Judge abruptly halts Scott Peterson trial

The judge in the Scott Peterson case abruptly suspended the trial Thursday after new evidence emerged in the case that could help the defendant.

Judge Alfred Delucchi did not reveal what the evidence was, but sources close to the case say it involved items found near the remains of Laci Peterson and her baby when the bodies were discovered on the Richmond, Calif., shoreline in April 2003, four months after the 8-months-pregnant woman disappeared. The items were never tested by Modesto, Calif., police and defense attorney Mark Geragos is apparently hoping the test results will point to someone other than Scott Peterson as the killer.

The California Department of Justice came forward in the last couple of days and alerted the lawyers in the case to the new evidence, according to the sources. Geragos asked for time to analyze what he said was “exculpatory evidence.”

Modesto police, like the attorneys in the case, are under a gag order barring them from commenting about the new evidence and why it wasn’t tested.

Lawyers on both sides spent almost an hour in the judge’s chambers this morning. When they emerged Peterson was smiling broadly and the judge announced that the trial would be delayed until Tuesday.

Delucchi, who is presiding over the case, told jurors that because of a new development the trial was at an “impasse.”

“There is new discovery evidence which requires some investigation on both sides,” Delucchi told the jurors. “This is up in limbo now and it has to be resolved before we proceed.”

Legal analysts watching the case say the delay is an unusual step.

“I can’t remember a case where there’s been a suspension like this for the testing of information,” said Chuck Smith, a former San Mateo County prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer. Smith said although the new evidence may play a significant role in the defense’s case, the judge made it fairly clear that the trial will continue after Tuesday.

Peterson’s double-murder trial in Redwood City, Calif., is in its 11th week. The 31-year-old former Modesto fertilizer salesman is accused of murdering his wife and unborn child in the days before Christmas 2002. Prosecutors say he wrapped Laci Peterson’s body in a tarp and drove it to the Berkeley Marina, where he dumped her remains in San Francisco Bay from his newly purchased fishing boat.