Scott Peterson Case Not a 'Slam Dunk'
April 23 -- Scott Peterson has admitted cheating on his pregnant wife, and he placed himself near the area where the remains of Laci Peterson and their unborn child were found, but that doesn't make the prosecution's murder case foolproof.
Peterson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges in the slayings. Laci was almost eight months pregnant on Christmas Eve, when Peterson reported her missing from their Modesto, Calif., home and told police he had been fishing at the Berkeley Marina the day she disappeared.
Last week, Laci's decomposing body and the remains of her unborn son washed ashore along a San Francisco-area beach, just three miles from the Berkeley Marina, helping to spark her husband's arrest.
Police grabbed Peterson in San Diego, 30 miles from the Mexican border. He had grown a goatee and dyed all his dark hair blond, and was carrying his brother's ID and $10,000 in cash. Authorities said they arrested him before receiving DNA confirmation on the bodies because they feared he would try to flee.
While prosecutors have not revealed the evidence that implicates Peterson, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said prosecutors had enough evidence for a "slam dunk" conviction.
Legal experts, however, say that despite the damning circumstantial evidence against Peterson — the affair, his placement near the discovery of the bodies and an alleged attempted flight — the prosecution's case may be more like a long-range jump shot that's far from certain to land in the basket.
"From my experience, you need the evidence that connects Laci Peterson [and her death] to Scott Peterson, and I don't think prosecutors have that evidence," said California-based defense attorney Brian Oxman.
Authorities have said they are conducting tests on a tarp that washed ashore following the bodies' recovery to see if there is a link to the case. There has also been speculation about traces of cement apparently found on the boat Scott used the day Laci disappeared and containers of cement police removed from the Peterson home during the investigation.
"If there were traces of cement found on the body, normally that would have been enough to arrest Scott right away," Oxman said. "But they didn't do that, and that tells me that they didn't have the physical evidence that warranted the arrest. … I think they arrested Peterson more because they thought he was a flight risk, not because of any evidence.
