A Deadly Game (55 page)

Geragos bought a few more days by appealing this decision to the Court of Appeals. He lost. On Monday, November 29, the California Supreme Court also denied Geragos' petition for a review and request for a stay. There was nowhere else to go but back to the jury that convicted Scott.

Unlike the trial, Judge Delucchi permitted video cameras and microphones into court for jury instructions. Silence fell over the courtroom as jurors filed in just before 11:30 A.M. Once seated, the judge explained their role.

"In determining which penalty to be imposed," he told them, "you shall consider all of the evidence. You shall consider, take into account and be guided by the following factors; the circumstances of the crime, the presence or absence of criminal activity by the defendant, other than crimes for which the defendant has been tried which involve use or attempted use of force or violence, the presence or absence of any prior felony conviction other than the crimes for which the defendant has been tried in present proceedings, whether or not victim was a participant in the defendant's homicidal conduct, whether or not the defendant acted under extreme duress under substantial domination of another person, the age of the defendant at the time of the crime, whether or not the defendant was an accomplice to the offense, and any other circumstance, which extenuates the gravity of the crime and any sympathetic or other aspect. You may also consider any lingering or residual doubt as to the defendant's guilt. Lingering or residual doubt is defined as a state of mind between reasonable doubt and all possible doubt. You may consider lingering doubt as a factor."

Prosecutor David Harris delivered the prosecution's opening remarks. Rising to his feet, the soft-spoken lawyer addressed the jury: "The circumstances of this crime are like ripples on water. When the defendant dumped the bodies of his wife and unborn son into the bay, those ripples spread out, and touched many lives . . . you'll hear from Brent Rocha, Amy Rocha, Ron Grantski and Sharon Rocha . . . these witnesses will tell you who Laci and Conner were; they'll talk about the joy that Laci brought into their lives . . . you've hear about her as a person, what she meant to this family, the lose they all suffered . . .

"You'll hear how it was for a mother, waiting every single day to find out what happened to her daughter, to her grandson . . . never knowing what had happened for a hundred and sixteen days . . . the entire time with the defendant, the one that caused those ripples in the pond, in their midst. . .

"You'll hear about their guilt because they didn't protect Laci from the one person they didn't think she needed protection from. . . . There's a hole in their hearts that can never be repaired.

"I'm going to argue to you that, based on the circumstances of this crime, the only just punishment is death."

After lunch, jurors filed back into the courtroom. They watched as Brent Rocha made his way to the witness box.

"Laci was your sister?" Harris addressed the poised young man.

"Yes."

"Tell us in your own words about your sister."

"We grew up together, both got married, and were beginning to move on to the next phase of starting our families. She was a very energetic person, very kind," Brent choked back tears. "To sit here and try to describe her is very difficult to do.

"We always talked when we were growing up about how nice it would be to have kids at the same time, so we could stay close as a family. . . . My first child was born in 2001, and I know at that time she was interested in starting her family as well."

"Why was it you wanted to have your kids at the same time?"

"Not so much as we wanted to have them at the same time, we wanted to be together as a family, just be together."

"Was she looking forward to it, when she found out she was pregnant?"

"Oh, very much so. I don't think I've ever heard her more excited than the day she called me up to tell me she was pregnant," Brent recalled. "Why?"

"She was having problems getting pregnant," he said. "We were very happy for her. She was really excited. She had everything ready; she was so prepared, the nursery was perfect."

"At some point in time around Christmas Eve 2002," the prosecutor asked, "did you get notified Laci was missing?" "Yes, by Scott." "What was it like?"

"That night, I was in shock. It was cold. You're in disbelief. You can't believe you're going through this right now," Brent told the jury. "Do you miss your sister?"

"Yes, I miss my sister. I miss her very much. I try to remember the good memories we have with each other, but they are overshadowed all the time by what happened to her, how she died, by maybe her knowing who did it. ... I miss her terribly."

"How has Laci and Conner's death affected you?" "Numerous ways. You wake up in the middle of the night; think about it constantly. My kids won't have any cousins. Laci was my only full sibling. It's a big part of the family that's missing now.

"Laci was the person that coordinated the holidays. She was the one that did Christmas. She brought everyone together. We haven't done that since she's gone. She was kind of the life of the holidays. ... I still can't imagine the rest of my life going on without her." Laci's half sister, Amy Rocha, shared Brent's sentiments. She told jurors how Laci assumed the role of family matriarch when her grandmother Helen Rocha passed away in 1999.

"She pretty much just took over the holidays," Amy told the hushed courtroom. "She made sure we all got together."

"How are the holidays now that Laci is gone?" Harris asked. "They'll never be the same," Amy answered. "I first met Laci when I went to pick Sharon up for a date at her house," Laci's stepfather, Ron Grantski, recalled. "She was about a foot and a half tall, and came running up to the door to open the door. She never stopped running, and she always had something to say. . . . She lit up any room, and she was always the center of attention. She was the love of many people's lives. She will be missed.

"She never studied, as far as I could see, but got straight As. It really bothered me because I had to figure out that was definitely smarter than me," Grantski smiled. "I miss telling her that, and I miss the grandson we were supposed to have. If you look at her and her mother, they had that same smile. It's one of the things that attracted me to Sharon, that great big beautiful smile. And Laci had it, too. She was always with a smile.

"I wish I could be the one gone and not her," Grantski said, his voice breaking. "Part of my heart is gone."

Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, was the final witness called by the prosecution to give a victim impact statement. To many, her testimony was also the most poignant.

"Tell us about Laci," Harris asked the victim's mother, her face worn and tired.

"Laci was just somebody that people gravitated to. She had a personality that made people feel comfortable. She was an upbeat person. She was more of a leader than a follower. She was involved. She followed her heart. She would fight for her beliefs, and when she wanted something she went after it. She was a strong-willed person. She wasn't dependent on other people. She was very independent actually."

As we had learned throughout the trial, Laci was her own woman. While she had at least one direct encounter with Scott's infidelity, she seemed determined to keep her family together. He seemed quiet and pliable; she was gregarious and resolute. He did not want a child; she did. He was a fertilizer salesman; she wanted a half-million-dollar home in San Luis Obispo. Ultimately, Laci wanted a family and Scott wanted to be free. The marriage was tumbling toward disaster, with no one but Scott the wiser.

On the same screen used to project the autopsy photos, the jurors now saw a picture show about Laci Peterson. The first snapshot was of Laci smiling for the camera. "Is that how Laci was when she grew up?" Harris asked Sharon Rocha.

"Laci was like that from the time she was born. She didn't let things get her down. A lot of things that would have upset other people would upset her, but she didn't dwell on the negative."

"Did she start forming friendships at an early age?

"As soon as she could talk, yes."

"Those friends, some of those friends still around?"

"Yes, some of them are here today that she's known since she was a little girl.

"Describe these friendships Laci developed."

"Her friends were her loyal friends. They were a group that were all loyal to each other, all very much the same . . . happy girls, great attitudes, a lot of fun to be around."

"When she was going through school, was she involved in activities?"

"Yes, in a lot of clubs, organizations. She worked when she was in college at the shop in the horticulture department. She worked for a florist."

"Did Laci have an interest in flowers?"

"That was her major, horticulture. She loved flowers and plants. Laci took an early interest in plants. She liked weeds. She had a talent for putting things together and making them grow. ... At one time, after getting back to Modesto, she talked about opening an herb shop, but I reminded her she was in Modesto, not San Luis Obispo, so things were a little different."

Displaying a series of photos of a young Laci Peterson, Harris asked her mother to describe them to the jury.

"This was her graduation from junior high school, she just had her braces removed just a couple of weeks before that.

"That was in May 2000, just before she moved up here. They moved back up here in June. That was taken on the beach at San Simeon. Scott took the picture. That was taken at a restaurant in San Luis Obispo; Jackie took that picture. We had lunch together."

"We see, in those pictures, Laci's big smile. Was that just part of her personality, the way she always was?"

"Always. I can hear her giggling. She didn't just smile, she giggled. She would laugh at herself."

Flashing another photo on the overhead screen, Sharon explained, "That was Mother's Day, 2002; that was about a week after Laci's birthday at her house."

"Who is in the picture?"

"Myself, my mother, and Laci."

"It was taken on Mother's Day. Did all of you mothers come together?"

"Yes all of us, also Jackie and Lee were there."

"This Mother's Day . . . how was it different?"

"I laid on the floor and I cried most of the day because [Laci] should have been there and she should have been a mother also, and that was taken away from her." Turning to Scott, she shouted, "She wanted to be a mother!" Seated only a few feet away, Scott merely stared vacantly. "Divorce is always an option, not murder!"

The courtroom was stunned, silent, as her words spilled out. The defendant did not flinch.

"You said Laci loved children," Harris continued. "Did she talk to you about becoming a mother?"

"She talked a lot about becoming a mother. Before they moved back to Modesto, we were talking about childbirth. She was asking me what it was like. She was really looking forward to it."

"It was a couple of years before she became pregnant," Sharon continued. "[On] the day she learned Brent and Rose were going to have a housewarming, she called me later that evening and was crying. She said Scott wasn't ready yet, but she really wanted to be pregnant and have a baby the same time as Rose did."

Sharon fought back tears as she described her daughter's excitement at the prospect of motherhood. "She would call me every time she went to the doctor and let me know the results. She gave me a copy of the sonogram. It's the only picture I have of the baby, and he was a baby. You could see his little body."

Sharon turned to the snapshot of her pregnant daughter on the large screen. "That was taken on December 14, and the next day, December 15, was the last day I saw her. She wanted me to put my hand on the stomach and feel the baby kick. I didn't feel it, but I kept my hand on her stomach the rest of the evening, and I put my face on her stomach and I talked to him. She was anxious. She was ready to have him."

"On Christmas Eve 2002," Harris asked, "when you got the phone call that Laci was missing, tell us how you felt."

"I was scared to death because I knew she wouldn't just be missing. Laci just didn't disappear. I knew something had happened to her. It was cold that night and I had my friend Sandy take me back to my house and get blankets and coats for everyone, and I got one for her because I knew she would be freezing when we found her."

"Did Laci come home?" Harris asked Sharon, now visibly upset by the memory.

"No, I never saw her again. I never saw her after December fifteenth."

"After Laci went missing, did you sleep?"

"No, we came home that night, Brent and I and Ron stayed up all night in the living room. I didn't sleep for weeks. I couldn't get comfortable and be warm and not know where she was."

"Did you try to stay awake for long periods of time?" Harris asked.

"Yeah, I felt I needed to be awake just in case she called so I could go to her as soon as she called. I was afraid to go to sleep, afraid I would have nightmares about what happened to her. I knew she wouldn't be sleeping because she would be afraid. She would be scared. ... I think about her every day. Did she know she was being murdered? Did she know what was happening to her?"

"During the time that she was missing, did you have to go out in the public and make statements try to get support to help find her?"