Uncertainty Remains Over Judge for Peterson Case

MODESTO —  The trial of accused murderer Scott Peterson is scheduled to begin Feb. 2 in Redwood City in San Mateo County, but it remained uncertain Friday which judge will preside over the case.

Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami has been with the Peterson case since it began eight months ago, and has expressed a desire to remain in the county. Retired Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Richard E. Arnason has been named as a replacement by California Chief Justice Ronald M. George.

But earlier this week, in a common legal maneuver, Stanislaus County Dist. Atty. James C. Brazelton filed a peremptory challenge, stating that he did not believe he could have “a fair and impartial hearing” before Arnason. Both sides can file one challenge to remove a judge without being required to give cause or evidence. Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Distaso said Justice George had been acting on his constitutional authority in appointing Arnason.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos challenged the timing of the prosecutors’ motion to remove the judge and questioned whether it had been filed in the right court.

Geragos said he was “between a rock and a hard place” because he didn’t want to dispute Justice George, but felt uncomfortable with what he believed was George’s micro-management of the case and would prefer that Girolami remain as the judge.

“I want your honor to go with us to San Mateo,” he told Girolami. “It will make for a more expeditious trial. It makes no sense to get another judge up to speed on this case while my client sits in jail.”

Geragos also asked the court to provide a laptop computer to Peterson. He said documents in the case make up nearly 35,000 pages and were becoming too bulky to handle. Girolami said that the laptop could raise security concerns and that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department would have to be consulted before the request could be granted.

Outside the courthouse, Geragos said there was little to say because of a court-imposed gag order, but he reiterated his request for Girolami to follow the case to San Mateo. “I encourage Mrs. Girolami to take a road trip with her husband,” he said.

Peterson, 31, faces the death penalty if convicted on two counts of murder for allegedly killing his pregnant wife, Laci, in their home and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. Her remains, and those of the boy she was carrying, washed ashore in April, two miles from the area where her husband said he had been fishing on Christmas Eve 2002 when she disappeared.