By HOWARD BREUER and DAVID K. LI



August 20, 2003 -- The prosecution in the Laci Peterson murder case hypnotized a dog walker who resembles her in hopes of poking holes in husband Scott Peterson's defense, sources told The Post yesterday. Cops believe Scott murdered Laci last Christmas Eve, before driving her body to Berkeley, Calif., and dumping it into San Francisco Bay. The defense has claimed witnesses spotted the pregnant woman walking her dog in Modesto at the time Scott Peterson allegedly murdered her.

To cut off the defense, prosecutors hope to show those witnesses were mistaking dog-walking Modesto resident Kristen Dempewolf, 34, for Laci, sources told The Post.

Both women were at about the same stage of pregnancy on Christmas Eve. Dempewolf delivered her baby at a Modesto hospital in early January - around the same time Laci Peterson would have given birth to son Conner.

Dempewolf's name surfaced on Monday, when unsealed court documents listed her - misspelled as "Deppenwolf" - as a witness interviewed under hypnosis. Investigators hypnotized Dempewolf so she could specifically recall when and where she was walking her dog on Christmas Eve, sources said.

Prosecutors need to discredit witnesses who reported seeing Laci walking her dog on Dec. 24 so they can defend their theory that Scott killed Laci in their home "on or about and between" Dec. 23 and 24 and dumped her body near San Francisco.

Will prosecutors be able to use her testimony, since it was initially given under hypnosis? Has there been any precedent for hypnosis and testimonies given?

It would leave that testimony open to ALOT of doubt and speculation, although I think people are more likely to remember BETTER under hypnosis....not everyone agrees, tho.

I'm going to do a search on what other cases may have come forward in California with any hypnotized witnesses.....

This is just a piece of the article.

- Under certain conditions, a person's mind is open to suggestion in such a way that illusions of memory can be received, believed, and remembered as true memories. Hypnosis, guided imagery, inner healing, and age regression therapies (such as primal therapy) are as likely to cause a person to dredge up false information as true accounts of past events. In a state of heightened suggestibility, a person's memory can easily be altered and enhanced.

Because the power of suggestion is so very strong in regressive explorations and in groups that encourage remembering and reliving the past, some of the same things happen in hypnosis. Bernard Diamond, a professor of law and clinical professor of psychiatry, says that hypnotized persons "graft onto their memories fantasies or suggestions deliberately or unwittingly communicated by the hypnotist." Not only may they have new memories, but Diamond declares that "after hypnosis the subject cannot differentiate between a true recollection and a fantasy or a suggested detail." He notes that court witnesses who have been hypnotized "often develop a certitude about their memories that ordinary witnesses seldom exhibit." Diamond declares, "no one, regardless of experience, can verify the accuracy of the hypnotically enhanced memory."

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/memory.htm

795. (a) The testimony of a witness is not inadmissible in a
criminal proceeding by reason of the fact that the witness has
previously undergone hypnosis for the purpose of recalling events
which are the subject of the witness' testimony, if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The testimony is limited to those matters which the witness
recalled and related prior to the hypnosis.
(2) The substance of the prehypnotic memory was preserved in
written, audiotape, or videotape form prior to the hypnosis.
(3) The hypnosis was conducted in accordance with all of the
following procedures:
(A) A written record was made prior to hypnosis documenting the
subject's description of the event, and information which was
provided to the hypnotist concerning the subject matter of the
hypnosis.
(B) The subject gave informed consent to the hypnosis.
(C) The hypnosis session, including the pre- and post-hypnosis
interviews, was videotape recorded for subsequent review.
(D) The hypnosis was performed by a licensed medical doctor,
psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or a licensed marriage
and family therapist experienced in the use of hypnosis and
independent of and not in the presence of law enforcement, the
prosecution, or the defense.
(4) Prior to admission of the testimony, the court holds a hearing
pursuant to Section 402 of the Evidence Code at which the proponent
of the evidence proves by clear and convincing evidence that the
hypnosis did not so affect the witness as to render the witness'
prehypnosis recollection unreliable or to substantially impair the
ability to cross-examine the witness concerning the witness'
prehypnosis recollection. At the hearing, each side shall have the
right to present expert testimony and to cross-examine witnesses.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
ability of a party to attack the credibility of a witness who has
undergone hypnosis, or to limit other legal grounds to admit or
exclude the testimony of that witness.

Hypnosis used in Peterson case

By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: August 21, 2003, 05:50:14 AM PDT

A prosecution witness who resembled a pregnant Laci Peterson was interviewed using "hypnosis techniques" in a likely attempt to undercut Scott Peterson's defense in the double murder case, according to a source and court documents.

The woman, who owns a dog and lives near the Peterson home in Modesto's La Loma neighborhood, was roughly in the same stage of pregnancy as Laci Peterson when Peterson was reported missing Christmas Eve.

Two witnesses have said they saw Laci Peterson, 27, walking her dog after 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 24 -- the time her husband told police he left for a solo fishing trip.

Scott Peterson said he returned from the trip to find his wife missing.

Prosecutors contend he killed his wife and unborn son, Conner, sometime on Dec. 23 or Dec. 24. The 30-year-old fertilizer salesman has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths.

Laci and Conner Peterson's bodies were found a day apart in April along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, within four miles of where Scott Peterson said he launched his boat on Dec. 24.

After his wife was reported missing, Peterson told police Laci was preparing to walk the couple's golden retriever, Mc-Kenzie, when he left for the bay.

Two La Loma-area residents say they are sure they saw a "very pregnant" woman they believe was Peterson walking a golden retriever after 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 24. A third resident told police he clearly remembers seeing the golden retriever, McKenzie, at about 10:45 a.m. and may have seen Laci Peterson.

Investigators conducted a "cognitive interview where hypnosis techniques were used" on Kristen Dempewolf, court documents show. The documents misspelled Dempewolf's name as "Deppenwolf."

At the time Peterson disappeared, Dempewolf, 33, had shoulder-length brown hair and regularly walked her mid-sized brown dog, which is not a golden retriever, a source said.

Dempewolf gave birth to a boy on Jan. 10, documents show. Peterson's baby was due in mid- February, family members said.

Dempewolf could not be reached for comment. Her husband, Martin Dempewolf, 34, said his wife had been subpoenaed in the case and was under a gag order. He declined to comment further.

The hypnosis came to light when prosecutors responded to a defense request for information about hypnotized prosecution witnesses.

Investigators won't say why they used the hypnotist, but it could be to enhance her memory of what she was doing Christmas Eve morning. If she was walking her dog that morning, it could provide an explanation of what other witnesses said they saw that day.

California law lays out strict conditions for allowing testimony from hypnotized witnesses in a criminal case. The conditions include that the testimony is limited to matters the witness recalled and related prior to the hypnosis, and the substance of the pre-hypnotic memory must be preserved in written, audiotape or videotape form before the hypnosis.

State law also requires the hypnosis be performed by a licensed professional experienced in hypnosis, such as a medical doctor or psychologist, and not done in the presence of law enforcement, the prosecution or the defense.

It was unclear from the prosecution documents who used "hypnosis techniques" on Dempewolf.

Dempewolf is the second woman to emerge in the case who resembles Peterson, lived in the same neighborhood, owns a dog and was pregnant last year.

But the other look-alike, a prosecutor in a neighboring county, had her baby in October and said she did not walk her dog Dec. 24.

Bee staff writer John Coté can be reached at 578-2394 or jcote@modbee.com.

I suspect she was hypnotized to give her the false memory that she took the same route as Laci that day, at the time Laci was seen.

In other words, the prosecution is attempting to fabricate and distort the evidence for the purpose of putting forth a theory which does not hold water. In my opinion, Scott hired someone to kill Laci, but had to dispose of the body...and the killer is associated with the police, and they are protecting him. Just a theory. But think of the way they handled the van issue, making it extremely clear that the van was not involved...although the one they were talking about was the wrong color. This story about the hypnotized "witness" is the smelliest yet.

The "witness" who was seen and mistaken for Laci had different clothing, different dog, different time, (probably), and has to be hypnotized to remember where she walked her dog? Give me a break.

Edited to Add: I could be completely wrong. I just think SP is somehow related to Laci's , whether he is the one who killed her, I'm not sure.

The prosecution seems to be reaching for evidence with this latest leak, IMO. By the way, does anyone know where the leak came from?

The witnesses couldn't be 100% that it was Laci, only that it looked like Laci... very pregnant. I think that the "witnesses" could easily have their days and their pregnant women mixed up.

If this women says under hypnosis that she walked her dog at the same time that the witnesses say they saw Laci and her dog, then we may be getting somewhere.

But elderly witnesses, that took the time to call the husband to come to the window and look at the pregnant woman walking the dog, well, I just don't think that they had a clear shot of Laci's or whoever's face. The wife was too busy trying to get the husband to come see, and the pregnant woman was probably already almost past the home by the time the husband got to the window.

The witnesses, when hearing of the pregnant Laci missing, automatically "assumed" it was Laci walking her dog, after all, Scott went up and down the road asking if anyone had seen her, and that she had been out walking the dog that day.

If the subject witness were to be hypnotized, my understanding is as follows. Supposedly the woman cannot remember exactly what happened, what day, where, etc. So she apparently walks her dog some days but not all, or some directions but not always the same, and now she can't remember exactly what happened on that day. Hypnotism might allow her to go back and recall more clearly the sequence of things and how her dog walk went the day before Christmas. Hypnotism would allow her to focus on that day and what happened...shopping, family, etc. She might even remember looking at a clock or watch and noting the time. I have heard that some details can be retrieved through hypnotism which were not even noticed at the time, like counting bricks on a wall or noticing cracks in the street. I've heard of these things but then when I get to personal experience I have to say nothing like that is in my own experience, so I am not very likely to accept what comes out of it.

People have remembered past lives through hypnotism. But I have not. Perhaps a lot of it is "suggested" or imaginary. I wouldn't give it much credence at this point in my own understanding. So if the lady was told to go back to day before Christmas and remember what she could, chances are she would pull things from her memory which might relate to Laci, dogwalks, neighborhood walks, etc. What exactly happened might be imagined rather than remembered.

ALSO, check the map, the K9 team from Contra Costa, together with the Mitchell sighting makes sense. Remember the Peterson dog wanted to go to Yosemite Blvd, which wasn't the route Laci had chosen. LE or Scott should have and could have used McKensey in the immediate and original search.

In fact, "almost 4 miles" would indicate a completely different area from the Peterson neighborhood. I know judging from my own area, I certainly would not go 4 miles to take a walk. Some might say that's not too far. But you must consider the walk back. So we're talking about 7-8 miles for an 8 month preg. woman to walk. This is just too far fetched for me to believe (unless she drove a car to the park so she could walk in the park.)

The post is typed .4 miles,which is it 4 miles or .4 miles or is it a speck on my monitor ?

Sorry to cause such a problem.

mBm

So Kristin is in the neighborhood. If you'd like a clearer picture, start in your own driveway and push your trip odometer to zero. Then drive within your own neighborhood until four-tenths of a mile shows on it. It's not that far, really. My kids walk five-tenths to their bus-stop.

I feel bad for Kristen but I don't feel sorry for her in that she submitted to being hypnotized. I would have refused.

Investigators handling the double-murder case against Scott Peterson used an increasingly rare and legally risky tactic by interviewing a witness using "hypnosis techniques," legal observers said Tuesday.

Informative, interesting and complete article click the link:
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/7421030p-8339673c.html