Peterson refuses to give taped deposition for civil trial

Peterson refuses to give taped deposition for civil trial

Attorneys will ask a judge to order it

By Susan Herendeen
THE MODESTO BEE

January 8, 2006

(snip)

But Peterson, who was convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner, would not submit to a videotaped deposition that had been scheduled as part of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against him by his in-laws.

So Modesto-based attorneys Adam Stewart and Gary Davis will reschedule the deposition and ask a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge to order videotaping next time. Stewart, who represents Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, said he wants to ask Scott Peterson if he loved his wife and if he wanted to be a father. He said he assumes Peterson will decline to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But the lawyer wants to have a videotape rolling if that happens. "I want a jury to watch his reaction to every question I ask," Stewart said.

Sharon Rocha and her ex-husband, Dennis Rocha, are seeking $25 million from their son-in-law.

(snip)

Wrongful-death lawsuits often are brought in cases involving auto accidents, defective products or medical negligence when insurance companies can afford to pay damages. They also have been brought in high-profile cases when celebrities acquitted of criminal charges were pursued in civil court, such as former football player O.J. Simpson and actor Robert Blake. Peterson, formerly a Modesto fertilizer salesman, doesn't have deep pockets, but the Rochas want to keep him from selling his story.

(snip)


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060108/news_1n8scott.html

and he did more to put himself in the position he's in than anybody else so I don't really feel sorry for him, but:

Is anybody else a little disgusted at the ongoing obsessive spectacle being staged by Lacy Peterson's parents? They aren't going to get a dime out of Peterson and they'll wind up spending a ton of their own money to hire lawyers to keep him from selling his story to the tabloids. In the process they have to relive the whole sorry episode every day. If they want "closure" they are going about it in a strange way. All this isn't going to bring their daughter back and Peterson was already sentenced to death so just let it drop for chrissakes, we're all sick of you him and the whoe sick story.

It's just like Terri Schavio's parents. I'm surprised they don't have a mailing list and some kind of pac or something going on like they did. Sad, really.

the law that determined that a fetus is a person - hence charging Peterson with two counts of murders - was instigated by her mother.

It was seized by the anti-abortion forces in Congress who ran with it.

... even families who have lost members can become addicted to getting on TV. Some love to be on TV, and they slide right into any activity which keeps them there.

He will never testify, and the sanctions the court will impose will be meaningless. Next we'll hear they have gotten a judgment against him for 90 million dollars, which will be uncollectable, of course.

I'm very sorry for the Rocha family, but it's time to get on with life and stop playing to the cameras.

and he still refuses, are they going to kill him??

He can just tell everyone to fuck off if he likes, you really can't do anything more to him.

Also does this dude even have $25 million?

I purposefully didn't follow the case, is he super rich?

As I remember it, and I may well be dead wrong, he had been lying about what he did on his "business trips" but someone should have figured out that he didn't need "business trips" for his job. It was either manure or cement.

In other words, no, he is far from super rich. And if he was, I'm sure Mark Geragos took most of it.

But you're right, what are they going to do if he refuses to testify? Give him another death sentence? take away his pillow? This is ridiculous.