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Mary Anna Felix
Witness for the People: Guilt Phase June 17, 2004
Direct Examination by David Harris HARRIS: Ms. Felix, can you tell us what your occupation is? FELIX: I'm a jewelry, in jewelry sales, and I also own a jewelry business. HARRIS: And that jewelry business, is that located in Monterey? FELIX: It's located in Pacific Grove, California. HARRIS: In, FELIX: Pacific Grove, which is right next to Monterey. HARRIS: And the name of your business? FELIX: Ocean Treasures Fine Jewelry. HARRIS: Now, I want to direct your attention back in time, somewhat, to September, October, November, December of 2002. Were you working someplace else other than the jewelry business you have at that time? FELIX: No, sir. HARRIS: Back in 2002, where were you working at? FELIX: Edwards Jewelers in Modesto, California. HARRIS: Were you, were you the owner of Edwards Jewelers at that time? FELIX: No, sir. I was an employee. HARRIS: I want to talk about this a little bit. The employment that you had there, is that some kind of standard sales position in the jewelry store? FELIX: Yes, sir. Yes, I did sales and worked with diamonds, and did some helping with custom designing jewelry for customers that wanted custom work done. HARRIS: And specifically at that particular store in the time period we're talking about, did you come to know a customer by the name of Laci Peterson? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And would Ms. Peterson come into your jewelry store and deal with you as a customer on a frequent basis? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Did you also know her grandmother, Helen Rocha? FELIX: No, I did not. HARRIS: Had Ms. Rocha been a customer of the store, though? FELIX: Yes, sir. In the past she has. HARRIS: Let me ask you this: Even though you didn't personally have dealings with her, did your store keep records of things they had done for customers? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: At some point in time after Ms., Laci Peterson disappeared, did the Modesto Police Department come in to talk to you? FELIX: Yes. Yes, they did. HARRIS: And at their request did you go through the store's records and turn over any information about jewelry, about Helen Rocha's jewelry? FELIX: Yes, I did. HARRIS: And that was turned over to the police department? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: All right. Now, talking about Laci, let me just show you a photograph. FELIX: Excuse me. HARRIS: Showing you what's been marked as People's number 14, do you recognize the person in that photograph as the person that we're referring to as Laci Peterson? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: About how many times did you deal with or talk with Ms. Peterson when she came into your store? FELIX: On several occasions. At least, at least ten to twelve times. HARRIS: At some point in time did she, just to kind of go through this in sequence, did she come in and indicate that she wanted to do something with her wedding ring? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Can you tell us what it was? FELIX: She had inherited some jewelry from her grandmother, and she wanted to take some of the diamonds from her grandmother's jewelry and make a wedding ring. And she was taking her wedding ring and breaking it down to make, you know, to combine her grandmother's diamonds along with her diamonds to make one, a different ring. HARRIS: And let me just stop you there for a second and go through this. This grandmother that we're talking about, that's Helen Rocha? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And did Ms. Rocha have kind of a big diamond ring? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. HARRIS: And at some point in time did Laci Peterson bring her grandmother's ring in for you to see? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. HARRIS: Did Laci Peterson also have a diamond wedding ring? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Did she bring that in for you to see as well? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. HARRIS: When you were talking with her about combining these two particular rings, did she tell you or describe how she wanted this done? FELIX: Yes. She, she had a vision in her mind how she wanted it, so Jeff, the jeweler, and I both drew it out on paper what she was describing. And she wanted to break down her wedding ring. She wanted to remove all of her diamonds and use her same gold in her wedding ring to make this new ring, because she didn't want to hurt Scott's feelings, so she wanted to make sure that she used all that gold and diamonds, and then take the big diamond out of her grandmother's ring and put it into the custom-made ring, along with hers. HARRIS: Let me just go back to something you were saying. What is Jeff's last name? FELIX: Jeff Schumacher. HARRIS: You said he's the jeweler? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: When you were having these discussions that you said Ms. Peterson had this image in her mind, did you or Jeff or Ms. Peterson actually draw out designs? FELIX: Yes. Jeff drew out the designs and I kind of looked at it, and Laci and I decided we wanted any changes in it. We were looking at her hand and trying to, because she had a small hand, so we were trying to coordinate all the diamonds that she wanted in there to make it look appropriate for her hand. HARRIS: And at some point in time during this process of wanting to come in and talking about the designs, did this all happen in one day? Or did it take some period of time? FELIX: It took some period of time. HARRIS: At the end point of this, some period of time that these drawings and this discussion goes on, did Ms. Peterson leave her wedding ring with you? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. HARRIS: And did she indicate if there was some other ring that she wanted to wear in its place? FELIX: Yes, sir. She had a cluster sapphire and diamond ring that she was going to wear in the place of her wedding ring while we were making the custom piece for her. HARRIS: Did she also bring in that diamond sapphire ring? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. HARRIS: And did you or Jeff look at that particular ring for any particular reason when she brought it in? FELIX: Yes, sir. There was a small diamond missing out of the sapphire diamond ring, and we took a small diamond from her H, it was her grandmother's ring. It was a H ring. We took a diamond out of that and put the diamond in the sapphire ring. HARRIS: So the diamond sapphire ring was repaired. Was that returned to Ms. Peterson? FELIX: Yes, it was. HARRIS: In looking at the photograph that you have in front of you, do you notice if Ms. Peterson is wearing any rings? FELIX: Yes, sir. Looks like she is. Yes, sir, she's wearing the sapphire ring on her left hand. HARRIS: The, at another point in time during this whole process of the redesigns of Ms. Peterson's wedding ring, did she also bring in any other jewelry? FELIX: She brought in her grandmother's diamond ring, which is like a two and a half carat center stone, and it had some other large stones in it. And she brought in a cluster diamond pendant that was fairly large with large diamonds in it, and it has CZ in it and some small diamonds in it. And we had all three of those. HARRIS: Did you do any repairs on that diamond pendant? FELIX: No, sir, we didn't. Well, prior to that, before Jeff and I received it, there had been a diamond taken out of that cluster diamond pendant and a CZ was put in its place, and that diamond that was taken out of that diamond cluster pendant was put in a gold bezel pendant. JUDGE: What is a CZ. FELIX: Cubic zirconium. Not a real diamond. Looks real. JUDGE: Okay. Those are fake diamonds. FELIX: Yeah. JUDGE: Go ahead. HARRIS: So, we're not talking about the fake diamond, but the real diamond that was in this pendant was put into some other kind of pendant? FELIX: I'm sorry, sir, could you repeat that? I'm sorry. HARRIS: The real diamond that was in that pendant that you were just talking about, that was taken out and put into some other diamond pendant? FELIX: Yes, it was taken out and put into a round gold bezel pin. A bezel is just a thin gold going around the whole diamond. Doesn't have no prongs on it. Just thin gold going around. And a chain goes in the back of the bezel, so you can't see the chain. HARRIS: Did you ever see Ms. Peterson wearing that particular pendant? FELIX: Yes, sir, I did. HARRIS: When would you see her wear it? FELIX: Every day. Every time, not every day, but every time I seen her come in the store she had it on. HARRIS: Did you ever offer to clean that or take it from her, anything like that? FELIX: Yes, sir. I asked her, you know, Let me take it off and clean it for you. She said no, she doesn't like taking it off, she wears it, she doesn't like taking it off, she doesn't want to lose it, she even sleeps in it. HARRIS: Now, I want to go through, you indicated that Ms. Peterson had inherited some of this jewelry? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Did she ever bring in a watch for repairs as well? FELIX: Yes, sir. She brought in a diamond watch, had diamonds going all the way around the face of it, and it was 14 carat yellow gold Geneive, Geneive watch. REPORTER: It was a what? FELIX: Geneive, Genevieve watch. HARRIS: Okay. And did she have some complaint about the watch when she brought it in? FELIX: It wasn't working. It was losing time. So we sent it out to repair to get fixed. HARRIS: Now, you say you sent it out. Did you have a watch repairer FELIX: Uh-huh. HARRIS: if that's a word, on site? Or did you have to send it someplace else? FELIX: Actually, he's in Modesto, and his wife comes in and picks them up and delivers them on certain days. Picks them up on certain days and delivers them on certain days. HARRIS: Now, when a customer brings in a watch for repair, just kind of go through this process, do they just hand you the watch? FELIX: When they come in for repair, they come in, they say what they think is wrong with it, we take a look at it. And then at that point, if we can't get it to work, then we write up a repair envelope. HARRIS: A little envelope that's written up? FELIX: Yes, sir. A little envelope is written up. We write down the date that we receive it, what we think is wrong with it, we put the problem with the watch. At the time we put it was losing time. And then we put the customer's name, phone number, and then we send it in to repair. And we give them a little slip on when we think the repair will be ready to be picked up. And at that point I believe that Laci wanted an estimate, so we did call her a couple times and let her know the estimate, and she okayed it. HARRIS: If I can have marked as People's next in order. JUDGE: 64. GERAGOS: What is it? HARRIS: It's the envelope. JUDGE: Is this the watch repair envelope? HARRIS: Yes. Ms. Felix, I'm going to show you what was marked as number 64. Have you look at this particular envelope. Do you recognize that envelope? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Is that the watch repair envelope that was filled out for Ms. Peterson's watch? FELIX: Yes, sir, it was. HARRIS: And does that indicate at some point in time Ms. Peterson ever came and picked it up? FELIX: Yes, it does. At the bottom when they come and pick up the repair, they are to sign and date it. HARRIS: And was that signed and dated by Ms. Peterson? FELIX: Yes, sir, it was. HARRIS: What date was it signed? FELIX: On December 13th, 2002. HARRIS: And when Ms. Peterson came in to pick up her watch on December 13th, did you have occasion to have a conversation with her? FELIX: Yes, I did. She came in and she had a, normally she has just like a gloss fingernail polish, and I could smell fingernail polish, and I looked down at her nails and I noticed that she had painted her nails red. And I go Laci, you got your nails painted. She goes Yeah, I'm going to a Christmas party. I go Oh, that's nice, you know. And then I gave her her watch, and she put it on, and everybody was complimenting on the watch. And she took it off and let one of the employees try it on. And then she put it back on, and then she started walking away. And I was watching her walk away, and I guess she could feel me watching her because she turned around, looked at me. I said Laci, you're starting to waddle. She started to laugh. She goes Yeah, huh? I go Yeah, but it looks cute. I go You look really cute pregnant. And she goes Yeah, right. And she walked out, but she was laughing. And that was the conversation I had with her. HARRIS: Now, looking at the photograph that you have before you of Ms. Peterson that you previously looked at. FELIX: Uh-huh. HARRIS: Do you see the watch that we're here referring to in that photograph? FELIX: Yes, sir. It's on her left, her left wrist. HARRIS: Did Ms. Peterson also bring in kind of some other jewelry items and ask for an appraisal? FELIX: She wanted her grandmother's ring appraised, well, her ring and her grandmother's ring appraised, once we got it done. And she wanted to get the watch band reappraised, but we didn't get to that point. HARRIS: Did she ever mention to you about whether she was going to keep all of her grandmother's jewelry or she was going to sell any of her grandmother's jewelry? FELIX: She said that what she was going to keep was the watch and the sapphire diamond ring, and she loved that bezel pendant. She wore that all the time. And then she also wore a pair of one carat, well, actually it was a total of two carat diamond earrings, which was a carat on each ear. She wore those all the time, too. And those were what she was going to keep. HARRIS: Do you know if those were, not being a person who wears earrings, are they screw-back or sliding? Or do you know? FELIX: They were screw-backs. HARRIS: Screw-backs. Were you asked to look at some photographs by the Modesto Police Department when they talked to you? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: I'd like to show you what's been marked as People's number 8. Why don't you look at that. Do you recognize that particular photograph as one of the photographs that the Modesto Police Department showed you? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And do you recognize the watch that you have been talking about in that particular photograph? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Do you recognize the sapphire ring that you have been talking about in that photograph? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And do you recognize the bezel diamond pendant that you were talking about? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Now, what we're referring to as the sapphire ring, that would be that ring right there? FELIX: Uh-huh. HARRIS: Is that a yes? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And the watch that you were referring to, that's also in the other photograph, that would be that watch right there? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And then the bezel diamond pendant that you're referring to would be that one right there? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Now, on December 23rd, December 24th of 2002, where was Laci Peterson's wedding ring? FELIX: It was in my, in the store's possession. Edwards Jewelers. It was locked up in a safe there. HARRIS: The People have no other questions.
Cross Examination by Mark Geragos GERAGOS: The, what kind of a watch is that, one, is this the one that your, your store repaired? FELIX: Uh-huh. GERAGOS: Is that, FELIX: Yes, sir. I'm sorry. GERAGOS: That's okay. The, and what kind of a watch is it? FELIX: It's Genevieve, I believe. GERAGOS: Okay. Is the, what style would you refer that, would you say that looks like? FELIX: It's a dress watch. It's a, definitely a dress watch. GERAGOS: Okay. I'm going to show you another picture of a watch. Have you ever seen that watch? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: How would you describe that? FELIX: That's more of a mesh-type of a band. GERAGOS: Is that a dress watch? FELIX: That's a, yeah, that's a dress watch, too. Anything with diamonds like that and gold would be a dress watch. GERAGOS: Okay. So that, I didn't mean to pull it out of your hand. FELIX: That's okay. GERAGOS: That's also a diamond bezel? FELIX: That's a diamond bezel, yes, sir. GERAGOS: It's a gold, I'm going to mark this, DISTASO: There's actually already one marked. JUDGE: Pardon me? GERAGOS: I'll use this. D. HARRIS: It's already previously been marked as number 4. JUDGE: All right. People's 4. GERAGOS: Now, this watch also is a, it's a gold watch, or a gold band with a diamond bezel, correct? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. And then this watch here, which is People's 4, is that also a, you called this, I guess, a mesh? FELIX: Uh-huh. GERAGOS: And then also with a diamond bezel, correct? FELIX: It looks like diamonds, yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. You can't quite tell if it's diamonds -- FELIX: I don't know. GERAGOS: or CZs from looking at it? FELIX: And they're smaller, too. GERAGOS: The conversation that you had with Laci, you said the, if I understand correctly, the longest conversation you had was on November 30th? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: And that was when she was examining the jewelry and selecting styles for the ring; the two of you were together? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. And she told you that Scott and she were going to Monterey? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. And you had mentioned that coincidentally you were going to be going to Monterey? FELIX: That's correct. GERAGOS: Okay. And you talked about the fact that, that Scott enjoyed ocean fishing at Monterey; is that correct? FELIX: Who talked about it? GERAGOS: Was that part of the conversation? FELIX: Laci said that Scott. GERAGOS: Laci, FELIX: Yes. GERAGOS: Laci told you that Scott enjoyed ocean fishing at Monterey, and he fished on the Delta? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. Did Laci tell you that Scott worked for a law firm and he would golf when he was in Monterey with the attorney? FELIX: Yes, sir, she did. GERAGOS: Okay. Was Scott present then? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. As far as you know, did Scott ever come into the store with Laci, into the jewelry store? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. Now, the wedding set that was, she was, if I understand correctly, there was a, a number of other pieces of jewelry that she had inherited, correct? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. Can you describe just briefly what those were, the other pieces? I know you said one was a two and a half carat center stone. FELIX: Uh-huh. The ones in my possession? The ones that we had? Are you talking about that? Or other jewelry? GERAGOS: Well, you, I guess you had a number of pieces of jewelry, and you were going to kind of condense them and design one piece, okay? FELIX: Okay. That was her grandma's, the jewelry she had inherited from her grandmother. It was a two and a half carat center stone her grandmother had, and it had several other diamonds in it. And then Laci's had a center stone with some side diamonds. And then we also had a cluster pendant with several large stones and some small stones. GERAGOS: Now, you had estimated that the wedding set that you were preparing for Laci was going to be worth how much? FELIX: The one we were preparing for Laci about 55,000 dollars. GERAGOS: 55,000. And did that include the jewelry from, I guess, the grandmother? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. Your estimate was that the two and a half carat center stone alone was worth how much? FELIX: Around 30,000. GERAGOS: Okay. And there were several other diamonds in the original ring from the grandmother that made that ring alone worth approximately how much? FELIX: That ring alone was probably worth about 45. GERAGOS: 45,000? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. Now, the, were you shown, actually I'll just ask you. What were you shown when the detectives came, in terms of jewelry? Did they show you pictures? Or actual jewelry? FELIX: They showed me pictures. GERAGOS: Okay. And one of the pictures was the one of Laci that's in front of you? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: They didn't show you this one? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. The, as you sit here today, can you see the diamond pendant around Laci's neck in that picture? FELIX: No, sir, I can't. GERAGOS: Okay. FELIX: Sometimes she would wear it inside of her shirt. GERAGOS: But as you sit here you can't see it? FELIX: No, sir. GERAGOS: That's, the picture, for the court's reference, is People's number 14. FELIX: That's correct. GERAGOS: Okay. Do you also, do you recognize what this piece of jewelry is on the other hand? FELIX: That looks like a diamond tennis bracelet that she had also. GERAGOS: Okay. Was that picked up sometime in December? FELIX: Yes, sir. I believe that's the one that had the, that had a guard on it. GERAGOS: Okay. So that one that you just looked at on here, I'm going to put it up here so the jury can see. FELIX: Uh-huh. GERAGOS: Okay. Now, this right here looks like the diamond tennis bracelet that she left to have the guard removed and repaired; is that correct? FELIX: Yes, sir. She had it removed. GERAGOS: Okay. And she came in to get that diamond tennis bracelet on what date? FELIX: I'm not sure, sir. I can't remember. GERAGOS: Let me show you a report, see if this refreshes your recollection. I've got, it looks like a February 7th of oh three. FELIX: Where was that? I'm sorry. GERAGOS: I'm sorry. Right there. You returned on? FELIX: Guard removed...returned on... GERAGOS: Does that refresh your recollection as to when she returned? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: What date was that? FELIX: It says the 16th of December. GERAGOS: Okay. And that was to pick up the diamond bracelet that she's wearing in this photo? FELIX: Yes, sir. I'm not sure if that was the one or not, or definitely sure, to be honest with you, because there was several bracelets that she had. GERAGOS: Okay. FELIX: So it could be that one, and it couldn't. GERAGOS: Okay. There's some notations on this People's Exhibit number 64. Did you make the notations on there? FELIX: Let me see. I'm the one that delivered it, but, GERAGOS: What date was that? FELIX: That was on the 13th of December. GERAGOS: Okay. And the complaint was it was not keeping time, correct? FELIX: Right. And that means estimate. GERAGOS: Estimate? FELIX: Uh-huh. GERAGOS: Okay. FELIX: So they called her on the 25th. GERAGOS: Of November? FELIX: Of November. And they called her again on the 29th, and that's when she gave the okay to do the repair on the watch, and she picked it up on the 13th, which is right there. GERAGOS: Right. The, December 13th? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. And the watch, does it list on here, say anywhere on here what it was that was repaired on the watch? FELIX: I don't believe it does, no. GERAGOS: Do you know if, FELIX: There's little codes in the back that the watch repair person writes on the back, but I don't know what they mean. It's right here. GERAGOS: You don't know what that means, the initials that are on the lower left hand, FELIX: No. By the price of it, the cost of 63 dollars, that's an overhaul. That means they went in and cleaned it. That's usually what we charge for an overhaul on a watch to be repaired. GERAGOS: And is the, the watch itself that is in People's 8, is that a dress watch? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Thank you. I have no further questions.
Redirect Examination by David Harris HARRIS: Ms. Felix, counsel was asking you about the conversation that you had with Laci involving Scott going to Monterey, or her and Scott going to Monterey. FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: I want to talk to you about that a little bit more. When you were having this conversation, she was having some of her jewelry appraised at that time? FELIX: Yes, sir. While she was, she was having us look at it, yeah, and give an estimate of what it was worth. And her, and Laci and I were sitting in the, we call the diamond room, the conference room, and that's when we were having that conversation. HARRIS: And when you were having this conversation with you and her, that's when she told you the defendant worked for a law firm? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: Did she also tell you that he was the one that wanted to know how much the jewelry was worth? FELIX: Yes, sir. HARRIS: And based on all the jewelry, did you do the estimation? Or did Mr. Schumacher do the estimation? FELIX: We both did. HARRIS: And based on what he saw and what you saw, the estimate that you came up with, was that in excess of a hundred thousand dollars? FELIX: Yes, sir. It was at least $100,000. HARRIS: And was that information passed to Ms. Peterson for her to go home and tell the person that was asking for it? FELIX: Yes, sir. And she said that he would be very happy. HARRIS: The People have no other questions. JUDGE: Any questions, Mr. Geragos? GERAGOS: No. I have no questions.
Recross Examination by Mark Geragos GERAGOS: Oh, wait. I do have a question. What happened, do you still have the wedding set, that items? What did you do with that? ! FELIX: I called the police and I told them that I had it in our possession, and they came down. They notified Laci's mom, Sharon. GERAGOS: And who picked up the items? FELIX: I do believe Sharon did. Sharon Rocha. GERAGOS: So you gave it to Mrs. Rocha? FELIX: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: Thank you. I have no further questions. HARRIS: No questions. |