Peterson trial venue before judge Tuesday
 |
Professor Stephen Schoenthaler supervised a survey that found public opinion in Modesto to be against defendant Scott Peterson.
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
(CNN) -- A judge likely will decide Tuesday the location of the trial of a California man accused of killing his wife and their unborn child.
A focus of Tuesday's hearing will be a student survey that found strong sentiment against murder defendant Scott Peterson among potential jurors in Modesto, the California city Scott and Laci lived in.
The survey was one piece of evidence used by Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Al Girolami in his decision to move the trial away from Modesto. (Full story)
Students who helped conduct the survey have since said some of the results were fabricated. (Full story)
According to a report from the Modesto Bee newspaper, Stephen Schoenthaler, a professor at California State University-Stanislaus, oversaw the 10-county, 1,175-person survey conducted by criminal justice students in November and December.
The newspaper reported that Schoenthaler will appear at Tuesday's hearing, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (noon ET)
If the decision to change the trial venue stands, Girolami will then decide where the trial site will be.
California state officials said last week that four locales -- San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties in the San Francisco Bay area, and Orange County in Southern California -- are in the running to host the murder trial. (Full story)
Peterson is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Laci Peterson was last seen Christmas Eve 2002. Laci's body and her son's fetus washed up separately on the shore of San Francisco Bay last April.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Peterson told police he was fishing in the bay on the day Laci disappeared and that he had launched his boat from the Berkeley Marina. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami ruled last November there was enough evidence to bind Peterson over for trial. (Full story)
At his December arraignment, Peterson repeated his declarations of innocence. (Full story)
Last week another judge refused to dismiss murder charges against Peterson, ruling that prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. (Full story)
Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Marie Silveira denied the dismissal motion filed by Peterson attorney Mark Geragos, who argued that witnesses and medical evidence contradicted the prosecution's theory of the case.
Geragos is expected to appeal Silveira's ruling to a higher court, a move that will likely delay the trial, scheduled to begin January 26.
