Did Laci Peterson walk the dog?

Part of Scott Peterson‘s habeas appeal is that Laci Peterson walked the family dog McKenzie AFTER Scott left home on the day Laci Peterson vanished.

Firstly there were multiple witnesses who believe they saw Laci walking the dog, who never testified at trial, notably Diana Campos, who states in a sworn declaration:

Sometime close to 10:45 a.m. — not long before my 11:00 a-m. start time — a barking dog caught my attention in the park below. I saw a very pregnant woman holding the barking dog’s leash. The dog looked like a golden retriever with a white marking down the front of his chest. I noticed two men who looked homeless near her who told her to “shut the fucking dog up.”…I am 99% certain that I saw Ms. Peterson walking a dog on December 24, 2002.

Frank Aguilar states in a sworn declaration

On December 24, 2002, my wife Martha and l were driving from our home up La Loma Avenue, away from Yosemite Blvd., and towards downtown Modesto. As we were driving, we saw a pregnant woman walking towards us with a dog on a leash. We passed her on the passenger side of the car. l was driving. it was cold out and the woman caught our attention because she was not wearing a jacket. She was only wearing a white blouse and black pants. ….. Based on the pictures l saw in the news, l am sure that the woman l saw walking a dog on December 24, 2002, was Laci Peterson.

Bill Mitchell states in a sworn declaration that his wife Vivian believed she saw Laci:

Vivian never doubted that she had seen Laci Peterson that morning. The dog that I saw also matched the description of Laci’s dog. Vivian and I both have good eye sight; we use glasses for reading but could see objects at a distance with no trouble.

Secondly, Russell Graybill, the mailman, states in a sworn declaration:

I testified at Scott Peterson’s trial in 2004. Neither the prosecutor nor the defense asked me whether or not the gate was open or McKenzie barked on the morning of December 24, 2002. If I had been asked, I would have testified in accord with my statements to police on December 27, 2002, and with this declaration. The side gate was open and McKenzie was not barking.

Since a neighbour testified she put the dog back in the yard at 10:18a.m., and Graybill was at the Peterson home sometime between 10:35 and 10:50 a.m., the only reasonable explanation for the gate being open and McKenzie not barking is that Laci took the dog for a walk and left the side gate open.

None of the witnesses who believe they saw Laci walking the dog testified at trial, Mark Geragos, Scott’s lead attorney has stated in a sworn declaration:

74. Had I been aware of the handwritten police report describing Graybill’s Observations —— which supported the theory that Laci left the house after 10:18 a.m. — I would have made a different evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses who claimed to have seen Laci walking the dog later than 10:18 am. I therefore would have called these witnesses to testify as promised in my opening statement.

Finally, there is evidence suggesting that the burglary of the Medinas, the house opposite Laci Peterson’s home started on the 24th of December and not the 26th of December as the burglars claimed, and that one of the burglars saw Laci alive ( this is known as the Aponte tip ).

(A) Trial testimony from Detective Grogan:

GERAGOS: Okay. And specifically it’s a sheet that was phoned in at, looks like 4:10, looks like from Sergeant Ed Steele; is that right?GROGAN: Yes.
GERAGOS: And who is he?
GROGAN: He’s a sergeant with the Modesto Police Department. He was assigned to go –JUDGE: Detective Grogan, you’re talking away from the microphone. I’m not sure they can hear you.
GROGAN: Assigned to go to the volunteer center after it was opened at the hotel.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he talked to Diane Jackson, who, the woman that we had pointed out, lived on this Edgebrook Street in that La Loma neighborhood; is that correct?
GROGAN: I’m not sure if he talked to her directly when, when she called in, or if he received that information and then just passed it on.
GERAGOS: Okay. And then he said that, what was on the call sheet was that she witnessed a burglary on Covena, correct? 459 is a Penal Code Section for burglary?
GROGAN: Yes.
GERAGOS: On 12:24 at 11:40 a.m.?
GROGAN: That’s what it says.
GERAGOS: Okay. And she said she saw the van and the safe being removed from the house, correct?
GROGAN: That’s what it says.

(B) A statement by Adam Tenbrink, from State’s response to the Habeas appeal, page 131:

Defense investigator Jensen located Adam Tenbrink who stated that he and Todd were close friends and that Todd approached Adam on the evening of December 24, 2002, about helping him with a burglary that “was already started.” (20CT 6255)”

(C) Todd was clearly lying in his statement to police when he stated he saw mail in the Medina’s mailbox on the 25th December, when in reality mailman Graybill collected the outgoing mail on the 24th December ( only outgoing mail could be seen ). From the testimony of Michael Hicks:

GERAGOS: And then he told you that on Christmas, 12/25, that he was riding from his mom’s house to his place at the airport district; is that right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: And he says that at that point when he road by he noticed, and this is on Covena, he says I’m riding my bike on Covena, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Okay. Then he says on Christmas day when he road by he noticed that 516 Covena appeared to be empty; is that right?
HICKS: That’s correct.
GERAGOS: And 516 Covena is the Medina’s house, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he says he noticed it because there was only one car in the driveway, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Which he described as being either a Mercedes or a ne 4 BMW, right?
HICKS: Correct.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he said he also noticed that the mail in the mail box; is that right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: And he could see when he’s riding his bike down the street, not only the car, but that he could see mail in the mail box, right?
HICKS: Yes.

In addition, there was a large toolbox that could not have been carried by bicycle, and Ted Rowlands has stated in a documentary that the safe that was stolen could not have been removed on the 26th, as he was outside Laci’s home early that morning with a TV crew reporting on the case. See here for more details.

(D) A sworn declaration by Shawn Tenbrink ( Adam Tenbrink’s brother ):

Adam said someone told him that Laci had seen Todd rob the house

(E) Lt. Aponte heard that Laci saw Todd breaking in, from a monitored telephone conversation. From the Habeas response:

the jury never heard from Officer Xavier Aponte, a correctional
officer at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California. In January 2003 — only weeks after Laci disappeared — Officer Aponte monitored a telephone conversation between an inmate named Shawn Tenbrink and his brother Adam Tenbrink. Adam was a friend of burglar Steven Todd; during the conversation, Adam revealed that Todd confessed “Laci witnessed him breaking in.”

Conclusion

There is ample evidence that Laci Peterson walked the dog the day she vanished, after Scott left home, meaning that Scott could not have killed her, as his movements are accounted for.

Joseph Ray Daniels

Joseph Ray Daniels,31, was found guilty of murdering his five year old son. After initially saying his son had escaped, after being interrogated by police he gave a confession, and apparently believed he had killed his son but had no memory of it. Joseph made several statements where he had put the body, but no body was found in any of the locations.

According to a news report:

The state’s case lacked thoroughness and the confession was coerced, said defense attorney Matt Mitchell, who argued that Joe Clyde did leave that home through an unlocked door. He maintained prosecutors did not even prove the ostensible reason why Joseph Ray allegedly beat Baby Joe: for peeing on the floor. They literally tore out the carpet but did not prove it, Mitchell said. As described by the defense, this was representative of a investigation that did not cover every base it could have, with authorities ignoring other leads after they got the confession. This included someone reportedly seeing a child in muddy pajamas, or authorities failing to confirm whether a spot on the carpet was bleach.

According to the defense, the confession was coerced, with Daniels taking the fall for Alex after it was suggested that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would investigate the boy, who was then age 8. Mitchell, however, explicitly said he was not going to call Alex a liar, describing him instead as a child who presented the facts he was given. The boy’s story changed over time and that’s in large part because of Joseph Ray Daniels, the defense maintained.

Public Defender Jake Lockert spoke to the media after the verdict was announced and said they would be filing an appeal for a new trial. Lockert, who’s retiring soon, said he would not be leading that effort.”In a case like this where your client confesses multiple times and makes admissions against interest multiple times, it’s a difficult case to defend,” said Lockert.Lockert said the testimony of Joe Clyde’s half-brother, Alex, made the difference in the case.When asked if he would have done anything differently, Lockert said he would have put on more proof for the defense. He said they had an “eyewitness” who was in the house and would have testified that what Alex said happened did not happen.”In hindsight, we would have gone ahead and put on more proof, but at the time, we thought the best strategy was to cut the DA off so they couldn’t put on 28 more witnesses and the jury listen to phone call after phone call of our client confessing and saying things he shouldn’t be saying,” Lockert added.Lockert also said he still believes Joseph Daniels’ confession was coerced.

From a news report on on the testimony of Alex:

The child said he went through around 50 of the investigative interviews and therapy sessions at the Child Advocacy Center.
“I told the other story, but this one’s obviously a lie. To be 100 percent honest, I just wanted to get out of there,” he testified Monday.

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