Laci’s Mother Lashes Out at Scott Peterson

The jury that will decide whether convicted murderer Scott Peterson should live or die heard Tuesday from Laci Peterson’s grieving relatives, including her mother, who glared at the defendant through tears and screamed, “Divorce is an option, not murder!”

In opening testimony in the trial’s penalty phase that had at least eight jurors wiping away tears, Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, choked back sobs and said, “I miss her. I want to know my grandson. I want Laci to be a mother. I want to hear her called ‘Mom.’ ”

Peterson remained expressionless while spectators, including sheriff’s deputies, members of the public and seasoned court watchers, sat teary-eyed.

The jury, which convicted Peterson earlier this month of first-degree murder in Laci’s death and second-degree murder for killing the couple’s unborn son, is expected to begin sequestered deliberations as early as Friday on whether he should be executed or sent to prison for life without parole.

Laci Peterson, 27, disappeared Dec. 24, 2002, about a month after her husband began an affair with Fresno massage therapist Amber Frey.

The headless and limbless body of Laci and her fetus were found about four months later, washed up on the rocky shores of San Francisco Bay, near where Peterson had told police he had been fishing on the day she was reported missing.

Rocha did not give her own opinion of the death penalty. But with her former son-in-law seated about 10 feet in front of her, she turned to the defendant and said, “Laci had motion sickness, and you knew that. That’s why you dumped her into the bay. You knew she’d be sick for eternity!”

Rocha also spoke about the confusion, anger and emptiness the family has felt since her daughter disappeared.

“On the first Mother’s Day after she was killed, I laid on the floor and cried most of the day,” Rocha said. “Because she should have been there, and should have been a mother also. That was taken away from her.

“She gave me a picture of the sonogram; it’s the only picture I have of the baby, and it was taken on Dec. 14,” Rocha recalled. “The next day, Dec. 15, was the last day I saw her.”

For the next 116 days, Rocha waited, not knowing where her daughter was, or if she’d ever come home. Yet, Rocha said, she managed to appear at news conferences and “beg for whoever had her to bring her home, let her go.”

Referring to Peterson, she added, “There was someone who knew and didn’t tell us. Instead, you let us go through this every day.”

While authorities and friends searched for Laci and organized candlelight vigils for her, her husband was continuing to woo Frey, showering her with gifts and posing as a successful bachelor.

At her daughter’s funeral, Rocha said she could not shake the idea that Laci “was in the casket, and I knew the baby was there. And I knew she didn’t have arms to hold him.”

“She should have had arms and a head -- her entire body,” she said. “It just haunts me all the time.”

The dramatic testimony came after prosecutor David Harris gave a brief statement to the jury, saying death was “the only appropriate justice” for Peterson, 32, a former Modesto fertilizer salesman.

“When the defendant dumped the body of his wife into the bay, those ripples spread out and touched many lives,” Harris told the jury.

With Christmas just a few weeks away, Harris noted that for the family and friends of Laci Peterson, “their holidays will never be the same.... There’s a hole in their hearts that can never be repaired.”

Tuesday’s witnesses -- Rocha, her boyfriend and Laci’s brother and sister -- focused on the aftershocks of her death rather than attacking Peterson’s character directly.

Robert Talbot, a law professor at the University of San Francisco, said Harris’ opening statement foreshadowed the testimony that followed. The testimony “will focus on victim impact,” he said. “They could have gone after Scott.”

The defense postponed its opening statements until after the prosecution’s presentation. The defense is expected to begin calling its own witnesses today -- probably relatives and friends of Peterson. The presentation could last three days.

Criminal trial experts speculated that lead defense attorney Mark Geragos had his work cut out for him.

After listening to Tuesday’s witnesses, who recounted Laci’s “vibrant personality” and “big, beautiful smile,” legal expert Jim Hammer shook his head and said, “Sharon Rocha perfectly captured the essence of the prosecution’s argument: There are no more vulnerable victims than an unborn child and his mother.

“It’s a morality question inside that jury room right now: What would be the appropriate penalty?” he asked rhetorically. “I’m afraid Scott Peterson may die.”

Judge Alfred A. Delucchi told the jury that in addition to considering the circumstances of the crime and the defendant’s history and character, “you may also consider lingering or residual doubt.”

Geragos was expected to appeal to any doubts that jurors might have by arguing that there was no physical evidence linking Peterson to the crime. Throughout the trial, he emphasized that authorities never found a weapon and that there were no signs of struggle on the body.

When jurors walked into the courtroom and passed the defense table, they avoided eye contact with Peterson. He, however, looked at all of their faces.