Judge: One jury for Peterson trial
Jury won't be sequestered
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Laci and Scott Peterson
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REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- The jurors who will hear arguments in the murder trial of Scott Peterson would also decide whether Peterson would receive the death penalty if he is guilty, a California judge ruled Thursday.
Peterson, 31, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and their unborn son. The former fertilizer salesman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judge Alfred Delucchi ruled that there will not be separate juries for Peterson's trial and the penalty phase, if one is needed.
Defense attorneys had argued that the jury should be sequestered to prevent the possibility that members might be swayed by friends, family and news coverage. Lawyers have said the case could last five months.
Peterson's attorneys also argued that a jury that convicted Peterson in the criminal phase would be unable to make an unbiased decision in a penalty phase.
In the pretrial hearing Thursday, Delucchi also ruled that the jurors, whom attorneys begin selecting March 4, will be able to go home after each day's proceeding.
Peterson is free to sell his story to the movies or make book deals, Delucchi ruled over the objections of Peterson's slain wife's mother. (Full story)
Also Thursday, more pretrial testimony was heard on dogs from Contra Costa County that were used in the search for Peterson's wife Laci. The judge is weighing whether evidence from the tracking dogs is admissible.
Delucchi said as many as 1,500 potential jurors could be questioned in the case. Delucchi told court officials to make plans to accommodate pools of 100 jurors twice a day.
Prosecutors have said they plan to call about 150 witnesses to make their case against Peterson. Defense attorney Mark Geragos has not said how many people he plans to call.
Prosecutors have turned over the last 56 pages of its case against Peterson to his defense team, the lawyers said Wednesday, and Delucchi told prosecutors that any new evidence that turns up must be given to the defense immediately.
Delucchi originally had hoped to begin jury selection by next Monday, but gave Geragos more time to question witnesses in the pretrial hearing.
Laci Peterson was nearly eight months pregnant when she was reported missing on Christmas Eve 2002. Her body, and that of the couple's unborn son, washed up along the shore of San Francisco Bay in April 2003, about 80 miles away from their home in Modesto but just miles from Berkeley, where Scott Peterson told police he was fishing in a boat on the day she vanished.
CNN's Rusty Dornin and Erika Snider contributed to this report.
