Individuals close to Scott Peterson (search) tell Fox News there are discussions going on about possibly diminishing the role of lead attorney Mark Geragos (search ).


Several members of Peterson's family are said to be frustrated with his representation of Peterson and believe they are "paying a lot of money and not getting a lot in return."

However, sources told Fox News the family members are divided on this issue. Scott's mother Jackie Peterson told Fox News Tuesday night that she is happy with Geragos.

Peterson's family has disputed an inmate’s claims that the accused killer plotted the kidnapping of his pregnant wife weeks before she disappeared.

Janey Peterson told Fox News that she was with Scott Peterson and his wife, Laci, in San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 29, the day Cory Lee Carroll claimed he met with her brother-in-law in Fresno. The meeting was detailed in a report published Saturday by the Fresno Bee.

Carroll, a parolee jailed since August after missing a court date, told investigators that he first met Scott Peterson last November at the City Lights strip club in Fresno. After a conversation in which Carroll revealed he had been in prison, Peterson asked for help in finding someone to steal his wife’s car as part of an insurance fraud scheme, according to the Bee report.

Carroll told investigators that he was paid $300 to set up a meeting with two men known as Tony, aka “Dirty,” and Anthony, aka “Skeeter.” The men were both members of a neo-Nazi prison gang known as the Nazi Low Riders (search).

Carroll claimed he and the two men met with Peterson in a northeast Fresno restaurant on Nov. 29. The four went on to a nearby motel where the subject of a kidnapping plot came up, the Bee reported.

But Janey Peterson claims she, her husband, and Scott and Laci Peterson (search) were together in San Diego Nov. 29, two days after a baby shower had been held there for the pregnant 27-year-old.

Calling Carroll’s claims in the Bee report “all lies,” she told Fox News that it would have been impossible for Scott Peterson to have left San Diego midday, driven more than seven hours to Modesto, dropped his wife and presents off at their home, then have driven another hour-plus to Fresno for the alleged meeting. Peterson said she was trying to confirm the exact time Scott and Laci Peterson left San Diego that day.

Carroll’s attorney, Frank Muna, told Fox News that his client disclosed his story only after recognizing Scott Peterson on television after his April arrest for the murders of Laci Peterson and their unborn child, Conner. Muna said he notified law enforcement after his client passed a polygraph test administered by a former Fresno police lieutenant.

Polygraph examinations are not admissible in court. However, a memo summarizing the test obtained by the Bee shows Carroll correctly identified the model of Peterson’s Ford F-150 pickup. In addition, the van like the one Dirty and Skeeter owned was described by a witness as having been across the street from Laci Peterson’s home the day of her Dec. 24 disappearance. Police have since played down reports of a so-called suspicious van.

Carroll said he walked out of the Nov. 29 meeting for 45 minutes once he heard one of the three men say something about kidnapping. His attorney told Fox News that his client had nothing to gain by coming forward, and hinted that his life may now be in danger as a result.

Investigators would not comment on Carroll’s claims to the Bee due to a court-imposed gag order.

The Modesto Bee reported that police divers returned to San Francisco Bay on Friday, where the bodies of Laci and Conner Peterson were discovered ashore in April. A preliminary hearing for Scott Peterson is scheduled for Oct. 20, after a judge granted a six-week continuance earlier this month at the defense’s request.

The plot thickens...

Maybe the REAL story is that Mark is getting ready to drop Scott for not being truthful with him, and the Peterson family is running interference, trying to get the jump on him and make it seem that it's THEIR decision to drop Mark.....

Posted 4:46 A.M.9-26-03
* LOCAL NEWS: Peterson defense team loses attorney Dalton
One of Scott Peterson's attorneys has left his defense team -- and no one associated with the double-murder case is saying why.
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/7502477p-8417544c.html

or it might have everything to do with it. Hard to tell, and I doubt we'll ever know for sure. Since the media is questioning it, they'll probably come forth with a statement, giving some perfectly innocent and unrelated reason for his departure.

Whether or not the statement will be truth- who knows?

I don't know why the attorney's are leaving. Maybe they feel that it is a losing battle and don't want to defend someone they feel is guilty of such a horrible double murder?

I think it does.

IMO, Geragos wants the opportunity to force the state to prove it's case that since the beginning is based on an investigation that ignored several witnesses who believe they saw Laci walking her dog (at a time according to police theory, she was already dead). LE's initial attempts to disregard/discredit the witnesse's without investigating them only made things worse. and let's not forg4et the "Slam Dunk" remark.

>I don't know why the attorney's are leaving. Maybe they
>feel that it is a losing battle and don't want to defend
>someone they feel is guilty of such a horrible double
>murder?

based on what i have read it seems one attorney is leaving the case because he is leaving the firm. he could be doing so for any number of reasons. and like everything else in this case, it is very likely related to the case, just not in the way it has been portrayed in the media. we don't know.

As far as why the attorney's are leaving, I thought we were speculating as to the reason, so I threw in my opinion of what may be the reason.

LadyBug : YES I would hire Geragos in a NY minute, and for this jury lets all hope they haven't been glued to media and swayed either way, stick to the facts and the evidence and not dependant on the late night talking heads or rag mags. A mans' life is at stake so darn it better be fair!
..........................

You'll find MARK GERAGOS downtown at the Los Angeles County Court House, Los Angeles, California

Geragos out of Peterson spotlight
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
September 19, 2003

(Court TV) --Scott Peterson, the fertilizer salesman accused of the sensational murder of his pregnant wife, lived a Mercedes-and-country-club life in California's farmbelt before his arrest. He appears to have little more than orange jumpsuits in common with Karen Terteryan, a high school dropout and Los Angeles gang member charged with killing another teen in a sidewalk brawl.

But despite their varied backgrounds, both Peterson and Terteryan are counting on the same man, Mark Geragos, to save their livesAs everyone within earshot of a cable-receiving television knows, the high-profile criminal lawyer, whose clients include Winona Ryder and Gary Condit, is defending Peterson for the murders of his wife, Laci, and unborn son.

But he also has a host of clients, like Terteryan, with no name recognition. And for the next month, while Peterson awaits his preliminary hearing in a Modesto jail cell, Geragos will be in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom trying to convince a jury that the 20-year-old does not deserve life without parole.

Unlike in the Peterson case, the streets outside the courthouse will not be lined with satellite trucks.

"A couple print reporters. That's about it," said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office summing up the media representatives who have attended recent hearings.

Find this continued article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/19/ctv.geragos.client/index.html

Geragos: I'm still on Peterson case

Scott Peterson's high-profile lawyer brushed off recent reports that his client was disappointed in his work.


By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
LOS ANGELES — Scott Peterson's attorney denied recent reports that there is dissent in the defense camp, saying Thursday that he "absolutely" still represents America's most famous murder defendant and is burning the midnight oil to prepare for next month's important preliminary hearing.

"I don't know where people are getting this stuff," lawyer Mark Geragos said of news accounts that Peterson's relatives — who are footing his legal bills — are disappointed with his representation and considering firing him.

"I talked to Jackie just last night and the night before. I talk to her more than I talk to my own mother," said Geragos.

Sources told Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live" last week that Peterson was furious that his well-known attorney was not visiting him more in jail, leading Geragos to make a special trip to Modesto to smooth things out with his client.

Prosecutors are poised to present their evidence at an Oct. 20 preliminary hearing that Peterson murdered his pregnant wife, Laci, and unborn son. That important proceeding may be delayed for a third time, however, if a Los Angeles murder case Geragos is currently trying is not finished in time.

As that case, a gang-related slaying outside a high school, opened Thursday, jurors were told to clear their calendars until Oct. 31.

During a break in that trial, Geragos said he was "hopeful" Peterson's preliminary hearing would begin as scheduled and noted that he was spending each night in his office working on Peterson's case and had five other lawyers from his firm and four investigators helping him.

One attorney who had worked extensively on Peterson's case, Matt Dalton, left Geragos' firm last week. Dalton spent significant time in Modesto, meeting often with Peterson and working with investigators. This summer, Dalton was criticized for allowing a local newspaper reporter to listen in on a defense strategy session concerning the so-called "satanic cult theory."

Geragos downplayed Dalton's departure, saying the parting was "mutual" and would not affect the case.