Defense Gets Permission To Examine Laci Peterson's Body

Scott Peterson's defense team Thursday was given permission by a Stanislaus County judge to have its experts examine the remains of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son.

Judge Al Girolami ordered the Contra Costa Coungty coroner to allow the defense experts access to the bodies which have yet to be released since they were found on the shore of a San Francisco Bayside park on April 13 and 14. Prosecutors said such an order was not unusual and did not fight it.

The decision came during a week in which the Peterson defense team made headlines by filing court papers that stated they had received evidence within the past week that "totally exonerates" the Modesto fertilizer salesman in the murder of Laci and the couple's unborn son.

Peterson Breaks Down In Court Peterson Case: CourtroomSlideshow: Scott Peterson Gets Emotional During Friday's Hearing Can Scott Peterson Get A Fair Trial? Read The Charges For Yourself Scott Peterson Arrives At Modesto Jail The declaration came in papers filed with Girolami asking him to close the courtroom during the murder case's upcoming Sept. 9 preliminary hearing.

Highlights From Ted Rowlands Interview With Inmate James Soares In that filing, Geragos wrote:

"Specifically, within the case week, the defense is in receipt of discovery that is not only exculpatory, but which the defense contends totally exonerates Mr. Peterson. The defense further believes this exonerating evidence will likely be introduced during the preliminary hearing."

He further wrote:

"The evidence, which demonstrates Mr. Petersons' innocence, also provides evidence of the true killer or killers modus operandi and provides clues as to the method of and circumstances surrounding the killing."

The defense team told the court that if the preliminary hearing was not closed, it would inhibit the prosecution and defense from ascertaining the identity of the real killer.

With a gag order in effect, it was unlikely that either the defense or prosecution would comment further on the revelation made in the court filing.

John Goold, spokesman for the Stanislaus County District Attorney's office, told the Associated Press Tuesday that he hadn't seen the Geragos court filing, but said, "In my experience it's very difficult to close a preliminary hearing."

That filing was hidden within the defense team's response to a Court TV petition asking the court for permission to televise all future proceedings in Scott Peterson capital murder case. An Aug. 14 date has been set for a hearing on the Court TV petition.

Weeks earlier, the prosecution and Rocha family filed their petition to the court. However, Geragos waited until the 12th hour to file his petition just as the due date expired on Monday.

In the defense filing, Geragos' team claim that the cameras should be banned from the Sept. 9 preliminary hearing to insure that an impartial jury could be impaneled to hear the case.

Also on Tuesday. Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey, filed a petition with the court asking that the hearings not be televised. In the document, her attorney Gloria Allred, did not give any reasons to support the request.

In the earlier filing, Laci's family made an impassioned plea in a letter attached to the prosecution's filing to ban television cameras from future proceedings.

"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."

Exclusive: A Glimpse Into Peterson's Jail Life