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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5 • Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Is Peterson's fair trial in jeopardy?
Media, Lad’s family don’t bias issue Too many factors for impartial trial
T f
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99
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he ongoing Laci and Conner
Peterson saga is a sensational
and sad tale that has captivat
ed the interest of Americans across
the country. The often erratic
behavior of the supposedly grieving
husband has only furthered interest
in the story. The interest of the media and the
public will not prevent Scott Peterson from
receiving a fair trial, as some have argued.
Extensive media coverage is common to high
profile cases such as this and vital to keeping the
American public informed about the case’s latest
developments.
On Christmas Eve, the 8-months pregnant
Laci Peterson disappeared from the home she
shared with her husband, Scott. Since the media
picked up this story, America has been bombard
ed with every bit of news in the case — from
Scott’s multiple affairs to the discovery of Laci’s
dismembered body.
The story has all the makings of a Hollywood
script — the beautiful, defenseless pregnant wife,
the seemingly perfect marriage, the affairs and
the grotesque disposal of the bodies, which
washed up in April, in the San Francisco Bay. No
matter how great of a story this is and how much
THOMAS CAMPBELL
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trial. No amount of media coverage will obscure
the facts of the case or convince a jury of
Peterson’s innocence.
The media interest in the multiple murder case
has been barely a blip on the news ticker in com
parison to the diarrhea of coverage O.J. Simpson
received after the deaths of Ron Goldman and
Nicole Simpson in 1994. Simpson proved that no
matter how much coverage a case receives, noth
ing can stop 12 jurors from voting as they wish.
Media coverage has nothing to do with it.
Besides, much of the media attention this case
has received — media attention some say will
bias jurors and the public — has been in response
to Peterson’s consistently erratic behavior.
Peterson continued having extramarital affairs
while Laci was pregnant with Conner. Peterson
has admitted to his infidelity. While the affairs
are not illegal, they certainly give Peterson a
motive for not wanting Laci around. Peterson was
clearly interested in other women, and his inabili
ty to honor his marriage is definetely information
important to the case. Peterson even sold Laci’s
carlo buy himself a nice new truck, and contact
ed a real estate agent about selling his Modesto,
California, home, before his arrest in April.
Trying to sell the home he shared with his
wife while he is telling the media he thinks she is
still alive and hopes for her safe return is contra
dictory. It tells people that he knows she is not
coming home, and that he is ready to move on
with his life. The fact that Peterson took his boat
into the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve, not
even a mile from where Laci and Conner were
found in April, is more than just interesting cir
cumstantial evidence.
When Peterson was arrested, he had
changed his hair color, had $10 thousand and
his brother’s identification papers on him and
was just a few miles from the Mexican border.
Peterson’s crazy assertion that some Satanic
cult possibly kidnapped Laci is just as unbeliev
able and ridiculous as the theory that Nicole
Simpson and Goldman were killed by Cuban
drug lords. It is a pathetic attempt to put a taboo
North Korea
and faceless killer on Laci when
there is absolutely no evidence that
it happened like that. Peterson’s
defense is only a distraction. Every
second people focus on the possibil
ity of some unknown killer is a sec
ond they are not associating
Peterson with the death. It is nothing more than a
last ditch effort to save a sinking ship, and the
theory will only hurt Peterson when his trial
begins.
While being in the spotlight since Laci’s dis
appearance, her family has remained quiet. They
have not come out and said what their beliefs are,
although most can infer through their actions and
body language in televised interviews. Having a
mistrial because of excessive media coverage
would only add insult to injury for the Rocha
family — and the last thing they want is for the
real killer to go free on a technicality.
This case will likely go through much scrutiny
before all is said and done. If there are problems
with the way his case is handled, the media
watchdogs will be right there to scoop the story.
The fact that his best excuse for what could have
happened was that some unknown cult may have
killed her just makes Peterson’s defense laugh
able and ridiculous.
In any big death story, the media reports on
any and all scraps thrown to them by the police,
victim’s family, lawyers and anyone else they can
get their hands on. This is nothing new, and it
does not prevent anyone from receiving a fair
trial. Our justice system works well around these
minor disturbances. All ridiculous claims aside,
the true killer is most likely in jail awaiting his
eventual conviction and punishment.
Thomas Campbell is a senior
agriculturaljournalism major.
T he loneliest man in the world
right now may very well be
Scott Peterson. What was
once a search for his missing wife
Laci has turned into a homicide
investigation with him at the center.
All Peterson can freely do now is sit
in California’s Stanislaus County jail or an emo
tionally draining courtroom, waiting on others to
decide his fate. Sadly, in the eyes of much of the
American public, the Laci Peterson case is closed
— her husband is her killer and the killer of her
unborn son. But the actions of some — the media,
Laci’s family, prosecuting attorneys and lead
investigators, just to name a few — have robbed
Peterson of his right to a fair trial. Peterson does
not have to prove his innocence; prosecutors must
prove his guilt. And until any guilt is proven, the
American public should give Peterson the benefit
of the doubt. *
For the sake of argument, assume Peterson is
innocent of the horrendous double murder. He lost
his wife. His unborn baby boy, who was to have
been named Conner, is also dead. His vehicle and
his boat have been confiscated by police, forcing
him to sell his wife’s SUV. His house? He hasn’t
seen or slept in it since April. Only one side of his
family supports him, while Laci’s side of the family
has clearly expressed contempt for him and belief of
his guilt. Peterson’s only connection to the outside
world is through his lawyers. All is not well.
Fortunately for Peterson, murder cases in this
country are decided through a trial by jury, not
based on public sentiment or exaggerated media
claims. But when defense attorney Mark Geragos
promised to change public opinion about
Peterson’s guilt. Court TV proclaimed that that
was about as likely as “June snow in Modesto.” In
fact, The New York Post, when breaking news of
GEORGE DEUTSCH
GRAC1E ARENAS • THE BATTALION
the Peterson arrest in April, showed
a handcuffed Peterson accompanied
by the headline, “Monster In
Chains.” How can any “Monster”
receive a fair trial? The media is
treating Peterson like it did O.J.
Simpson in 1994: his guilt is all but
assured. The fact that there is no hard evidence
implicating Peterson doesn’t seem to matter.
Only making things worse are members of
Laci’s family, who are so blinded by Laci’s death
and Scott’s admitted marital infidelity that they
want to see him — and apparently, only him —
prosecuted for this crime. When asked about his
innocence in several televised interviews, they
have either scoffed or laughed at the idea, appar
ently giddy about his imprisonment. Earlier this
month, Laci’s family raided the Peterson home,
removing some items and possibly planting others,
according to the defense, and much of this looting
was documented by TV crews. As another of
Peterson’s defense attomies, Matt Dalton, told
Court TV, “The scene is tainted at this point.”
All grief aside, this is very inappropriate behav
ior, and the family owes it to Laci and Conner to
let this investigation run its course. Clearly, Laci’s
family is desperate for answers, but demonizing
Scott and compromising the investigation is not
the way to get them.
Equally disturbing is the fact that Attorney
Gloria Allred, working for the prosecution, has
violated a judge’s gag order in the case, choosing
to give the media televised interviews about her
client, Amber Frey, with whom Scott had an affair.
Among other allegations, Allred has brazenly stat
ed that “judgment day is going to come for Mr.
Peterson,” but she can offer nothing more than
hearsay and her own opinion on the case. Defense
attorneys cannot respond to the allegations, as last
week’s gag order prohibits them from doing so,
and Geragos is asking for Allred to be held in con
tempt of court for violating the order. With one
man’s life hanging in the balance, the defense is
the only side playing by the rules. This gag order
must either be rescinded or all parties must be held
accountable to it.
It is also interesting to note that Stanislaus
County police have pursued no other suspects as
seriously as Peterson, but this is not due to a lack
of suspects. Peterson’s defense has been forced
into pursuing unnamed suspects on its own with
limited resources. Still, the defense’s main theory
— that a Satanic cult killed Laci — is actually
quite credible. Several impartial witnesses have
reported seeing a van adorned with satanic sym
bols and a man with “666” tattooed on his arm in
front of the Peterson home in late December.
The American public seems to dismiss this the
ory as ridiculous, but Satanic killings didn’t seem
so ridiculous in the 1980s, when Richard Ramirez
— The Night Stalker — made California his per
sonal hunting ground. Ramirez, who sat in court
with a pentagram etched in his palm and often said
“Hail Satan,” adds a very real face to the idea of
Satanism. Try convincing the families of his vic
tims that Satanic cults don’t exist.
When Scott Peterson’s trial is over, he may
indeed be convicted of murder; he may not be. But
the fact remains that Peterson’s fate must be deter
mined in court. The American public is not his
judge, jury or executioner, and it should not pre
tend to be. Scott Peterson must have a fair trial.
Laci and Conner deserve nothing less.
George Deutsch is a senior
journalism major.
still poses threat to U.S.
America must have clear goals and consistent policy in dealings with nation
tion, the group says,
to cleaner forms of
i as wind, solar and
hich is ethanol or
.ses produced from
has the greatest
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of sun,” Musil said,
vable energy poteo-
> is estimated to be
mes the state’s pre
consumption and
n this could create
jobs in Texas by
3,400 jobs by 2040.
the. group’s report.
John Fainter, pres-
e Association of
npanics of Texas,
rile Physicians for
onsibility’s report
ntial electricity that
nerated from bio-
ir energy, it doesn’t
current uncompeti-
hese technologies.
W ith the United
States’ deep
involvement in
the Middle East, it can
be easy to forget that
there are other crises
overseas that need to be
taken care of. This is why the U.S.
government employs foreign policy
specialists to handle such problems.
But what happens when these special
ists become obsessed with solving
certain problems while others require
attention? What happens is exempli
fied by U.S. foreign policy with North
Korea. The relationship is crisis driv
en, with no consensus between
America and its allies. Not only is
there no sure way to achieve the
desired goals, America doesn’t even
know exactly what those goals are. It
is time for the United States to devote
more attention to North Korea and the
threat it poses with a consistent for
eign policy.
U.S. foreign policy, in regard to
North Korea, has been spotty and
erratic, leading to confusion and the
possibility of unfavor
able consequences. The
Bush administration
only wants to pay atten
tion to North Korea
when it does something
that cannot be ignored.
For example, when, according to the
BBC, North Korea recently claimed
the need for a nuclear program to
counter U.S. “hostile policy.”
After focusing intensely on the
Middle East, the Bush administration
was forced to send Secretary of State
Colin Powell to make a quick denial
of any hostile intentions and restate
the United States’ desire for a “diplo
matic solution.” But the same BBC
article mentions that these remarks
were a change from the beligerent
tone of former White House press
secretary Ari Fleischer.
At the same time America is send
ing diplomats overseas, the United
States is asking its allies in the Far
East to put pressure on North Korea
— specifically against North Korean
shipping by enforcing safety rules
DAVID SHOEMAKER
a
U. S. foreign policy, in
regard to North Korea,
has been spotty and
erratic, leading to
confusion and the
possibility of unfavorable
consequences.
and searching for illegal cargo,
according to the International Herald
Tribune. In keeping with the new
American initiative, Japan has
detained two North Korean freighters
in Japanese ports. This came after
North Korea suspended operation of
the only ferry between the two coun
tries when Japan said that the ferry
would-have to undergo an inspection
while docked in Japan. While the
Japanese have a right to inspection, it
does nothing to improve U.S. or
Japanese relations with North Korea.
This is the inconsistency of U.S.
policy regarding North Korea: talking
negotiations and then pushing action
that will most likely raise the level of
tension in the region. This spotty
diplomacy could have serious conse
quences, as the lack of a firm and
consistent policy could lead North
Korea to decide to take chances with
the United States that they wouldn’t
otherwise take.
America must develop a consistent
policy, one that has well-defined goals
and “lines in the sand,” a consensus
with our allies and a well thought out
application of force or diplomacy.
According to an analysis article from
the BBC, foreign policy observers
believe that the lack of “red lines”
that North Korea clearly cannot cross
has been an impediment to a resolu
tion of the situation. This has embold
ened North Korea, causing it to think
it can keep pushing, since there is no
firm line in the sand for it to cross
with dire consequences.
But the United States needs to
decide with its allies what those rules
might be short of the obvious goal of
preventing a nuclear exchange. Such
“red lines” should be made so that
they are easily defined and verifiable
to the outside world.
With consensus on such issues, the
united front against North Korea may
perhaps persuade leaders to drop
North Korea’s weapons program. The
exact means of making the country
cease its nuclear program, however, is
where the balance of force and diplo
macy come in. It might take a serious
show of force, or it might require a
“buy out” of their nuclear program.
However, in the end, what matters
is the exact balance that will keep the
Korean peninsula from having a full-
scale war. And although the Middle
East has captured the media and the
Bush administration’s attention, the
crisis in the Far East cannot be
ignored. Too much time has already
passed for it to be ignored any longer.
David Shoemaker is a junior
management major.