MODESTO, Calif. -- The family of murdered Modesto schoolteacher Laci Peterson has joined prosecutors in asking a Stanislaus County judge to ban television cameras from the courtroom during the upcoming preliminary hearing and trial.
The request came in response to a Court TV petition asking the court for permission to televise all future proceedings in the case. An Aug. 14 date has been set for a hearing on the Court TV petition.
The family's request came as an attachment to a petition filed late Thursday by prosecutors citing a host of reasons that the upcoming preliminary hearing and trial of Scott Peterson -- Laci's husband who is accused of murdering his wife and the couple's unborn son -- should not be shown on television.
"After the trial is over, others will go on with their lives, but those of us closest to Laci will be left with only our memories of her," a letter signed by Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, and her husband, Ron Grantski, said. "Please don't let those memories be destroyed by televising the ugliness of the trial."
The letter added: "The trial, in addition to all that we have already been forced to endure, is going to be excruciatingly painful."
In his filing with the court, District Attorney James Brazelton also asked the judge to take the family's feelings into consideration.
"This is not the O.J. Simpson case where the defendant was a long-time national celebrity who chose to be in the public eye," the district attorney wrote. "The witnesses, jurors and victims' family are not involved in this case by choice. They have the right to retain some level of privacy which can only be maintained by excluding cameras from the courtroom."
Brazelton also said his office was trying to avoid turning the trial into a media circus.
"The media has blurred, if not erased, the lines between 'news' and 'entertainment,'" he wrote in court papers. "A criminal trial is not something which this court should allow to be used for ratings."
Brazelton also said he had safety concerns about those involved in the case including witnesses.
"The District Attorney's Office has now begun receiving letters, some of which have been hostile, if not threatening, as a result of the national media coverage," Brazelton wrote. "Some of these writers appear to be mentally unstable. Allowing cameras in the courtroom will turn witnesses into 'celebrities' and potential targets all at the same time."
In closing, Brazelton told the court banning television cameras would help prevent a repeat of the famed Sam Sheppard case which served as a framework for "The Fugitive" television series and movies.
It was not known how Peterson defense attorney Mark Geragos feels about televising the future proceedings.
Copyright 2007 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Email This Story
Print This Story
Scott Peterson Speaks At His Hearing 
