heres a news..www.abcnews.go.com

Judge: Peterson Jury Has Reached VerdictJudge Says Scott Peterson Jury Has Reached Verdict; to Be Announced at 4 P.m. EST
Scott Peterson is shown in court in this Jan. 14, 2004 photo. (AP Photo/Bart Ah You, pool)
The Associated Press

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Nov 12, 2004 — Jurors in the Scott Peterson murder trial reached a verdict Friday, winding up the sensational case on their second day of deliberations after having to start back at square one twice in two days.

Judge Alfred A. Delucchi told the court, filled with attorneys, the media and Peterson himself, that the verdict would be made public at 4 p.m. EST. Audio of the court proceeding was to be made available for broadcasters, but not video, the judge had ruled.

The verdict followed the back-to-back dismissals of jurors on Tuesday and Wednesday and a day off of deliberations for Veterans Day. The two dismissed jurors were replaced with alternates, and each time, the panel was told to begin deliberations anew.

The final panel had deliberated for around five hours on Wednesday and an additional three hours Friday.


Judge: Peterson Jury Has Reached Verdict
Overdose Murder Charge Dropped Against Mom
School Talent Show Draws Secret Service
Jurors were deciding whether Peterson killed his pregnant wife, Laci, who vanished Dec. 24, 2002, from their home in Modesto. He faced a second murder count in the death of the fetus, a boy the couple planned to name Conner.

The highly publicized trial began with jury selection in March and opening arguments in June. Closing arguments were presented Nov. 1 and 2 and the original panel began deliberating Nov. 3.

Prosecutors claim Peterson killed Laci, then dumped her weighted body into San Francisco Bay, because he wanted to escape marriage and fatherhood. The remains of Laci and the fetus were discovered in April a few miles from where Peterson says he went fishing alone the day his wife vanished.

The defense contended someone else killed her and said prosecutors had never proven he had any motive to kill.

Jurors were given the option of finding Peterson not guilty or convicting him or first- or second-degree murder.

First-degree convictions, carrying the death penalty or life without parole, would mean jurors concluded Peterson planned the killings. Second-degree murder convictions don't require a finding of premeditation and carry sentences of 15 years to life for each count.

On Wednesday, Delucchi dismissed the jury foreman, a man in his mid-40s who has medical and law degrees. The judge did not disclose his reasoning.

The action came a day after the removal of another juror who apparently did her own research on the case, violating the judge's order to consider only evidence presented at trial.

While deliberations went on earlier this week, the drama shifted from the courtroom to a parking lot a few blocks away. Defense attorney Mark Geragos parked a replica boat there Monday after the deliberating jurors viewed the actual boat prosecutors allege Peterson used to dump his wife's body.

But the replica boat and its contents coveralls stuffed with weights and concrete anchors tied to the arms and legs quickly became a makeshift shrine, with candles, flowers and hand-lettered signs reading "Rot in Prison" and "Justice for Laci and Conner."

Geragos had hoped to show jurors a videotaped experiment performed by the defense during which the replica boat apparently filled with water, but the judge did not allow it.



Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.