Opening Statement for the People

Penalty Phase:  By David Harris

November 30, 2004

HARRIS: As the judge has just instructed you, one of the factors for you to consider is the circumstances of the crime. And as we go through this part of the trial, the penalty phase, the circumstances of this crime are like ripples on water.

When the defendant dumped the bodies of his wife, his unborn son into the bay, those ripples spread out. They touched many, many lives. Those are circumstances of the crime. You are going to hear, as part of this portion of the trial, from Brent Rocha, Amy Rocha, Ron Grantski and Sharon Rocha. They are going to try and explain something to you. They are going to try and explain something to you that you now need to consider as part of the circumstances of the crime, and that is, who are the victims.

Who was Laci Peterson? Who was Conner Peterson? Because for you to decide what the circumstances of the crime were, you have to know the victims. So these witnesses are going to tell you who Laci and Conner were. They are going to talk to you about the joy that Laci brought into their life.

They are going to talk to you about what it's like to have a big sister like Laci; what it was like to grow up and play with Laci as a younger sister. You are going to hear about her as a person, and what she meant to this family and the loss that they all suffered. You are going to hear about that, because that is a circumstance of the crime. That is one of the factors for you to consider.

You are also going to hear about what Laci's plans were, what her dreams were, the baby that she wanted, Baby Conner. You are going to hear about the plans that Laci and Brent had for Conner to grow up with his cousins and play like they did. You are going to hear about Conner and the plans that a grandmother who is going to have to spoil that baby shopping, all the things that grandparents do, but were taken away in this particular case.

You are also going to hear about something else in this particular case. You are going to get to hear from them, how they had to live this, day in, day out, starting on Christmas Eve, with a killer in their midst, this monstrous act by the defendant, the ripples on the water as it touched them.

You are going to hear what it was like for a mother, every single day, waiting to find out what had happened to her daughter. Waiting to find out what had happened to her grandson. That panic, that fear, never knowing what had happened. 100 and 16 days. The entire time with the defendant, the one who caused those ripples in the pond, in their midst.

You are going to hear that they actually feel guilty, because they didn't protect Laci from the one person that they didn't think she needed protection from. You are going to hear how the second part of the circumstance of this crime, not just who Laci was, but how it's touched this family. How, as we come close to the Christmas time, their holidays will never be the same. How Mothers Day will never be the same. How birthdays will never be the same. How there is a hole in their heart that can never be repaired.

They are going to try, in the words that they can, explain to you what that circumstances of the crime mean to them. What it's like to be left behind.

As the judge has already told you, has instructed you, given the instructions, these are, this is an aggravating circumstance, circumstance of the crime.

You are going to hear about, you already have heard about one of the mitigating factors, and that's lack of prior record of the defendant.

When we're all done with this, after the witnesses have testified, I'm going to have an opportunity to come back up and talk to you at that point in time.

As the judge told you, it will be your duty to weigh these aggravating, bad things, versus the mitigating, the good things, positive things. I'm going to tell you now, when I get up and come back up here and argue to you at the end of the case, based on what you are going to hear of the circumstances of this crime from this family out here, the only appropriate and just punishment will be death.

Thank you.