Peterson defense tries to raise doubts
Attorney questions neighbor on robbery, homeless people
REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- Defense attorneys in Scott Peterson's double murder trial have sought to portray their client's Modesto neighborhood as an area prone to robberies and homeless people in an effort to raise doubts that the defendant killed his pregnant wife, Laci.
Neighbor Susan Medina, police officers who first responded to a missing person report in the case and a mail carrier were among witnesses who testified Thursday in the high-profile case.
In cross-examination by defense attorney Pat Harris, Medina said she had installed a locked mailbox in 2002, citing the large volume of mail she sent from her home and transients who used her street as a shortcut to a nearby park.
As many as 10 homeless people would walk down the street to the park on some days, she said.
"One of the reasons for the mailbox was because it was nerve-wracking, the street folk?" Harris asked.
"Correct," Medina replied.
Medina testified that on December 24, 2002, she saw Scott Peterson's truck in his driveway around 5 a.m. but doesn't remember if she saw it later, around 10:30 a.m., as she and her husband left Modesto to spend Christmas in Los Angeles.
Peterson has said his wife disappeared sometime during the day Christmas Eve while he was away fishing. He said his wife was planning to walk their dog when he left the house that morning.
The prosecution contends that Peterson killed his wife and their unborn son sometime after 8 p.m. December 23, 2002, and later dumped her body in the San Francisco Bay.
Peterson, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the two murder charges.
Laci Peterson's body and the fetus washed up separately on the bay's eastern shore, a few miles from where the defendant said he had been fishing.
Medina also testified about finding her home burglarized when she returned from Los Angeles the day after Christmas.
After proving to police officers blocking the street due to the Laci Peterson case that they lived in the area, Medina and her husband waded through a mass of media to get to their home, she said.
"Our French doors to the dining room were wide open, and the lock was broken and there was a hole in the wall," she said.
Tools, jewelry and photography equipment were taken from the house, and many of the items -- including two guns -- were later recovered by police, Medina said. Suspects also were taken into custody.
Police, mail carrier testify
The police officers who first responded to Laci Peterson's disappearance report testified about their actions and the scene at the Peterson home.
Modesto police Sgt. Byron Duerfeldt said he stopped at the park near the Peterson home on his way to the house after receiving a call around 6 p.m. Christmas Eve. He also called for a helicopter to begin searching the park, he testified.
Later, at the Petersons' home, Duerfeldt said, he spoke with other officers who had accompanied Scott Peterson inside the house.
"Based on what they told me, I felt we should have a detective come down," he said.
"Does a detective always come to a missing persons call?" asked prosecutor Rick Distaso.
"It is unusual," said the sergeant, a 25-year veteran of the force.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos drilled Duerfeldt about inconsistencies between his testimony and police reports.
"Did you relieve Lexinger [another officer] from watching the house?" Geragos asked.
"That's not my recollection. I know in his report it says that," Duerfeldt said.
A second officer, John Hodson, testified that he spoke to about eight homeless people in three encampments during the course of the park search.
"I would announce myself, and they would come out and say, 'Hi,' " Hodson said.
"They let you in?" prosecutor Distaso asked.
"They were upset because it was the third time they had been disturbed that night," the officer said.
Also on the witness stand Thursday was the mail carrier whose regular route included Covina Avenue, the Petersons' street. Russell Graybill, who said he knew all the dogs that lived on the street, testified that he delivered mail there from about 10:35 to 10:50 a.m. December 24.
In questioning by the prosecution, Graybill said the Petersons' dog would sometimes get out of the back yard if the gate was left open and was extremely territorial, not allowing him to come on the property to deliver mail.
"On December 24, did you have a problem with the dog?" prosecutor David Harris asked.
"No, no problems," the mail carrier replied.
Graybill told Geragos he didn't remember if the Petersons' dog barked at him that day.
Another neighbor has previously testified that she found the couple's dog out on the street around 10:15 a.m. that day, wearing a leash covered with leaves and grass. She put the dog in the Petersons' back yard, she said.
