Judge won't stop Peterson murder trial
Accused husband said to be practicing testimony
 |  No decision has been made on whether Scott Peterson, right, will testify. |
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 Scott Peterson's lawyers to begin presenting his defense.
 Scott Peterson's letters from jail talk of winning freedom.
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REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- The judge in Scott Peterson's murder trial refused to dismiss the charges against him Monday, saying there is sufficient evidence to continue the proceedings.
The request for dismissal came from defense attorney Mark Geragos, who argued there is insufficient evidence against his 31-year-old client, who is accused of killing his pregnant wife and unborn son. Their bodies washed ashore separately along San Francisco Bay in April 2003.
Before the defense called its first witness, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi showed defense and prosecuting attorneys a letter he said he received from a juror. There was no explanation of the letter's contents, and the trial continued with testimony by former FBI agent and private investigator Carl Jensen.
Under questioning from Geragos, Jensen said Scott and Laci went to the coastal city of Carmel, California, a week before Christmas Eve 2002, when Laci disappeared. The couple stayed at the Normandy Inn, and Laci climbed stairs to reach their room, Jensen said.
Geragos also established through the testimony that Laci walked 20 minutes to the beach.
Prosecutors claim Laci stopped walking the couple's dog weeks before she vanished -- at her doctor's request -- and that Scott set the dog loose to make it appear as if someone had abducted her while she was walking the dog.
A source close to the defense says no decision has been made about whether Peterson will testify. But attorney Michael Cardoza has held mock question-and-answer sessions with Peterson to prepare him for a possible cross-examination by prosecutors, the source said.
Cardoza, a frequent guest commentator on CNN's "Larry King Live," said he has met with Peterson three times, most recently on Sunday afternoon. He would not discuss details of those meetings.
Peterson faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
The bodies of his wife, Laci Peterson, and son were found not far from where Peterson said he had been fishing on December 24, 2002, the day his wife disappeared. Peterson's lawyers have suggested that Laci Peterson was abducted by someone else and then dumped into the bay to frame Scott.
When the trial began in June, Geragos promised to "smoke out the real killers," but legal analysts say his plan has probably changed.
"I don't think we're going to hear Mark Geragos even trying to solve the murder of Laci Peterson," former San Mateo County prosecutor Dean Johnson told CNN last week. "Ultimately, this will be a battle of the experts."
Prosecution experts have testified that the couple's unborn son died when Laci Peterson did, but defense experts are expected to theorize that the baby was born weeks after Laci Peterson disappeared.
Prosecutors believe Laci's fetus was expelled after her death while her body lay on the bay floor, weighted with concrete anchors.
During Jensen's testimony, photos were shown of the Petersons' home and concrete driveway.
Jensen testified the concrete looked different in his September 2003 photos, compared with police photos taken in January 2003. The detective said that, as requested, he collected samples of concrete for testing.
He said he tried to remove a whole cement block in one piece, but the concrete was too brittle.
CNN's Ted Rowlands contributed to this report.
