LADYCOP, NO DECISION TODAY..!! :-5 Here is today's events from COURT TV!! I hope its over by tomorrow..!!
I must say Prosecutor Harris, had a great finale..BRAVO.!!
http://courttv.aol.com/trials/peterson/120904_ctv.html
Jurors begin deliberating possible death sentence for Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson faces the death penalty after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son.
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. †Jurors began deliberating Thursday whether Scott Peterson should be put to death for the murders of his pregnant wife and unborn child.
The six men and six women spent two hours weighing evidence before retiring for the night to the hotel where they will be sequestered until reaching a verdict. They are to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday. :-5
The jurors started their work after listening to impassioned closing arguments in which a prosecutor described Peterson as "the worst of the worst" and deserving of the ultimate punishment and two defense attorneys urged jurors to show mercy and recommend a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos asked jurors for "mercy and compassion" in his closing arguments and said killing Peterson would not bring any solace to the Rocha family and would only continue the cycle of violence.
"How does the idea of sticking a needle in his arm, how is that going to help?" Geragos told jurors. "None of this is going to bring back Laci, bring back Conner."
Prosecutors, however, called him "an evil man" who deserves a death sentence for carrying out a "monstrous plan" to murder his pregnant wife.
Displaying graphic photos of the badly decomposed remains of Laci Peterson and her fetus on a large projection screen in front of the jury, prosecutor Dave Harris told the panel, "Leaving his wife's body to rot in the bottom of the ocean, leaving his son's body to be found as trash in debris †that's not something that should be rewarded by sparing his life."
One female juror †No. 7 †turned her head away from the screen and began to cry. Other panelists looked from the gruesome images to the front row of the spectator's gallery where the victim's mother, Sharon Rocha, sat weeping.
Defense attorney Pat Harris urged them to reject the death penalty and recommend a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"This is not a monster," the defense lawyer said. "I beg you to ... please spare his life."
The defense lawyer noted that 39 witnesses †ranging from Peterson's golf instructor to his own mother †vouched for his character during the penalty phase. He said the 32-year-old could contribute to society from behind bars by working with younger inmates in prison.
"There are people in jail who can use help, who don't have counselors," Harris said. "I believe that Scott Peterson has the ability to affect their lives."
The defense attorney spoke in a whisper and much of what he said during the half-hour argument was not audible in the gallery of the courtroom. At one point, he appeared near tears.
Prosecutor Harris began his 51-minute summation by reminding jurors that it was the second anniversary of Peterson's purchase of the fishing boat he used to dispose of his wife's body.
He brushed aside the testimony of those character witnesses, saying they knew nothing of his true nature.
"He's manipulative. He's a liar. These witnesses who came in, they are just more of his victims," he said.
Harris flashed a photo of the Petersons smiling happily in front of a Christmas tree and quoted from the testimony of defense witnesses who had praised their marriage.
"They were the perfect couple. They completed each other. They were both full of life and loving," he said. He then placed a photo of Peterson and his mistress over Laci Peterson's face. "Unfortunately, they didn't know the side of Scott Peterson you know."
He played jurors excerpts of phone calls in which Peterson deceived his mistress, friends and parents, and also showed them snippets of his "Good Morning America" interview.
Harris called Peterson "the great manipulator, the great fraud," and said he only cared about getting free of his marriage and fatherhood.
"Laci Peterson was an anchor around his neck ... so he put one around hers," he said.
He showed jurors family snapshots of Laci Peterson and her brother, half-sister and mother and asked them to think of the birthdays, holidays and graduations missed.
"All of those things ripped away by an evil man," Harris said.
After flashing through photos of the Rocha and her daughter, he stopped on a sonogram of the boy Laci Peterson planned to name Conner.
Gesturing to Sharon Rocha, who was slumped against her companion, Ron Grantski, the prosecutor said, "She'll never get to see Conner grow up."
The prosecutor implored the jury to reject defense suggestions that there is "lingering doubt" about Peterson's guilt. Several panelists nodded as he said many defense witnesses were trying to convince them that their guilty verdict was wrong.
"Don't feel guilty for doing the right thing," he said, adding, "Now it's time to do the right thing again."
Harris also told the jury they could not consider sympathy they might have for Peterson's parents, Lee and Jackie.
"You're heard over and over and over that if you execute him, it's going to kill Lee, it's going to kill Jackie," he said. He then walked to the defense table and pointed his right hand at Peterson. "The person responsible is right there."
His actions, whether premeditated or not, have affected so many lives.