishing
16 pole"?
17 A. It's short, very lightweight, doesn't come apart,
18 and it's -- that's what I call it. That's the type of
19 fishing pole I would use, so --
20 Q. Okay. My next question. Do you know something
21 about fishing?
22 A. A little bit. Not about ocean fishing, but I fly
23 fish and stream fish.
24 Q. So to give us that description, were you close
25 enough to be able to see like a brand name on that fishing
26 pole?
27 A. No. I didn't look for one.
28 Q. Okay. Is this a generic type description just from
885
1 your knowledge of fishing?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. But you were close enough to see it in that detail
4 from where you were standing; right?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Then there was a small plastic tackle box which
7 contained old fishing jigs and lures. Now, is that shown on
8 the photographs?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Could you show us -- could you show me where that
11 is? Would that be that?
12 A. On photo 92, that would be it.
13 Q. Okay. And that is a -- looks like at some earlier
14 part of its life might have been an orange hinged box?
15 A. That's right.
16 Q. And that would be next to what we described as the
17 anchor?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And so -- and did you take -- you looked inside
20 that, obviously; right?
21 A. Yes. I opened it.
22 Q. And that's how you were able to make the
23 description I just read of the fishing jigs and lures;
24 right?
25 A. Yes.
26 Q. Now, then you also described a six-foot red rope,
27 possibly used to tie the boat to a dock and a pair of
28 yellowish rubber gloves. I think the gloves show in those
886
1 pictures, too, don't they?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Okay. Those are near the fishing poles, kind of
4 under them almost?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Right?
7 A. Uh-huh.
8 Q. And what was this other thing under the fishing
9 poles?
10 A. That is something to -- if you get a flat tire on
11 your trailer, you pull your trailer up onto that, and then
12 you can take your tire off and change it.
13 Q. Oh, okay. And then reading on, you said that the
14 ropes and gloves were wet; is that --
15 A. That's correct.
16 Q. -- accurate?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And then you described the concrete that we talked
19 about before?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And then you said there was no rope attached to it
22 and you saw no other rope in the boat, so you don't know how
23 it could be used as an anchor?
24 A. That's what I recollect.
25 Q. Is that accurate from your report?
26 A. That's accurate.
27 Q. How you saw it, there's no rope attached to it;
28 right?
887
1 A. That's right.
2 Q. Did Scott ever say that he had dropped anchor at
3 any point while he was fishing in the bay?
4 A. No.
5 Q. And how about the anchor itself, was it wet?
6 A. This was water in the boat, and I -- I mean, it
7 sloshed around in the boat. It possibly could have been wet
8 on the bottom, but I don't know for sure.
9 Q. Well, it certainly wasn't like it was wet cement
10 that had just been put together; right?
11 A. Are you asking my opinion?
12 Q. Yeah.
13 A. It looked kind of fresh because it was breaking up,
14 like I've made things in the past with cement, and from
15 bouncing, there was broken pieces and it didn't look like an
16 old brick or anything. It looked kind of fresh to me.
17 Q. Okay. But it wasn't-- did you try lifting it up by
18 that homemade handle?
19 A. No, it looked solid.
20 Q. It's solid; right?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. So that was -- that's pretty much it for your
23 report in terms of what you found when you inspected the
24 boat; is that correct?
25 A. Can I look at my report?
26 Q. Yeah. Go ahead.
27 A. (Witness reading.)
28 That's it.
888
1 Q. Okay. One question on that tackle box. That has
2 some kind of a hasp closing it?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Snap or something? All we see is the hinge side of
5 that, don't we? What's your recollection of the other side
6 of that? Is there something, a lip or something that it has
7 to go over?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So when you opened it physically, what did you have
10 to do to open it up?
11 A. I think I had to move a little plastic thing and
12 flop the lid open.
13 Q. Okay. Now, was that done before or after the photo
14 was taken?
15 A. I don't remember.
16 Q. Okay. And then you -- to get to that box, you
17 climbed into the boat to be able to open that box up, didn't
18 you?
19 A. No.
20 Q. You did not?
21 A. I did not.
22 Q. So what did you do? Reach over from the trailer
23 into there?
24 A. No. I was standing on the ground, and I just
25 reached in and opened the lid and looked in it.
26 Q. And did you reach into the boat and touch or
27 manipulate or open anything else in the boat?
28 A. No.
889
1 Q. Now, when you were working the camera, did you have
2 any kind of latex or rubber or any kind of other gloves on
3 your hands?
4 A. No.
5 Q. You were barehanded?
6 A. I think I was. I don't recall putting gloves on.
7 Q. Okay. The same would be true over when you were
8 going through your inspection of the house at 523 Covena,
9 you didn't have any kind of rubber gloves on during any of
10 that, did you?
11 A. I -- you know, I don't recall.
12 Q. Is your best recollection you did not have any?
13 A. My best recollection is I did when I was in Scott's
14 truck, but I don't recall having them on in his house.
15 Q. Okay. Now, once then you left the warehouse, you
16 and Scott were going to go down to the police department to
17 continue your conversation; is that right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And, now, as I -- let me do one more question while
20 you're there at the warehouse. Did Evers stay the entire
21 time that you were there?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. What was he doing while you were taking pictures?
24 A. Nothing. Standing there.
25 Q. Inside or outside?
26 A. Outside.
27 Q. And where was Scott Peterson while you were taking
28 the pictures?
890
1 A. Outside.
2 Q. Were Peterson and Evers outside together, from what
3 you could see?
4 A. I don't recall. I think they were standing near
5 each other. I don't know if they were talking or anything.
6 Q. Well, Evers wasn't doing anything to assist you in
7 the picture taking?
8 A. No, he wasn't. Not that I remember.
9 Q. Okay. Then you take off from there after Scott
10 locks up the warehouse; right?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And then you're headed downtown?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And then do you have some detour that you take?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And where were you when you decided that you had to
17 go somewhere other than the Modesto Police Department?
18 A. On my way to the Modesto Police Department.
19 Q. Okay.
20 A. I don't recall where I was on the street, but in
21 transit.
22 Q. Okay. Were you within a block of the warehouse or
23 were you closer to the police department? That's all I'm
24 asking.
25 A. I don't recall.
26 Q. And then what was this? What came to mind that
27 sparked this need to go somewhere else?
28 A. Scott had some family and friends at Dittos that
891
1 were making fliers. I think they needed a phone number, so
2 we went over there.
3 Q. Well, he got a cell phone call, didn't he?
4 A. I think he did.
5 Q. That's how -- again, it wasn't ESP we ought to go
6 to Dittos. Didn't he get a phone call that they were making
7 fliers over there and he needed to go over there for some
8 reason?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Okay. So you took him over to Dittos?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And then did you go into Dittos or --
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. What was going on there?
15 A. There was a lot of friends and there was people
16 making fliers. I mean, they were asking questions. They
17 wanted a phone number. "What phone number do we put on the
18 flier?" I don't recall. I remember who one of the people
19 were, but I don't remember any of the other ones, and just
20 thought it was kind of a nice thing that was going on.
21 Q. And then what happened from that point? Where'd
22 you go next?
23 A. We went -- we went to the station.
24 Q. Okay. Now, wasn't there a point where you forgot
25 something again?
26 A. Yes.
27 Q. And what was that?
28 A. My notebook. It was right when we got to the
892
1 station and we parked on G Street we went to get out, and I
2 wanted my notebook with all my notes, and I didn't have it.
3 So I said, "Scott, we've got to go back to the shop. I left
4 my notebook."
5 Q. Hmm. So you got back in the car with Scott because
6 he had to let you in; right?
7 A. Scott drove back there with me.
8 Q. Okay. And then you went back there. And what
9 happened once you got back there?
10 A. Scott opened the door to the office. I followed
11 him in with my flashlight. He went into the warehouse. I
12 lit up the area. He jumped over the trailer, grabbed my
13 binder, jumped back over, handed it to me. We walked back
14 out. He locked up and we drove to the station.
15 Q. Now, that went a little bit fast for me.
16 Did you have to illuminate the inside of the warehouse
17 with your car again facing into the bay?
18 A. No, I just used my flashlight.
19 Q. Okay. So the two of you walked in through the
20 office area?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And then you trained the light on the boat and he
23 jumped into the boat?
24 A. No, he didn't have to get into the boat. He jumped
25 over that flatbed trailer.
26 Q. Okay.
27 A. And it was just on a lip or on a ledge, and I can't
28 remember exactly where it was, but it was right by the boat.
893
1 He picked it up, jumped back over the trailer, handed it to
2 me, and we left.
3 Q. Okay. What -- in terms of exactly where that book
4 was, notebook, what did it look like? Could you just
5 describe it? You said legal size?
6 A. Yeah. It was just a black fake leather bifold.
7 Not bifold. Folder. And it didn't have a zipper on it. It
8 just has a little, you know, latch.
9 Q. Hasp thing?
10 A. Hasp thing. And it had a legal pad in there that I
11 was using to take my notes.
12 Q. So it's legal size like the stuff I use; right?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. And it's flat then, probably pretty flat?
15 A. It's probably about three inches thick.
16 Q. Okay. Would your report assist your recollection
17 in terms of where you left that notebook?
18 A. In the boat. On the boat.
19 Q. Well, page eight.
20 A. Go ahead. (Witness reading.)
21 Inside the boat.
22 Q. Okay. Next question, very predictable. Where
23 inside the boat?
24 A. I -- I'm -- I don't remember. I think it's on one
25 of these seats, and I'm almost positive it's the middle seat
26 right there. No, front seat. I'm sorry. Because when he
27 jumped over the trailer, it was right there. But I can't be
28 positive, but that's what I remember.
894
1 Q. Okay. What you report reflects is, "I realized I'd
2 placed my notebook inside the boat while I took the
3 pictures." Right?
4 A. Okay.
5 Q. So it is within the boat?
6 A. On the seat is in the boat.
7 Q. Okay. Let's go back now and see if we can find it.
8 Does it show -- 88 looks like the first in sequence
9 that we had. Does that show it?
10 A. No.
11 Q. There's 89.
12 A. It's going to be in 89.
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. You can't see it. It's right there. (Indicating.)
15 Q. No, I can't see it. So does it show in that
16 picture?
17 A. No, but it's on that seat right there.
18 MR. GERAGOS: Could the record reflect that he's
19 pointing to something that appears to be off the picture
20 itself?
21 MR. McALLISTER: Q. What you're talking about is --
22 THE COURT: Is that correct?
23 THE WITNESS: That's correct.
24 MR. McALLISTER: Q. 90 -- or 89. You're talking about
25 it sitting on -- not on the little ledge, or whatever it is,
26 right in the most front part of the boat; but you're talking
27 about it being on the most forward bench seat that goes all
28 the way across?
895
1 A. That's what I remember.
2 Q. Okay. That was 89. Next would be -- oh, there it
3 is. It certainly doesn't show in -- that's 88. We looked
4 at that one.
5 Looking for -- there's 90. It obviously doesn't
6 show -- in 90 that's a whole different perspective; right?
7 A. That's right.
8 Q. 91, that's back towards where the motor is.
9 Doesn't show in that?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Likewise, doesn't show in 92; right?
12 A. That's right.
13 Q. Okay. And when you did your inspection of that
14 boat and then you -- I guess you were jotting things down in
15 the notebook. Is that why you had it somewhere near the
16 boat?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Well, do you just carry it around? Is that why you
19 had it near the boat?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Did you make any notes while you were out there at
22 the boat about the type of boat, the type of fishing gear in
23 it, the contents of the boat, those kind of things?
24 A. I wrote the license plate number down. I remember
25 that, and that's the only note I remember taking.
26 Q. Okay. But when you compiled your report, relating
27 to all these observations and places you went, et cetera, on
28 the 24th of December, were you doing that unaided by any
896
1 kind of note-taking?
2 A. No, I took a lot of notes.
3 Q. Your typical practice at that point was you
4 dictated from the notes and then you'd destroy the notes;
5 right?
6 A. That's right.
7 Q. So those notes would not be in existence anywhere
8 because you've got your finished product here, the report?
9 A. That's right.
10 Q. And when you prepared the report, was that on the
11 same day that you had made all these observations, the 24th
12 of December?
13 A. Well, the observations in the shop were the 25th,
14 because it was already the 24th.
15 Q. Oh, it had passed midnight?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. So --
18 A. So I did dictate my report on the 25th.
19 Q. From your notes, the detailed notes you'd made of
20 all the things you'd seen and done and all that in the
21 previous X many hours; right?
22 A. And memory.
23 Q. And memory, sure.
24 Is there any reference made in your report, sir, to any
25 pliers being inside the boat?
26 A. No, I didn't note it.
27 Q. Didn't see any?
28 A. I didn't notice them.
897
1 (Whereupon defense counsel conferred.)
2 MR. McALLISTER: I'd ask that these --
3 (District Attorney examining prospective
4 exhibits.)
5 MR. McALLISTER: I'd ask that these --
6 THE COURT: Last one was L, I believe.
7 THE CLERK: Right.
8 MR. McALLISTER: Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven,
9 twelve, thirteen.
10 THE COURT: You want all those marked?
11 MR. McALLISTER: Yeah, please.
12 THE COURT: Mark about three and then start moving on
13 those.
14 THE CLERK: M, N and O.
15 (Exhibits M through Y were marked for
16 identification.)
17 MR. GERAGOS: Jennifer, what did you start off with?
18 MR. McALLISTER: M, N and O.
19 MR. GERAGOS: Okay.
20 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Detective Brocchini, I'm showing
21 you what was marked as Exhibit M. I'll ask you if you can
22 identify that photograph.
23 A. The photo of my -- that might be my car, or it's a
24 patrol car door.
25 Q. Okay. Now, there is some numbering system here on
26 the bottom, A, B and then several numbers. Are you familiar
27 with that numbering system?
28 A. Yeah.
898
1 Q. What is that?
2 A. Those are my initials, the date I took that photo
3 and maybe photo number 1. I'd have to look at the rest to
4 see if it corresponds.
5 Q. Let me show you what I've been handed so far. I've
6 got three of them: M, N and O. Is that a sequenced
7 numbering system there?
8 A. I didn't take this one.
9 Q. That would be O?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. And that shows 12/18/02 and it says "photos by"
12 looks like L. Scott?
13 A. With a case number, yeah.
14 Q. Okay.
15 A. And it might be K. Scott.
16 Q. Okay.
17 A. For Kelly.
18 Q. So that AB, those are your initials?
19 A. Yes.
20 MR. McALLISTER: Got a few more?
21 THE CLERK: They're all done.
22 MR. McALLISTER: Oh, all done. Okay.
23 Q. P ought to be our next one. Let me see if you can
24 identify this next one.
25 That's not the one. Let's try to get these in order.
26 Do you have P, Jennifer?
27 THE COURT: Do you have P?
28 THE CLERK: It's right here.
899
1 MR. McALLISTER: Q. P?
2 A. Yeah, I took that one.
3 Q. That's a picture that you took?
4 A. Yeah.
5 Q. Q?
6 A. I can't say I didn't take it. I probably did.
7 Q. It's kind of an impressionistic thing, blurred red
8 lights and --
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. R?
11 A. I took it.
12 Q. That's the side of a patrol car, marked patrol car?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. S?
15 A. I took it.
16 Q. What is that trying to show us?
17 A. The boat. That's the front of the boat and the
18 outside and then you can see the back wheel or front wheel
19 of a police car.
20 Q. That -- does that show your -- your notebook?
21 A. I -- doesn't show anything.
22 Q. T?
23 A. I took it.
24 Q. What is it trying to show us?
25 A. One of the pictures I took in the shop, I think. I
26 just --
27 Q. U?
28 A. Same.
900
1 Q. And V?
2 A. Yep.
3 Q. Which looks all entirely white just about?
4 A. Yeah.
5 Q. Now, did that numbering sequence at the bottom --
6 oh, here's a couple more. I'm sorry. W and X.
7 A. It's another one of the boat, I think -- I can't
8 say --
9 Q. W is?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. Pretty hard to say about X; right?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. Pretty white.
14 Is the numbering sequence -- doesn't show the last two,
15 but does that continue all the way through that AB and then
16 the sequential number?
17 A. I'm not sure who numbered these, Mr. McAllister. I
18 don't know where these five fit in with these because I --
19 Q. That was going to be my next question. You're
20 talking about the numbered ones that we're dealing with of
21 88 through 92 --
22 A. Right.
23 Q. -- don't have these numbers on the bottom. So that
24 was going to be my next question. What you --
25 A. Yeah, I don't have any idea. I had nothing to do
26 with putting numbers on any of these.
27 Q. Although this AB, that would stand for Allen
28 Brocchini; right?
901
1 A. Yes. They wanted to know who took every picture.
2 There was so many pictures. I picked out the pictures I
3 took, and my initials are on them.
4 Q. Somehow your initials did not get on those pictures
5 you identified when Mr. Distaso was asking you the
6 questions --
7 A. They're not on them.
8 Q. -- at least on this copy of them?
9 A. Unless they got some other ones.
10 Q. All those taken on the same roll on the same day?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Other than that L. Scott, whatever that thing was?
13 A. I can't be sure of a couple of the pure white ones,
14 but the other ones were taken on the same day.
15 Q. And that would be 12/24?
16 A. 12 -- well, 12/24 to 12/25.
17 Q. 12/25, getting in past the midnight hour; right?
18 Now, when you saw -- you were training the light on the
19 boat for Mr. Peterson to get the notebook. I guess that's
20 because he was more familiar with the clutter in there?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Okay. And so he jumped into the boat to get the
23 notebook for you?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Correct?
26 A. No, he didn't. He just jumped off the trailer onto
27 the ground. Nobody got in the boat when we were there.
28 Q. Does your report reflect the information you were
902
1 just telling us about, about Mr. Peterson going in and
2 finding the notebook?
3 A. No.
4 Q. What you say in that portion of the report is that,
5 "I followed Scott into the office door into the shop area
6 where I found my notebook sitting inside the boat. We then
7 returned to the Modesto Police Department."
8 A. That's what I said.
9 Q. Right.
10 A. I did find it. I looked right at it. I put my
11 light on it, and Scott grabbed it.
12 Q. But you hadn't -- when you had left that shop
13 previously, when the lights from the car were trained on the
14 interior of the bay, you had not seen the notebook at that
15 point?
16 A. I just forgot it. I don't know if I saw it or
17 didn't see it. When we left, I left it.
18 Q. And the next place that you were going to be going
19 was to be to the police department to take a much more
20 detailed statement from Scott about the events of the 24th;
21 right?
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. And for that, you were going to be using that
24 notebook?
25 A. That's right.
26 Q. Even though it's tape-recorded, videotaped, all
27 that, you're still going to be jotting notes down; right?
28 A. That's right.
903
1 Q. Now, let's talk a little bit about that statement.
2 You talked about the issue about meringue. Now, this
3 Martha Stewart show, Scott reported to you was Laci's
4 favorite show; right?
5 A. That's right. That's what he said.
6 Q. Not -- he didn't represent it as his favorite show?
7 A. No, he said Laci's.
8 Q. Okay. And when he said it was on that morning, did
9 he say that his attention was riveted to the show to the
10 degree, you know, that he was taking notes about some new
11 recipe?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Did he tell you that, as her favorite show, that
14 that thing was on every morning?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Did you ask him any questions about that?
17 A. About it being on every morning? I --
18 Q. Yeah.
19 A. I just asked him if he remembered what was playing.
20 Q. Just that day?
21 A. That day, what he saw.
22 Q. Okay. So you didn't ask him, was it Laci's custom
23 and practice in the morning to watch that show every morning
24 so it was on every morning; right?
25 A. No.
26 Q. And what did he say about this meringue?
27 A. He said he thinks they were cooking with meringue
28 or something similar to that.
904
1 Q. Okay.
2 A. Baking.
3 Q. Did he say that he had watched the show himself in
4 its entirety?
5 A. No.
6 Q. That just happened to be the show Laci was
7 watching, and he was in and out of the room?
8 A. Can I look at my report?
9 Q. Sure.
10 A. He just said he and Laci -- he watched a portion of
11 the Martha Stewart show with Laci.
12 Q. And he thought they were doing something with
13 meringue and whatever they were cooking up on the show?
14 A. That's right.
15 Q. Right?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. Okay. You mentioned something about cadaver dogs.
18 A. Was --
19 Q. When was that conversation that you had with Scott?
20 A. It was Christmas Day about 6:30 at night.
21 Q. And so he asked you if you were using cadaver dogs?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And was it a telephone call or was this an
24 in-person conversation?
25 A. It was a telephone call.
26 Q. And what were the topics talked about?
27 A. "Are you using cadaver dogs in the park looking for
28 Laci?"
905
1 Q. And now -- and what did you say?
2 A. Can I look at my report?
3 Q. Sure.
4 A. (Witness reading.)
5 I'm ready.
6 Q. Okay. What did you say back to him?
7 A. That cadaver dogs are used for sniffing out dead
8 people, and I hadn't considered her dead yet.
9 Q. Now --
10 A. Or something similar to that.
11 Q. Now, did you probe Scott Peterson's knowledge of
12 dogs used in police situations ranging from rescue to
13 cadaver dogs to man-trailing dogs to every other kind of dog
14 we could talk about?
15 A. I didn't probe him, no.
16 Q. You informed him, well, cadaver dogs are used if
17 there's a dead person, right, which is --
18 A. Well, no, I informed him that we had three dog
19 teams in the park looking for Laci already. I didn't say
20 what kind of dogs. He just said, "Well, are you using
21 cadaver dogs?" He asked me. Sounded like he knew what he
22 was talking about. I told him no.
23 Q. You don't know, of all these people who were coming
24 to the house and trying to help and offer suggestions, you
25 don't know who he may have talked to to give him any kind of
26 knowledge about cadaver dogs versus trailing dogs versus
27 some other kind of dog?
28 MR. DISTASO: Objection. Calls for speculation.
906
1 THE COURT: Sustained.
2 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Then you would be speculating if
3 you told us the state of his knowledge about the area of
4 police use of dogs; is that accurate?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. When you received from Department of Motor Vehicles
7 a release of liability form relating to this maroon Mercedes
8 Benz, was there any information there about Florida on that?
9 A. No.
10 Q. In fact, the name of the person is Jacqueline
11 Peterson; right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And through the course of your investigation, is
14 the address there an address that you are familiar with?
15 A. No. It's a PO box that I'm not familiar with.
16 Q. I want to direct your attention, Detective
17 Brocchini, to your testimony this morning about Bruce
18 Peterson. And you know who Bruce Peterson is; right?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. No relation to Scott Peterson?
21 A. No.
22 Q. And you told us this morning, did you not, that
23 Bruce Peterson sold the boat to Scott. The defendant showed
24 up with $1,400 and bought the boat. You recall that
25 testimony?
26 A. Yeah, I do.
27 Q. Okay. Now, that's the truth, but we can hardly
28 call that the whole truth, could we?
907
1 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Calls for
2 speculation, I guess, or it's --
3 THE COURT: It's argumentative. Sustained.
4 MR. McALLISTER: Q. So are you telling me that Scott
5 Peterson showed up at some guy's door in Modesto, pocket
6 bulging with $1,400 cash, and that same day that he first
7 met that gentleman bought the boat?
8 A. Well, I didn't testify that she showed up in
9 Modesto, and I only answered the questions that were asked
10 of me, and so that's what was asked, and that's what I
11 testified to.
12 Q. That left a few things out, though, didn't it?
13 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. It's
14 argumentative. If he wants to ask him --
15 THE COURT: Sustained.
16 MR. McALLISTER: Q. There was a little more to it than
17 that, wasn't there?
18 MR. DISTASO: Objection. It's argumentative.
19 THE COURT: Sustained.
20 You can ask him leading questions, Mr. McAllister.
21 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Bruce Peterson had more dealings
22 with Scott Peterson than just seeing him on one day and
23 buying the boat or selling the boat to him; correct?
24 A. In person? You know, I don't know, Mr. McAllister.
25 I know there was a phone call. I don't know if they knew
26 each other. I don't think they did. No, they didn't know
27 each other. So I don't know.
28 Q. Did Scott Peterson use a phony name when he bought
908
1 this boat?
2 A. No, I don't think so.
3 Q. Go ahead. Look at some reports.
4 A. No, he didn't use a phony name.
5 Q. In fact, he and Bruce Peterson laughed about the
6 fact they had the same last name; right?
7 A. I don't know.
8 Q. When you told us this morning about the defendant
9 showing up with $1,400 and buying the boat on December 9th,
10 is that something that you learned of from Mr. Bruce
11 Peterson?
12 A. That's what he told me.
13 Q. Did he say to you that Scott Peterson had showed up
14 one day to inspect the boat, look at the boat that this
15 gentleman had for sale, and then he came back the next day
16 with the $1,400?
17 A. I don't think he told me that. Can I look at my
18 report?
19 Q. Sure. May want to look at Detective Tom Blake's
20 report while you're at it, too.
21 A. Do you have a copy of it?
22 Q. Sure do. Thought you'd never ask.
23 A. (Witness reading.)
24 Okay.
25 Q. "Okay" meaning you've read it?
26 A. I read the report.
27 Q. "Okay" meaning it's refreshed your recollection?
28 A. I never had the conversation with Bruce Peterson,
909
1 and I didn't talk to Tom Blake about it.
2 Q. So you never did talk to Bruce Peterson?
3 A. No. I talked to Bruce Peterson just to ask him
4 what was in the boat when he sold it, and then I met with
5 Bruce Peterson another time when he inspected the boat and
6 told me what he saw different than when he sold it; but I
7 never had that conversation with Bruce Peterson right there.
8 Q. Well, Tom Blake, I mean, you know Tom Blake; right?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Tom Blake is a well-respected Modesto Police
11 Department detective?
12 A. Like all of us.
13 Q. I didn't say anything, did I?
14 THE COURT: Just answer the question, Detective
15 Brocchini.
16 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry, Your Honor.
17 MR. McALLISTER: Q. In fact, Tom Blake has in the last
18 few years --
19 MR. DISTASO: Well, you know, let me just stop you,
20 Mr. McAllister.
21 Your Honor, I don't object to the detective testifying
22 off this report from Detective Blake, if that's where he's
23 going or if that's what he wants. So if he wants to speed
24 it up and just have this hearsay come in, I don't object to
25 it.
26 THE COURT: If he knows it from talking to him, but
27 under Prop. 115, he can't read the report.
28 MR. McALLISTER: No. I mean, I -- thank you for the
910
1 assist, but let me ask a few more questions here.
2 Q. Tom Blake, a Modesto detective -- well, police
3 officer for 20 plus years; right?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Is that right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. All right. Who has actually worked a stint where
8 he physically worked in the DA's Office; right?
9 A. I don't know about that.
10 Q. All right. But you respect his work, don't you?
11 A. Yes, I do.
12 Q. And in the reviewing of the preparing for your
13 testimony, did you try to look at all the reports relating
14 to people whose hearsay testimony you would relay here?
15 A. Did I want to look at all the reports and do I wish
16 I'd looked at that one? Yes. But I didn't look at it and I
17 didn't know about it until now.
18 Q. Okay. Well, Detective Blake seems to have talked
19 to Mr. Peterson at some length about his selling of this
20 boat. Is that accurate from your looking at that report?
21 A. Looks like he talked to him for about five or six
22 minutes.
23 Q. Uh-huh. But in that, whatever that time period
24 was, he asked him about Mr. Peterson's putting that boat up
25 for sale; right?
26 A. Yes, he did.
27 Q. And was that through an ad in the paper?
28 A. Yes, it was.
911
1 Q. And then he apparently got at least one possible
2 taker in response to the ad in the paper; right?
3 A. Can I look at the report again?
4 Q. Absolutely. Take your time.
5 A. (Witness reading.)
6 I don't know about the one other taker. I don't see
7 that in here unless I just --
8 Q. Well, I mean, he had one person interested in the
9 boat at least: Mr. Peterson?
10 A. Yes, that's right.
11 Q. So then Scott Peterson -- we're sharing this now.
12 A. Okay.
13 Q. Since apparently you don't have one.
14 The ad was for 14-foot Sears aluminum fishing boat. He
15 was asking for $1,500; right?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. That was squared, I think, with what you told us
18 this morning, wasn't it?
19 A. He bought it for $1,400.
20 Q. But I mean, what Mr. Peterson was asking for it.
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Okay. So Bruce Peterson said on Sunday,
23 December 8th, Scott Peterson phoned him in order to come by
24 and look at the boat?
25 A. That's what the report says.
26 Q. Uh-huh. And then he talked with him about the
27 boat. Scott asked a few questions about the boat?
28 A. Yes.
912
1 Q. And then Scott Peterson asked Bruce Peterson to
2 hold the boat for him; right?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. That was a Sunday?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And then Scott Peterson said he'd return tomorrow
7 after the banks opened, Monday; right?
8 A. Uh-huh.
9 Q. And come back with $1,400 cash for the boat?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Right? And then, lo and behold, "December 9th,"
12 which I'm going to assume is that Monday, "Scott Peterson
13 came back a little after 10:00 o'clock AM with the $1,400 in
14 cash." I guess that means after the banks opened. "They
15 joked about having the same last name when Peterson, Bruce
16 Peterson, filled out the transfer form for the DMV."
17 A. That's right.
18 Q. Right?
19 A. That's what it says.
20 Q. And nothing here to say that he used the name of
21 Jacqueline Peterson; right?
22 A. Right.
23 Q. This wasn't "A Boy Named Sue" on this one, was it?
24 A. No.
25 Q. And was he dressed in a trench coat and have some
26 disguise? Did he have dyed hair? Is there anything in
27 there about this?
28 A. Not in this report, no.
913
1 Q. No. His impression of Scott Peterson was that he
2 was nice and polite; right?
3 A. Right.
4 Q. And Tom Blake actually tape-recorded that
5 interview, I guess, huh?
6 A. Yes, he did.
7 Q. And then he -- he referred this report to Detective
8 Grogan, that man sitting right in the aisle there, didn't
9 he?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. That's your partner in this case, isn't he?
12 A. Yes, he is.
13 Q. Did Detective Grogan ever show you this report?
14 A. No.
15 Q. You never saw it before?
16 A. I knew Tom interviewed him, but I've never seen
17 that report before, and I haven't talked to Tom about it. I
18 was doing a follow-up interview. That's why I called him to
19 find out what was sold with the boat.
20 Q. Right. Let's talk about that for a second.
21 Because what wasn't sold with the boat?
22 A. Fishing poles, anchors.
23 Q. Anchor; right?
24 A. Right.
25 Q. And you got that directly from Bruce Peterson;
26 right?
27 A. Yes.
28 Q. He had -- what was the name of that? My lack of
914
1 fishing expertise is showing badly. Some kind of swallow
2 tail or some kind of anchor with the boat?
3 A. What he told me was he had two anchors that he
4 asked Scott if -- Bruce Peterson was going to buy another
5 boat, and he asked Scott if he could keep the anchors that
6 were with this boat, and Scott said yes.
7 Q. So when Scott Peterson gets the boat, it is without
8 an anchor?
9 A. That's correct.
10 Q. That's what you found out?
11 A. Yes.
12 MR. McALLISTER: I don't know what time the Court's
13 thinking about breaking.
14 THE COURT: We can go about another ten minutes.
15 MR. McALLISTER: I need to rearrange some of my stuff
16 here for just a second.
17 (Pause.)
18 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Mushroom anchors, that sound
19 familiar?
20 A. Say it again.
21 Q. Mushroom anchors.
22 A. Well, I've heard of a mushroom anchor. I don't
23 think he mentioned it to me, though.
24 Q. Oh, okay. So we found those other pictures which I
25 had asked you if those were through -- M through X or Y, or
26 whatever.
27 THE COURT: X.
28 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Do you now remember seeing those
915
1 pictures along with 88 through 92, all at the same time?
2 A. Uh-huh. I got all the negatives at the same time.
3 Q. Okay. So -- and that would have been roughly
4 within a couple of weeks after the taking of the pictures,
5 what you said before?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Are there any other pictures that you saw that you
8 took on the 24th other than what we've seen here, M through
9 Y, or whatever it is, and 88 through 92? Were there any
10 other pictures on that roll that you saw developed?
11 A. No.
12 (Pause.)
13 Q. Going back to what was marked as Number 87, one
14 thing I didn't ask you about, there's a lot of numbers on
15 that trailer or what's represented to be the trailer. Could
16 you tell us what those are to be, to represent, if you know?
17 A. I mean, I don't know what all of them are. I know
18 what some of them are.
19 Q. Was the trailer -- this is like a flatbed-type
20 trailer?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Is ther any -- is any particular kind of a setup on
23 that trailer for it to carry a boat?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Okay. So the boat, as it sits there, is on its own
26 some kind of trailer device?
27 A. Yes.
28 Q. Okay. So the -- that's just truly a flatbed
916
1 trailer. Did it have this thing up here? (Indicating.)
2 A. Uh-huh.
3 Q. Did it have anything on it when you saw it on the
4 24th?
5 A. It had some stuff on it. It had the mortising
6 machine on it, the woodworking machine for sure, but I don't
7 recall what else it had on it.
8 Q. Okay. The mortising machine, you actually
9 inspected that when you saw it on the 24th?
10 A. I looked at it and touched it and --
11 Q. Did you know what a mortising machine was prior to
12 that?
13 A. I -- no.
14 Q. I mean, were you familiar at all with any kind of
15 woodworking?
16 A. I'm familiar with woodworking, but I don't know
17 what a -- I didn't know what a mortising machine was 'til
18 Scott told me.
19 Q. Okay. And then when you looked at that, did it
20 appear to be a new machine or was it covered with dirt,
21 sawdust, those kind of things?
22 A. It looked new.
23 Q. What kind of inspection did you do of it?
24 A. Just I looked at it, and I -- he says he just built
25 it. That's what he told me, so I wanted to see if I could
26 tell if it was just built or not. I couldn't tell really
27 other than all the screws were still loose on it like it
28 hadn't been completely assembled all the way.
917
1 Q. Uh-huh. And how did you tell the screws were
2 loose? I mean, did you wiggle it or --
3 A. I think, from what I can remember, I could just see
4 them all. There's like a -- you know, there's like a
5 platform on it, and there's screws, and they're hanging out,
6 and they're not all the way in tight.
7 Q. Okay.
8 A. And it just looked like it wasn't completely put
9 together.
10 Q. It looked like it was being assembled?
11 A. Yeah, I didn't know. I couldn't tell if it was
12 being assembled, if it was that way when he got it and it
13 hadn't been assembled yet. I just didn't know.
14 Q. And that was sitting on that flatbed trailer?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. Did you have any conversations with Scott about
17 what he had done with that that day, December 24th?
18 A. During the interview, he told me he had assembled
19 it, but I didn't question him about it when I was there. He
20 showed it to me. That's what a mortiser is. And I looked
21 at it and I couldn't tell if it was assembled or not
22 assembled --
23 Q. Okay.
24 A. -- at that time.
25 THE COURT: While there's a pause, I wanted to make a
26 correction. I indicated before that X was the last item
27 marked. The clerk informed me that Y has been marked but
28 not referred to.
918
1 MR. McALLISTER: Okay.
2 Q. You were actually -- you said you weren't there
3 initially, I think, when the search warrant was served on
4 the warehouse on the -- what is it? The 27th?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. But you were there some -- at some time during the
7 service of the search warrant?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Is that right? Do you recall how many officers
10 were there doing the search warrant?
11 A. No. I'd have to guess.
12 Q. Okay. Well, don't guess.
13 Do you remember if it was daytime or nighttime when you
14 went there?
15 A. Daytime.
16 Q. Do you recall if, when you went there, at any point
17 when you were there on the day of the search warrant service
18 that you took any photographs?
19 A. I recall that I didn't.
20 Q. Did not?
21 A. Did not.
22 Q. No photographs on that day?
23 A. By me?
24 Q. Yeah.
25 A. No.
26 Q. Did you see anybody taking any photographs that
27 day?
28 A. Yeah.
919
1 Q. And who did you see taking any photographs?
2 A. I think Denise Ducot was taking video and some --
3 she was taking photographs, but I don't know. Maybe other
4 people took photographs, too.
5 Q. You remember Denise Ducot and maybe somebody else?
6 A. I remember Denise Ducot taking some photographs.
7 Could be other people, too.
8 Q. Did you ever review any photographs from the
9 service of the search warrant on December 27th from the
10 warehouse at 1027 North Emerald?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. When did you first see those photographs?
13 A. I don't recall. After the service. I think the
14 first time I looked at those photographs were February 12th,
15 or right around there.
16 Q. When you were inspecting and collecting these
17 things on the 24th of December into the early morning hours
18 of the 25th, how many different fishing licenses did you
19 see, Detective Brocchini?
20 A. None.
21 Q. You never saw a two-day fishing license?
22 A. On the 24th or the 5th?
23 Q. 24th or 5th, yeah.
24 A. No.
25 Q. When did you first, during your investigation, find
26 any fishing licenses in Mr. Peterson's possession?
27 A. On the 26th he gave me a fishing license that was
28 on the counter. He walked over to the counter, picked
920
1 something up, walked over and handed me a two-day fishing
2 license on the 26th.
3 Q. Okay. Counter of his house?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Do we see a picture of that in these documents?
6 A. A picture of what?
7 Q. That fishing license.
8 A. Yes.
9 THE COURT: I'll let you find it over the weekend.
10 MR. McALLISTER: Okay. Number 85.
11 THE WITNESS: Right.
12 THE COURT: How much longer do you have,
13 Mr. McAllister?
14 MR. McALLISTER: I've got actually quite a bit. I
15 wasn't -- in the break I've got to get organized. That's
16 all I'm saying.
17 THE COURT: Can you give us a decent estimate so we
18 know when to have the next witness ready?
19 MR. DISTASO: Your Honor, we're --
20 MR. GERAGOS: I believe they're going to call
21 Dr. Budowle.
22 MR. McALLISTER: He's got a witness.
23 THE COURT: Break in the testimony.
24 MR. McALLISTER: I'll accommodate their expert.
25 THE COURT: We'll see you Wednesday at 9:30 AM.
26 (Proceedings concluded at 4:12 p.m.)
27 ---o0o---
28
NOVEMBER 12, OR SO LynDee says 2003 Cameras
1070: 1 November 12th, 2003 -- 2:58 p.m.
2 ---o0o---
3 THE COURT: Record reflect everyone's present, and
4 Detective Brocchini has resumed the witness stand.
5 And Mr. Geragos.
6 MR. GERAGOS: Your Honor, I -- as I indicated before,
7 there was some pictures that were disclosed and some reports
8 regarding the still cameras again. I do not believe, even
9 when the tapes are turned over -- I've now reviewed the last
10 reports. It appears to me that there are at least three
11 investigators from the Modesto Police Department who were
12 involved in this surveillance. I'm asking the Court to
13 order that all tapes, all logs, anything in the possession
14 of Modesto PD, regarding the surveillance, be turned over
15 forthwith to the defense. I believe we've asked for this in
16 the past. It was represented to us that there wasn't any
17 such thing in existence. I now have numerous supplemental
18 reports from, amongst others, Investigator Mark Weiglein, I
19 think is his name, W-E-I-G-L-E-I-N. I've got something in
20 addition, supplemental reports by Detective Grogan referring
21 to Detective Rudy Skultety, who apparently was aware that
22 this camera was installed on the 3rd, was aware there was
23 surveillance. All of the reports indicate -- by the way,
24 all of these reports are supplemental reports that appear to
25 have been prepared over the weekend. None of these predate,
26 that I've been given, Thursday. Every single report I've
27 been handed was created either on the 7th, 8th or 9th.
28 I believe there are other reports, other surveillance
1071:
1 logs that are out there, other tapes that are out there; and
2 I would ask the Court to direct that the District Attorney's
3 Office forthwith turn over all of that material to the
4 defense. I think that it's a problem with the
5 cross-examination of Detective Brocchini. We have a -- the
6 lead detective or the co-lead detective, depending upon how
7 you want to characterize him, on the stand in the middle of
8 cross-examination. All of a sudden, we discover while
9 looking in the DNA material that there is something called
10 CCTV. I don't believe that the DA was aware of it, or if
11 they were aware of it, they were not aware that it was being
12 taped. The lead detective at least in the report says that
13 he didn't know it was going on. Apparently there's some
14 rogue element here that's just out there taping things and
15 not telling the investigators that it's going on, if you
16 believe the reports that have all been created in the last
17 three days.
18 There's three tapes that apparently are going to be
19 turned over today, but those three tapes only pertain to
20 three separate days. I'm' asking the Court direct that all
21 tapes be turned over, all logs be turned over forthwith. I
22 think, in any event, Mr. McAllister can do some of the
23 cross-examination, but I'd ask that the officer then either
24 remain either on call or that we defer the remainder of the
25 cross-examination until all of those things be turned over.
26 MR. DISTASO: Your Honor, I did have the investigators
27 prepare supplemental reports since Thursday, since this was
28 requested; and then we looked into it and it came up, and I
1072:
1 told them to prepare reports on it. It looks like from
2 their reports, that this information is basically the
3 information on the tapes, and there is -- I believe there's
4 only three tapes, but, you know, Your Honor, the thing is, I
5 wasn't involved in taping these. I didn't sit and monitor
6 any camera. So I have no problem with the Court saying, you
7 know, ordering me to tell Modesto Police and the drug unit
8 if there's any additional tapes out there, to turn them
9 over. I think they have all been turned over. That's what
10 I'm representing to the Court.
11 THE COURT: How long are these tapes that have been
12 turned over?
13 MR. DISTASO: About an hour each. If you read these
14 supplementals, what happens is this was a camera that was
15 used kind of as a point camera out in front of the house so
16 that a car didn't have to be placed in front of the house.
17 They would monitor the camera as almost like a periscope.
18 When the defendant would leave or do something, they'd send
19 an officer out there to follow him. All of that's
20 documented, as far as the officer actually surveilling him
21 and following him, everything he observed. If you look at
22 some of these supplements it says, like, "I've compared tape
23 number three to my police reports and my involvement with my
24 surveillance of 523 Covena and Scott Peterson." It starts
25 off with a tape-recording at this time. If you go to
26 Investigator Weiglein's surveillance report, his report
27 starts on the time the tape does.
28 So as far as I'm concerned all of this information has
1073:
1 been turned over in one fashion or other. The tapes had
2 not. Those are being copied. If not done today, they'll be
3 done first thing in the morning, like I said earlier.
4 So, you know, I think this is -- there's certainly no
5 rogue element out there. There's certainly nothing like
6 that going on. It does look like that on occasion, at least
7 on three occasions, there were three actual tapes recorded,
8 and those tapes are going to be turned over. I'm not aware
9 of anything else. I just don't know what else I can do
10 here.
11 MR. GERAGOS: There's a monumental problem here. This
12 was nowhere mentioned in any discovery. That's just
13 nonsense. I will read a sentence from one of these reports
14 regarding an Investigator Bill Pooley. "Pooley told me that
15 several months ago, he had left the office on a vacation,
16 and when he returned, there were videotapes placed on his
17 desk that he did not know where they had come from. Pooley
18 said no one had claimed the tapes over a several-month
19 period, and he eventually decided to view the tapes to
20 determine what was on them." I could go on ad infinitum.
21 Their own investigators had no idea what these tapes
22 were. As I indicated before today, there was a burglary at
23 the residence prior to the execution of the second search
24 warrant. There's no indication, no surveillance logs,
25 nothing that shows other than Detective Skultety's statement
26 that it was installed on the 3rd, we don't know who
27 installed it. We don't know what agency. Mr. Distaso has
28 speculated that it was the DEA or that it was the FBI's
1074:
1 equipment. We don't know how the tapes got back onto
2 Investigator Pooley's desk, except that when he goes on
3 vacation, lo and behold, poof, tapes appear that sit there
4 for three months until such time as he decides to look at
5 them. It appears that Detective Grogan, based on the
6 reports, was unaware that this taping that was going on who
7 was the co-lead investigator. I will shortly find out if
8 Detective Brocchini knew whether this was going on or not.
9 But don't have any indication whatsoever how many tapes. We
10 don't have any surveillance log. We don't know who was
11 doing it. We don't know when it was doing, where the
12 surveillance was, whether it was in the wire room.
13 Remember, in this case we also have 176 wiretaps which,
14 poof, also appeared on the buffer -- in the buffer zone as
15 well, which was the subject of a motion that apparently
16 nobody knew about as well in this case.
17 I don't -- this idea that it was contained in the
18 discovery is flat out false. It was not contained in the
19 discovery. There is one letter that's addressed to the FBI
20 by the chief of police that says, quote, "We're requesting
21 your assistance and equipment to complete surveillance on
22 the victim's residence." There is nothing that says that
23 there's closed-circuit TV. That's just nonsense.
24 I'd submit that if Detective Grogan, who's the lead
25 investigator, didn't know they were surveilling the house
26 via closed-circuit TV how in the world can they expect that
27 the defense was supposed to know about it except that we
28 stumble onto it in the DNA material? Apparently the FBI
1075:
1 knew about it. How the FBI knows about it, the DEA knows
2 about it, Pooley gets it on his desk, but the DA doesn't
3 know about it, yet we're supposed to know about it
4 intuitively is beyond me. I think that the Court needs to
5 order that these -- all logs and everything else get turned
6 over and then make it a subject of an appropriate motion.
7 MR. DISTASO: Well, Your Honor --
8 THE COURT: Wait a minute. Sounds like all those
9 things have been turned over. I don't know what else there
10 is out there. Obviously, if there's something else, you may
11 have a 995 motion if he's held to answer. As far as, at
12 this point, I don't want to get embroiled in a discovery
13 dispute when we're talking about a probable cause hearing
14 here; and I think you're getting all the materials that the
15 DA has, in any event.
16 MR. GERAGOS: I don't think we are. I think what we're
17 getting is the tapes that were on Pooley's desk. I do not
18 have logs. I've got nothing else that corresponds to where
19 this was, what the installation record was, where the -- any
20 other information. All we're apparently getting are three
21 reports that were prepared after the fact and three tapes
22 that -- that mysteriously appeared on Pooley's desk. What
23 I'm asking for are the logs and any other information that
24 pertains to them. I don't want to get embroiled in
25 discovery. I agree, I brought it up the other day that it
26 becomes a 995 or a Stanton nonstatutory motion to dismiss
27 issue. What I'm asking is that we can have this stuff so we
28 can then do -- they've indicated they're going to call
1076:
1 officers on surveillance. I believe we're entitled to have
2 that before those officers testify.
3 THE COURT: Do you know of any other tapes,
4 Mr. Distaso?
5 MR. DISTASO: I don't, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: I don't know what else we can do other than
7 I'll allow you some wide latitude, and when you question
8 these witnesses from law enforcement, what they know about
9 that, even though preliminary hearing's not for discovery,
10 for this particular limited area, I'll let you get into that
11 in the hope that we'll get to the bottom of making sure you
12 do have everything down the line.
13 MR. GERAGOS: Thank you, Your Honor.
14 THE COURT: Mr. McAllister's doing the further
15 cross-examination; is that correct?
16 MR. GERAGOS: That's correct.
17 THE COURT: You're still under oath, Detective
18 Brocchini.
19 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
20
21 ALLEN BROCCHINI,
22 called as a witness for and on behalf of the People, having
23 been duly and regularly sworn, testified as follows:
24
25 CROSS-EXAMINATION (RESUMED)
26
27 MR. McALLISTER: Q. How many -- now, it's
28 January 2003. A lot of officers were working on this case;
1077:
1 right?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. You were a lead detective; right?
4 A. I was a core detective, meaning I was one of the
5 lead detectives, but not the lead detective.
6 Q. Okay. Well, you had Detective Grogan, you had
7 Detective Buehler; and your name, Buehler and Grogan appear
8 most frequently in the reports. Would you be the three core
9 detectives?
10 A. Yeah, I think there might be some more, but --
11 Q. And considering the number of detectives and other
12 officers you had working the case, did you regularly have
13 meetings to coordinate what all of you were doing?
14 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Relevance.
15 THE COURT: I'm sorry. Who's --
16 MR. DISTASO: I'm objecting. Relevance.
17 THE COURT: I want to make sure who's doing that.
18 I'll allow it. Overruled.
19 THE WITNESS: We had meetings.
20 MR. McALLISTER: Q. And with what regularity,
21 Detective Brocchini?
22 A. Well, I probably talked to Craig Grogan every day,
23 almost.
24 Q. Were there other meetings where you'd have a lot of
25 the detectives or other officers there, briefing type
26 meetings?
27 A. No. I mean, there were some, but not a lot. You
28 asked me if there's a lot of them. I can probably think of
1078:
1 a couple.
2 Q. Okay. And how were you and the other detectives
3 and officers sharing information then in terms of reports?
4 Were the reports routed to each of the three of you, reports
5 done by the other officer?
6 A. No.
7 Q. So how do you know what the other officers were
8 doing, so you're not duplicating, for one thing?
9 A. Well, we knew what -- I mean, how do we know what
10 other officers did is just communicating with Craig Grogan.
11 I mean, that was the main -- how I got my information. I
12 did not read everybody's report. If a tip came in, it would
13 be assigned to somebody, so it wasn't going to be
14 duplicated. I would have a lot of tips assigned to me and I
15 knew nobody else was going to be doing them, or if somebody
16 did them, it would be by accident.
17 Q. Okay. So there was an attempt to -- if not by
18 everybody being in the same room at the same time, there was
19 an attempt to coordinate the individual efforts that were
20 being made?
21 A. There was an attempt.
22 Q. Right? And physically, were you in the same
23 building as Detective Grogan?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Same room?
26 A. I mean, we're housed in the same building and it's
27 an open bay. So we have our own cubicles.
28 Q. But you were in close proximity with him?
1079:
1 A. I could see him.
2 Q. Okay. Now, we have been talking about, as you were
3 sitting up there on the stand, we have been talking about
4 the revelation that there was a surveillance camera across
5 the street from Scott Peterson's house at 523 Covena. When
6 did you first learn that there was a surveillance camera
7 across the street from 523 Covena?
8 A. I can't say I knew where it was. I knew it was on
9 a pole somewhere that could view the driveway. So when you
10 say "across the street," I don't know if it was across the
11 street or not. But I was aware of a pole camera going up
12 when it went up.
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. And I can't give you the exact date because I don't
15 remember.
16 Q. Well, would it have been -- we've heard the 3rd of
17 January. Is that generally consistent with what your
18 recollection is?
19 A. I think it was -- my recollection was between --
20 within the first week of January. Like between the 3rd and
21 the 11th, I think, but I can't remember for sure.
22 Q. And whose decision was it to put this what you've
23 called the pole camera up?
24 A. I don't know whose ultimate decision it was. We
25 talked about how hard it was to watch Scott Peterson because
26 the street is so small, with a surveillance officer out
27 there. It was a burn and so --
28 Q. "Burn" meaning, you'd be discovered immediately?
1080:
1 A. Yeah. Scott would know we had somebody sitting out
2 there right away. So talked about putting a pole camera up
3 just to watch it so when he left he could be followed
4 without an officer sitting right on the street.
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. I know I was part of those discussions, but I don't
7 know whose decision it was.
8 Q. Okay. Let's just start with who was doing the
9 discussion of it.
10 A. I'm sure myself, Craig Grogan, Sergeant Zahr,
11 Buehler, some of the surveillance team and their idea of how
12 hard it was to keep an eye on him.
13 Q. So when you say "Zahr," that the sergeant?
14 A. Yes. That's my sergeant.
15 Q. Was Sergeant Zahr also doing surveillance himself?
16 A. No, not that I know of.
17 Q. Okay. So from whenever your recollection is that
18 this pole camera went up -- well, first off, what -- what
19 kind of a camera was it? I am not asking you particularly
20 the make. But what was this, a TV camera, movie camera?
21 What are we talking about?
22 A. I'd have to speculate. I never saw it. I know I
23 was told what it was and I can tell you what I was told.
24 Q. Okay. Let's start with what you were told.
25 A. It was a closed-circuit television that was put on
26 a pole, and it initially was -- I don't know -- I know it's
27 not hard wired, if it's a remote or a modem, but it was
28 viewed from a van so somebody in a van could watch a screen
1081:
1 of whatever this pole camera was looking at.
2 Q. Okay. So it required -- to get reception, it
3 required somebody in this van watching a monitor?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Okay. And so was -- where was this equipment
6 gotten, the pole camera and the receiver? Do you know? Was
7 this MPD equipment? You already got it?
8 A. No. I mean, maybe some of it was ours. I don't
9 know for sure. I know it came from -- I heard you guys just
10 talking about the DEA, FBI. I know we got it with the
11 assistance of our drug unit, and I'm not sure where they got
12 it from. I can't say if some of the equipment was ours and
13 maybe just the camera wasn't ours or if it was all theirs.
14 Q. Okay. Who was the person involved with this other
15 agency in getting this stuff? Obviously you weren't the one
16 talking to the other agency to get the physical equipment;
17 is that right?
18 A. I don't know. I wasn't.
19 Q. But you don't know who was doing that?
20 A. No, I don't.
21 Q. Were you told once the thing was up and operating
22 that it was up and operating?
23 A. I remember being told -- nobody told -- called and
24 told me, said it's up and operating. But I do remember
25 hearing from our surveillance teams that his driveway was
26 being monitored from a van.
27 Q. Did that -- in your mind, did that connect that
28 that meant that some kind of camera was --
1082:
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. -- then focused on his house --
3 A. That's right.
4 Q. -- and was being remotely received in the van?
5 A. That's right.
6 Q. Now, when you -- did you ever see the van?
7 A. No. Did I ever see the van on this operation? No.
8 Q. Okay.
9 A. Have I seen one of our vans that I think was being
10 used? Yeah.
11 Q. Are you talking undercover van?
12 A. Yeah, just a plain van, but I can't even say for
13 sure. I know a couple of our vans -- I never saw the van
14 that was used. I'm only assuming I know what van it is.
15 Q. Did you -- did you understand that it had the
16 capability of actually filming the scene that the camera was
17 trained on?
18 A. No.
19 Q. You never heard that?
20 A. Well, I heard it now.
21 Q. Now, but I'm talking about --
22 A. No. Back then, I thought they were just watching
23 it on a closed-circuit TV. Because I knew it was a manned
24 24-hour-a-day surveillance. "Manned" meaning somebody was
25 there. And we were only interested in him moving, not in
26 what his activities were in the driveway if we weren't
27 there. So I thought it was just a closed-circuit TV.
28 Q. Now, when you -- and so in your conversations with
1083:
1 Grogan and the other officers, there was a lot of
2 surveillance that went on between January 2nd and the time
3 that Scott got arrested on the 18th of April; correct?
4 A. I'd have to check my reports for your dates,
5 January 2nd. I have the surveillance reports. I could tell
6 you when, but there was on and off surveillance of him going
7 on between sometime in January and his arrest. There was a
8 lot of times we weren't surveilling him, but there were
9 days, and I would count maybe, without looking at my
10 reports, maybe 10 days or 12 that we actually tried to
11 surveil him.
12 Q. Okay. When you're saying "tried," you mean
13 physically when somebody's trying to follow him and eyeball?
14 A. That's right.
15 Q. Now, did the people monitoring this -- who
16 monitored it? Who monitored the TV screen, if that's what
17 it was, that played the picture from the TV that was across
18 the street?
19 A. I don't know.
20 Q. Was it an MPD person?
21 A. I don't know. I mean, I know Randy Bolinger, an
22 MPD officer, monitored one time, because I remember him
23 telling me he was in a van monitoring. But there was
24 several teams that we had, surveillance teams, and not all
25 of them were MPD; and on different days, it could have been
26 different people monitoring, and I don't know who.
27 Q. Okay. Now, the report that we have received today
28 of Detective Grogan, you may not have seen. Have you seen
1084:
1 Detective --
2 A. I have not seen it before.
3 Q. This was handed to us today. (Indicating.)
4 A. I have not seen it.
5 Q. Reflected in here, though, there is an interview of
6 Officer Bolinger, the same one you're talking about, Randy
7 Bolinger, who said that he had recorded portions of the
8 surveillance. Now, did Officer Bolinger ever tell you that?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Okay. And did he say how he had recorded?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. How?
13 A. Said he pushed the button.
14 Q. So that the machinery in the van had the capability
15 of recording, not just showing a realtime picture on the
16 screen, but it could record that image; is that correct?
17 A. That's what he told me.
18 Q. Were those stills --
19 A. No.
20 Q. Stills or movie type?
21 A. Video.
22 Q. Video?
23 A. VH -- V-R -- whatever. VHS.
24 Q. They talked in here about -- well, forget about
25 what they talked about. I don't see it right now.
26 Did any other officers ever tell you that they had
27 recorded using the remote camera, other than Bolinger?
28 A. No.
1085:
1 Q. Did Bolinger tell you what he had recorded, what
2 kind of scenes?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. What did he say he had recorded?
5 A. When I talked to him on Friday and I asked him
6 about those tapes, he said, "Yeah, I pushed -- every once in
7 a while we were bored and we didn't even know it recorded,
8 but we would push this button and it would record, and the
9 scene was the parking lot or the driveway."
10 Q. Okay. So when you say "Friday," you mean last
11 Friday?
12 A. Yeah, I mean just a couple days ago. I have to --
13 after this came up, I saw him and I asked him about it.
14 Q. Okay. So you didn't know before then about Officer
15 Bolinger recording anything?
16 A. I did not.
17 Q. Then have you been at any other meeting of the
18 other officers since this came up last week about the
19 recordings or the closed-circuit TV?
20 A. If you'd call me talking to Grogan about it a
21 meeting, yeah, I've talked to him about it.
22 Q. And did you learn from him that there were other
23 recordings, other than what Bolinger had recorded?
24 A. He told me he had three tapes. He hadn't viewed
25 them yet. He was told one of them was a drug lab. The
26 other two had some surveillance on it that he was told, and
27 that's all he told me.
28 Q. Okay. The drug lab, that's obviously relating to
1086:
1 some other investigation, other than this sitting across
2 from 523 Covena; right?
3 A. That was one of the tapes on Pooley's desk that he
4 found was one with a drug lab and two were possible
5 surveillance tapes, and as far as I know, that drug lab tape
6 has nothing to do with this. I don't know if it has
7 anything to do with the pole camera, but it has nothing to
8 do with this case.
9 Q. Okay. Now, do you know Mr. Pooley, Bill Pooley?
10 A. I'm acquainted with him.
11 Q. Now, he's a sheriff's deputy?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Right?
14 A. Yeah.
15 Q. And is he currently assigned to the drug agency,
16 the local drug agency?
17 A. He was in January. I don't know if he's been
18 transferred. I haven't talked to him in months, but, he was
19 assigned to the drug agency.
20 Q. And he has had responsibility relating to this
21 case, that being the Peterson investigation; right?
22 A. He's been on surveillance teams, and he was a point
23 man, meaning when that team was surveilling somebody, I
24 would communicate with him, and so he was involved that way.
25 Q. Wasn't he also in the wiretap room?
26 A. I'm sure he was part of that, too.
27 Q. He had to sign in to do the wiretap.
28 A. I never was -- I didn't get involved in the
1087:
1 wiretap.
2 Q. Okay. So you don't know anything about that?
3 A. Well, I know some stuff what I've heard.
4 Q. I mean, firsthand, you don't know anything about
5 that?
6 A. Right.
7 Q. Now, have you learned from any source how long this
8 camera was up there operating across from wherever it was,
9 across from 523 Covena?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Has anybody told you if it's still operating?
12 A. I know it's not still operating.
13 Q. Okay. Do you know when it quit operating?
14 A. Not without guessing.
15 Q. Read The Modesto Bee?
16 A. Sometimes.
17 Q. See something about some paraphernalia being taken
18 off of a pole last week? Did you see that article?
19 A. I read that article.
20 Q. Have you talked with any officers about if that was
21 related to the remote TV, closed-circuit TV camera?
22 A. No.
23 THE COURT: I've given you enough leeway on this
24 discovery issue, Mr. McAllister. Why don't you --
25 MR. McALLISTER: Let me ask one more question.
26 THE COURT: -- contact Bolinger.
27 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Kim McGregor burglarized Scott
28 Peterson's house on the 19th of January; right?
1088:
1 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Irrelevant. Goes
2 beyond the scope of direct.
3 MR. McALLISTER: I'm plugging this into my last area
4 relating to the tardy revelation about this TV camera.
5 THE COURT: I'll allow it.
6 THE WITNESS: Can I look at my report, Mr. McAllister?
7 MR. McALLISTER: Sure.
8 Q. While you're doing that, you generally know what
9 I'm talking about; right?
10 A. Oh, I do. I just look for the date to make sure.
11 Q. Well, test me on that.
12 A. What date did you give me?
13 Q. I gave you the 19th of January.
14 A. You're right.
15 Q. Thank you.
16 Now, Kim McGregor was a lady who had kind of
17 ingratiated herself into the Laci Peterson volunteers,
18 right, helping out?
19 MR. DISTASO: Objection. Relevance. Beyond the scope
20 of direct. This is not even related. I thought this was
21 supposed to tie up with this pole cam thing.
22 THE COURT: I'll sustain that.
23 MR. McALLISTER: Q. The McGregor burglary at 523
24 Covena resulting in Miss McGregor entering the house, taking
25 personal items out of the house; correct?
26 A. Yeah. Just so we're correct, it was January
27 16th -- it happened between January 16th and January 19th.
28 We don't know for sure what day.
1089:
1 Q. Okay. But that was the date it was reported was
2 the 19th?
3 A. It was reported on the -- yes, on the 19th.
4 Q. Now, that was at a time when the remote camera was
5 trained on the house. Is that your understanding?
6 A. I don't know.
7 Q. Now, you knew that the camera was there longer than
8 just a couple of weeks?
9 MR. DISTASO: Objection. That misstates the testimony.
10 THE COURT: Sustained.
11 MR. McALLISTER: Q. How long was the camera up there?
12 A. I don't know.
13 Q. When Officer Bolinger recorded some of the scenes
14 that he was seeing, do you know what date that was?
15 A. No, I don't.
16 Q. Do you know if anyone recorded the Kim McGregor
17 entry in -- unauthorized entry and burglary into the house?
18 A. Not that I know of.
19 Q. Was that being monitored 24 hours a day at the
20 remote van?
21 A. No.
22 Q. What hours, to your knowledge, was it being
23 monitored from the van?
24 A. It was only being monitored when we were keeping
25 Scott under surveillance, and I'd have to look at the
26 surveillance reports, but the only time it was was when we
27 had a surveillance on Scott.
28 Q. Now, from your knowledge of the investigation, was
1090:
1 there a reason that the remote-control or the closed-circuit
2 TV camera was not mentioned in approximately 27,500 pages of
3 police reports?
4 A. I don't know. I don't know if it was or wasn't.
5 Q. You haven't seen it, have you?
6 A. No, I haven't. I haven't read nearly, not even --
7 I've only read my reports, all of them, and some of the
8 other reports.
9 Q. But you've seen -- in that which you have read,
10 you've seen nothing about any closed-circuit TV camera, have
11 you?
12 A. Not that I can think of.
13 Q. And you've reviewed Detective Grogan's reports,
14 haven't you?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Haven't you seen some of them?
17 A. I've seen probably five or six of them.
18 Q. Okay. And you've not seen any reference in there
19 to any closed-circuit TV camera?
20 A. Not that I can remember.
21 MR. DISTASO: You want to look in my briefcase, Mr.
22 McAllister.
23 MR. McALLISTER: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We've got two
24 similar -- I've got more interesting things --
25 MR. GERAGOS: Might find some more tapes in there.
26 MR. McALLISTER: -- in my briefcase.
27 Q. Now, I'm going to ask you, now, you were involved
28 in contacting many of Scott Peterson's friends, talking to
1091:
1 them during the four and a half months that you were working
2 so intensely; is that correct?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And you also were involved in talking with Sharon
5 Rocha, Brent Rocha and Amber Frey; right?
6 A. I've spoken to them all once or twice.
7 Q. Okay. And you were involved in getting recording
8 devices for Sharon and Brent Rocha so that they could tape
9 conversations; correct?
10 A. No.
11 Q. You never went to Radio Shack and got any kind of
12 recording devices for any of the Rochas?
13 A. No.
14 Q. How about for Amber Frey?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Radio Shack?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Now, and then you were aware that Sharon Rocha,
19 Brent Rocha, Amber Frey were calling Scott Peterson on the
20 telephone in January?
21 A. I know that they spoke on the phone, and I know
22 Amber and Sharon had called Scott. I don't know if they
23 were all recorded or not.
24 Q. Okay.
25 A. But I do know that they spoke on the phone.
26 Q. At least with Amber Frey, you'd been involved with
27 providing with one of the other officers -- I think it was
28 Officer Buehler?
1092:
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. A device to record the conversation?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Or conversations. Now, do you remember
5 approximately when that happened?
6 A. When I got her that tape?
7 Q. Yeah.
8 A. Can I look in my report?
9 Q. Sure. And I was only asking approximate date.
10 A. I gave her my tape-recorder, and I went with her on
11 December 30th -- I'm pretty sure it was December 30th Jon
12 Buehler and I took her to Radio Shack where we purchased the
13 equipment to hook up the tape-recorder.
14 Q. Okay. And then were you involved in suggesting any
15 topics to talk about with Scott Peterson when she called
16 him?
17 A. Well, he called her while we were there.
18 Q. Well, I mean not just on a particular date. But
19 were there times when you made suggestions about what she
20 ought to talk about with Scott Peterson?
21 A. I was present at meetings where we talked about
22 that.
23 Q. Okay. And what kind of things did you suggest that
24 she talk about with you and another officer? Buehler was
25 probably more her hammer, wasn't he?
26 A. Buehler was more involved than that. I was
27 present. It was more like -- my part of it was what not to
28 talk about. I mean, what my suggestions were.
1093:
1 Q. So what did you tell them not to talk about?
2 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. At this point I'm
3 going to object under 866. This is really trying to be more
4 of a discovery hearing than a cross-examination of the
5 direct.
6 THE COURT: I'm overruling it, as you brought in from
7 him the statements that the witness made. So it's relevant.
8 Overruled.
9 THE WITNESS: Well, my suggestions were don't let him
10 know that we were tape-recording and we were there and we
11 were -- and she had contacted us.
12 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Okay. So you were trying to keep
13 that a secret?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And probably that was part of the first
16 conversations you had once you gave her your recording
17 device; right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. I mean, you wanted to keep it quiet or at least not
20 tip the hand or her hand that the police were involved with
21 her at that stage; right?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Okay. But beyond that, weren't -- at least while
24 you were present, weren't some topics or themes suggested to
25 her, such as, well, you know, suggest maybe it was an
26 accident and maybe something happened and, you know, maybe
27 then he panicked? Do you remember that?
28 A. No.
1094:
1 Q. You don't remember any such conversation like that?
2 A. I mean, that could have happened, but I don't
3 remember it. I think we were not suggesting anything
4 because we were letting him and her talk. It was after Laci
5 was missing, and he wasn't talking about Laci; he was
6 talking about himself and where he was in Europe. We were
7 letting -- our suggestion to her was let him tell you
8 everything about what was going on in the beginning, before
9 she gave a news conference.
10 Q. Okay.
11 A. So we didn't want to tip our hand. We just let
12 her --
13 Q. Well, how about this. Did you or another officer
14 while you were there tell her at one point, well, let him
15 think that we think you're a suspect and maybe then he'll
16 feel sorry for you and then he'll take the rap, essentially?
17 Do you remember that?
18 A. I -- I -- kind of. Kind of.
19 Q. Okay.
20 A. I mean, I don't know if it ever happened on the
21 phone, but in a -- we had a lot of people, you know, talking
22 that might have came up. But I can't -- I never heard any
23 of the conversations, very many of the conversations, so I
24 can't say if that was ever even done.
25 Q. Well, how many people were sitting around talking
26 before one of these calls were being made? I mean, was it
27 five, six? Just a number.
28 A. Oh, no. Just -- there was -- when I say sitting
1095:
1 around talking, and we talked about this a lot, every day.
2 Sometimes there was maybe me and Craig and Jon. Sometimes
3 other people would be involved. A lot of times Amber wasn't
4 even there.
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. We were just trying to formulate a plan. I was
7 never -- I didn't participate. I don't think I heard -- I
8 think I heard maybe part of one or two conversations when
9 Amber was actually talking to Scott, but we didn't want to
10 make her nervous, and so most of us would just leave.
11 Q. Okay. Were any notes ever written out to her while
12 you were there about, hey, don't forget to ask him this
13 or --
14 A. Oh, I think there was some notes. I saw that a
15 couple of times.
16 Q. Who was doing the writing?
17 A. Jon would be writing --
18 Q. For the record, Jon is Buehler; right?
19 A. Yeah, Buehler. Also Sharon Hagan from the
20 Department of Justice, a psychologist -- not a psychologist,
21 but -- I don't know.
22 Q. Was she writing out stuff, too?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. Once in a while?
25 A. Yeah.
26 Q. Do you know if those are -- those written-out notes
27 to Frey are preserved anywhere?
28 A. I don't know.
1096:
1 Q. Now, as far as Brent Rocha and Sharon Rocha, did
2 you ever suggest any topics for them to talk about with
3 Scott Peterson when they talked with him?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Nothing at all?
6 A. I don't remember ever talking to Sharon or Brent
7 about that.
8 Q. Now, one question on the Amber Frey angle, you met
9 with her and then gave her your recording device I think
10 both on the 30th of December; correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Is that right?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And you've made all these suggestions -- did you
15 explain how to record the conversation?
16 A. I showed her how to use my equipment and how to use
17 the equipment we bought.
18 Q. At any time in that conversation or those
19 conversations on the 30th of December, did Amber Frey tell
20 you she was already recording Scott Peterson?
21 A. She told me she wasn't. She wasn't.
22 Q. You later found out that was a lie, didn't you?
23 A. No.
24 Q. You never heard that she was recording from the
25 16th of December on?
26 A. No. I never heard that.
27 Q. 'Til it came out of my mouth now, you never heard
28 that?
1097:
1 A. That's right.
2 Q. And you certainly never heard it from Ms. Frey;
3 correct?
4 A. That's right.
5 Q. Let's talk about you gave her your recorder. How
6 many recorders do you have on you right now, tape-recorders?
7 A. In my possession right this minute?
8 Q. Yeah.
9 A. None.
10 Q. That's kind of out of character for you, isn't it?
11 Don't you usually at least have one on you?
12 A. I used to carry one in my pocket. I usually have
13 one in my car for emergencies, and I have a couple in my
14 desk.
15 Q. Okay. But you commonly, when you're working, you
16 commonly have one and sometimes two tape-recorders on you,
17 don't you?
18 A. No.
19 Q. When you got the call and got over there to 523
20 Covena at 9:30 or so December 24th, did you have any
21 tape-recorders on you at that time?
22 A. I may have had one in my car, but I don't remember.
23 I usually do have one in my car.
24 Q. Did you have one on your person at all while you
25 were walking around the residence at 523 Covena?
26 A. No. Not that I remember. No.
27 THE COURT: Talking about December 24th now?
28 MR. McALLISTER: December 24th. Pardon me.
1098:
1 Q. When you were walking through the house with Scott
2 Peterson, did you have a tape-recorder on your person at
3 that time?
4 A. No.
5 Q. When you went over to the warehouse the first time
6 on December 24th, did you have a tape-recorder on your
7 person then?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Now, you went -- you told us last Thursday, I
10 think, you went all the way back to the Modesto Police
11 Department where you realized that you'd actually left your
12 notebook back at the warehouse; right?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Did you pick up a recorder when you were at the
15 police department and before going back to retrieve your
16 notebook?
17 A. No. I didn't go in the police department. We
18 didn't get out. I think we just got out of the car, got
19 right back in it, and turned around and drove back.
20 Q. So did you have a tape-recorder running while you
21 had Scott Peterson in your car while you were driving to the
22 warehouse and then to MPD and then to Dittos and then back
23 to the warehouse?
24 A. No.
25 Q. So all of those conversations were not recorded?
26 A. That's right.
27 Q. Or, rather, none of those recorded -- none of those
28 conversations were recorded. That's what you're telling us?
1099:
1 A. That's correct.
2 Q. What about the conversation that you told us about
3 on the last date we were here about a conversation where a
4 cadaver dog came up. Was that conversation tape-recorded?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Now, as we started -- I started asking you some
7 questions about when -- now it's January. You started
8 trying to find out who Scott's friends were; is that right?
9 Talking to his friends?
10 A. I think I started right away. It could have been
11 even in December I was talking to his friends.
12 Q. Okay. And you talked to the next door neighbor,
13 right, Karen Servas?
14 A. I talked to her.
15 Q. Right?
16 A. Uh-huh.
17 Q. And Karen Servas lived right next door; right?
18 A. That's right.
19 Q. And this is the lady who found McKenzie, the dog
20 with the wet and muddy leash; right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And, now, when she was talked to on December 25th,
23 Karen Servas told about the leash and also told about how
24 excited Scott and Laci were about the baby soon to be born;
25 right?
26 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Is this -- maybe
27 I missed the question. Is this coming from a conversation
28 the detective had with Ms. Servas?
1100:
1 MR. McALLISTER: Detective Buehler.
2 MR. DISTASO: Yeah, I'm objecting that it's double
3 hearsay. If he's going to read off the report, I'm going to
4 object.
5 MR. McALLISTER: I'm not offering it for the truth of
6 the matter asserted. I'm asking it for motive, bias or
7 interest.
8 MR. DISTASO: I'm still objecting it's double hearsay.
9 You can't go two levels back. He can't testify what
10 Detective Buehler spoke to this other witness is what I'm
11 objecting to.
12 THE COURT: What are you trying to get at,
13 Mr. McAllister? Sounds like double hearsay.
14 MR. McALLISTER: Well, let me ask the detective more
15 directly.
16 Q. When you talked with Karen Servas, was she -- did
17 she tell you about how -- how much Scott and Laci were
18 looking forward to the baby?
19 A. Can I look at my report?
20 Q. Sure.
21 A. I don't think she ever told me that. I don't
22 remember, if she did.
23 Q. Okay. Well, all your report talks about is about
24 how she on the 4th of January agreed, essentially, to become
25 an informer for you; right?
26 MR. DISTASO: Objection. It's argumentative.
27 THE COURT: Sustained.
28 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Well, didn't Ms. Servas say that
1101:
1 she would report to you anything that was going on next door
2 with Scott Peterson?
3 A. I may have asked her to call me and tell me if
4 anything was going on. I don't -- the answer is no. She
5 said she'd be a witness.
6 Q. (Indicating to witness.)
7 A. I see -- I got it right here, Mr. --
8 Q. You know what I'm talking about?
9 A. It's just what I testified to.
10 Q. "She said she would be willing to talk to us any
11 time, and she will note any other unusual things that she
12 sees or remembers." Right?
13 A. And she's been good about that.
14 Q. Oh, she's been real good about that.
15 THE COURT: Just ask questions, Mr. McAllister.
16 MR. McALLISTER: Q. She's called you a lot of times,
17 hasn't she?
18 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Relevance. This
19 is definitely beyond the scope of direct.
20 THE COURT: Sounds like it. Sustained.
21 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Now, did you also -- I mean, you
22 called several other of his friends. Bruce -- or Brian
23 Argain and telling Mr. Argain to -- asking him to call you
24 and -- if he learned anything; right?
25 A. Yes.
26 Q. Brian Argain?
27 A. Yes, I did.
28 Q. And how about Aaron Fritz? And what you were
1102:
1 trying to do with Mr. Fritz was to get information by having
2 Fritz ask questions of his good friend Scott Peterson. Am I
3 right?
4 A. Both Aaron Fritz and Brian Argain both described
5 themselves as Laci Peterson's good friends, and, yes, I did
6 ask both of them and probably every other person I talked to
7 to call and give me any information they could and to ask
8 questions of him that I couldn't ask.
9 Q. That frustrated you, didn't it, that you couldn't
10 ask him questions?
11 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Irrelevant.
12 THE COURT: Sustained.
13 MR. McALLISTER: Goes to bias, motive or interest.
14 THE COURT: What was that? I didn't hear the question.
15 (Whereupon the reporter read the
16 previous question as requested.)
17 THE COURT: Still sustained.
18 MR. McALLISTER: Q. You told Aaron Fritz or you wrote
19 in your report about Aaron Fritz, "I was attempting to plant
20 the seeds of suspicion in Aaron's head." Do you remember
21 saying that?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. That's I think almost a quote out of your report;
24 right?
25 A. I remember saying it. I don't remember if it's a
26 quote. I'd have to look.
27 Q. And then did -- and so that he would call Scott and
28 question him about these various things that you wanted
1103:
1 answered; right?
2 A. Sounds right.
3 Q. And then you asked Fritz to call you back when you
4 got the answer?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And then with Fritz you even said, "And you can
7 tell Peterson that I'm asking you these questions."
8 Remember that?
9 A. I remember telling that to somebody. It might have
10 been Aaron Fritz.
11 Q. You wanted Peterson to know that you were out there
12 talking to his friends; right?
13 A. I wasn't trying to hide the fact that I was out
14 there talking to his friends or Laci's friends is what I
15 should say.
16 Q. Well, I mean, wasn't what you wanted to convey with
17 that was that you wanted Fritz to get back to Scott Peterson
18 the message "I'm out here waiting for you, Peterson"?
19 A. No, I had a message -- I had a message and a motive
20 for what I was doing, and it wasn't that.
21 Q. You wanted to get information; right?
22 A. Of course I did.
23 Q. And you also wanted to cut off Scott Peterson from
24 the friends that he'd had; right?
25 A. No. That's not true at all.
26 Q. Now, when you -- here's another one. Mike
27 Richardson, remember talking with him?
28 A. Several times.
1104:
1 Q. Right. Now, and again, you encouraged Richardson
2 to question Scott about, well, about the girlfriend issue,
3 Amber Frey, when that came up; right?
4 A. And other things.
5 Q. All right. Now, specifically, I want to ask you
6 about a conversation you had with him on the 17th of
7 January.
8 A. Go ahead.
9 Q. You talked with him twice that day; right?
10 A. 17th of January?
11 Q. Yeah.
12 A. Go ahead. Did I talk to him twice? Is that what
13 you're asking me?
14 Q. Well, let's not spend time on that.
15 First time you talked to him, it's 6:40 in the morning;
16 right?
17 A. I think I only talked to him once, but go ahead.
18 That is right. I talked to him at 6:40 in the morning.
19 Q. And you're already there at the police department
20 working; right?
21 A. I may have been on my way in on my cell phone, but
22 I may have also been there. I can't say for sure.
23 Q. Okay. And you asked him if he had seen The Modesto
24 Bee.
25 A. That's right.
26 Q. Right?
27 A. Yes.
28 Q. Well, this gentleman lives somewhere -- I don't
1105:
1 know where it is, but it's some city outside of Stanislaus
2 County; right?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And, so I guess he hadn't -- the answer you got
5 back, he hadn't seen The Modesto Bee?
6 A. That's right.
7 Q. And then you gave him the information, what, about
8 how to see it online?
9 A. Well, he said he saw the 11:00 o'clock news and
10 told me a lot of things that were in The Bee, but I did tell
11 him he could go online and read The Bee.
12 Q. What you wanted him to see was The Bee's article
13 from the 17th, which had the information about Amber Frey;
14 right?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And about the insurance policy. You wanted him to
17 see about that, too, didn't you?
18 A. Yes. I wanted him to see the article.
19 Q. Yeah. Well, the article -- well, you also
20 encouraged him or his wife to call Sharon Rocha for further
21 information.
22 A. That's right.
23 Q. You further said Scott is not welcome in any of
24 Laci's friends or family's homes right now; right?
25 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Relevance.
26 Beyond the scope of direct.
27 THE COURT: Sustained. I think we're getting out of
28 the direct area, Mr. McAllister.
1106:
1 MR. McALLISTER: Well, this goes to -- I'll cut to the
2 aspect I want to get to, Your Honor.
3 Q. The information about the insurance policy, that
4 was part of The Modesto Bee article that you wanted him to
5 take a look at; right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And that was the article that said that Scott had
8 taken out an insurance policy on his wife last summer after
9 she got pregnant; right?
10 MR. DISTASO: Your Honor, I'm renewing the same
11 objection. It's basically been the same questions. The
12 objection was previously sustained.
13 THE COURT: I'm sustaining it again, Mr. McAllister.
14 Move on.
15 MR. McALLISTER: Q. Did you -- the information about
16 the insurance policy that you talked with Mr. Richardson
17 about, that was false, wasn't it, that the insurance had
18 recently been obtained?
19 A. I don't know when -- I don't know. Are you asking
20 me, when I said that to him, did I know it was false?
21 Absolutely not.
22 Q. Well, you learned it was false at some point,
23 didn't you?
24 A. I think he has an insurance policy out on her for
25 250,000.
26 Q. Okay.
27 A. I mean, I think he does.
28 Q. Right. I'm asking you about the "recently
1107:
1 obtained" aspect of it.
2 A. Define "recently."
3 Q. You knew from documents that have already been
4 received that the policy had been taken out with an
5 effective date of January 25th, 2001, a year and a half
6 before that.
7 A. I knew it was taken out a while back before. I
8 didn't know it was January 2001, and I really didn't care
9 when I was telling him to read the article.
10 Q. You wanted him to believe that Scott's -- Scott had
11 maybe a double motive in getting insurance proceeds and that
12 would further alienate Mr. Richardson from Scott Peterson.
13 Wasn't that your motive?
14 A. No, I was not trying to alienate Mike Richardson
15 from Scott Peterson.
16 Q. Well, you were trying to poison his mind against
17 Scott Peterson so that he would further question Scott
18 Peterson on your behalf about things you wanted answers to;
19 right?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Well, later that same day, on the 17th of January,
22 you were -- you called him back, didn't you?
23 A. Yes, I did.
24 Q. To see if he had read the paper; right?
25 A. Yes.
26 Q. And then you -- in that paragraph, you say, "I
27 encouraged him to question Scott regarding Laci's
28 disappearance"; right?
1108:
1 A. I did.
2 Q. And you did that -- you also talked with other
3 friends of Scott Peterson about getting information; right?
4 A. I tried to talk to every one of Laci's and Scott's
5 acquaintances and friends in an attempt to help me find what
6 happened to Laci. Yes, I did.
7 Q. And you were willing to lie to them to get them to
8 further your investigation?
9 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor.
10 MR. McALLISTER: Well, let me ask you another question.
11 Q. April 7th, you talked to Heather Richardson, this
12 would be the wife of Mike Richardson; right?
13 MR. DISTASO: Objection, Your Honor. Goes beyond the
14 scope of direct.
15 THE COURT: Overrule that.
16 THE WITNESS: I talked to Heather a lot. Well, not a
17 lot, but I did talk to her a few times.
18 What was the date, Mr. McAllister?
19 MR. McALLISTER: Q. 7th of April.
20 A. Go ahead.
21 Q. Well, when you talked with Heather Richardson that
22 day, you made it clear to her, according to your report, you
23 made it clear to her that the Modesto Police Department
24 detectives were not focusing on Scott Peterson as a suspect?
25 (Pause.)
26 THE COURT: Why don't we take our evening recess here.
27 Staff informed me that one of the parties wants to stop
28 promptly at 4:00. We'll stop at 4:00 today. Also, tomorrow
1109:
1 we'll start at 9:30. I have a commitment, so we'll stop
2 promptly at 4:00 o'clock tomorrow.
3 MR. GERAGOS: Thank you.
4 THE COURT: See you tomorrow morning at 9:30.
5 (Evening recess at 4:00 p.m.)
6 ---o0o--- |
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