Impact of Mistress on Peterson Trial
M O D E S T O, Calif., Oct. 29, 2003 -- Scott Peterson's extramarital affair with Amber Frey could come back to haunt him in a way he never expected. As his preliminary hearing gets under way in Modesto, some legal experts say Frey could turn out to be the prosecution's secret weapon.
The blond massage therapist from Fresno helped police record phone calls between her and Peterson for more than three weeks.
ABCNEWS' legal contributor Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom says it's very likely that the phone calls will reveal some very important conversations between Frey and Peterson.
"The prosecution wouldn't be seeking to introduce them unless there was something, some kind of admission, some incriminating evidence, statements that he made in those phone conversations, otherwise they're just irrelevant and we should just deal with the affair itself," Newsom said.
Weeks after his wife Laci disappeared, the 31-year-old salesman admitted to having an affair with Frey.
Frey, a 28-year-old single mother, came forward in a dramatic news conference to admit that she was having an affair with Scott Peterson at the time Laci disappeared.
"Scott told me he wasn't married. We did have a romantic relationship," Frey said in the January news conference.
But weeks before that, Frey was already helping police in their investigation of the case. Modesto, Calif., police said Frey contacted them on Dec. 30, six days after Laci disappeared. She met with detectives and gave them information about her relationship with Scott Peterson.
Partial phone records reveal a staggering volume of communication between Frey and Peterson even after her announcement that she was cooperating with the investigation.
The transcripts of those calls have been sealed, but ABCNEWS has learned that Frey asked Peterson point blank in one of those calls if he had anything to do with his wife's disappearance. Peterson said he did not, but had information about who did. Though Frey knew nothing about his wife's disappearance, she tried to get Peterson to talk about it in a series of wire-tapped phone conversations — conversations that could be played for a jury.
There were at least 76 calls between Frey and Peterson over a nine-week period that spanned from nine days before Laci's disappearance and ended Feb. 19.
In the nine weeks reflected in partial phone records, Frey and Peterson spoke for more than 8½ hours.
Jim Hammer, a prosecutor with San Francisco's district attorney's office said he also expects that the taped conversations will hold new and significant details that might be used in the case against Peterson.
"Although I don't think he confessed to the murder, I think the prosecution has some highly damaging or at least embarrassing evidence in the terms of Scott Peterson's words on those tapes," Hammer said.
Records also show that Frey called Modesto Police detectives 191 times over three months for a total of more than 19 hours of conversation. Frey placed many of those calls immediately after conversations she had with Peterson.
It remains to be seen whether or not the full details of those conversations become public record. But what is clear, is that Amber Frey appears to be in a position to become the prosecution's star witness.
Peterson's defense team has already indicated that it's going to try and keep those conversations from ever coming out.Back in May, when a judge in Modesto, Calif., refused to unseal the search warrants and sealed additional documents in the case at prosecutors' request, Newsom said Frey would likely become one of Peterson's biggest obstacles.
"I believe that she is the weight that hangs around Scott Peterson's neck and could prove pivotal in obtaining a conviction against him," Newsom said.
The eagerly anticipated preliminary hearing is expected to last up to five days, after which Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami will decide whether there is enough evidence to merit a trial for Peterson.
Peterson is charged with two counts of murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and has been in jail since his April arrest.
Hammer says he believes surprises will be in store in the prelimary hearing given the gag order that has kept a lid on much of the evidence.
"There are going to be some surprises," Hammer said. "It is a little like we have been waiting for the movie to start and we have been watching previews for the past month."
Peterson said his 27-year-old pregnant wife vanished when he went fishing Christmas Eve. He helped conduct searches for his wife and pleaded for her return until her body and the remains of their unborn son washed ashore in April near where he said he was fishing.
While legal experts say Peterson is likely to face a trial since the standard of proof in a preliminary hearing is far less than that needed to convict someone, they add that his defense team can benefit from some of the information that will be obtained this week. Legal experts say Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, is likely to push the idea that investigators ignored evidence that would have lead them to Laci's real killer and that much of the evidence they collected against his client is defective and should be thrown out.
"Mark Geragos knows his way around the courtroom, people will not be disappointed in the performance that he puts on, he's excellent at questioning witnesses, he's going do damage to the prosecution's case through cross-examination," Newsom said. "That's why the district attorney's office is going to put on more evidence than less, because they have Mark Geragos to contend with," she said.
It's not clear when Frey will be called to testify in the preliminary hearing. ABCNEWS' Senior Legal Correspondent Cynthia McFadden says the defense may hold off until next week to see how the trial is going before calling Frey to the stand.