Cameras to Be Barred From Peterson Hearing

A judge on Monday banned all cameras and recording devices from the court hearing at which prosecutors will lay out their evidence against Scott Peterson, saying the case would become even more of a televised spectacle.

The ruling was a blow to television networks, which argued for live coverage, and a victory for prosecutors, who said broadcasting the case against the fertilizer salesman accused of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, would only increase the media frenzy.

“To the extent that the television coverage would transform this very serious criminal trial into a ‘reality’ television show, the court is reluctant to allow it,” Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami wrote in his six-page ruling.

The judge said the decision would help retain some privacy rights for witnesses who had “never asked to be involved” in the high-profile case.

“It involves the victims’ families, who will be forced to relive their worst nightmare in a very public way, which unfortunately is necessary to the process,” the judge wrote. “Televising these passionate proceedings is not, however, necessary to the process.”

Lawyers for several national television networks argued that the public’s right to know what happens in court should trump any other concerns. The media lawyer who argued the case, Rochelle Wilcox, declined to comment Monday.

At issue was the Sept. 9 preliminary hearing, which is to include testimony from witnesses and culminate in a decision by the judge on whether the case should go to trial.

Last week, Girolami denied requests by Peterson’s attorneys to exclude the public and the media from the hearing.

After that decision, Peterson’s attorneys backed away from their initial reluctance to let in cameras, saying it would be better to broadcast direct coverage of the case than to rely on indirect reports on the court action.

Peterson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to two murder charges in the deaths of his wife and the couple’s unborn child. Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve. The bodies of the 27-year-old Modesto woman and her son washed ashore in April along San Francisco Bay.

Peterson’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said Monday he could not comment because of the judge’s gag order in the case. The district attorney’s office also refused to comment.

Though the judge’s decision did not come as a surprise, the length of his ruling was unusual, said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

“This is a judge who went out of his way to explain his position,” Levenson said. “He’s saying that ‘Even though I am being deferential to the family, I haven’t forgotten Scott Peterson’s argument.’ ”

The judge wrote that protecting the integrity of potential jurors and the ongoing investigation compelled him to exclude cameras.

“Because this case remains in its earliest stages, the possibility exists that the actual perpetrator of these crimes remains at large,” the judge wrote.