They should have sold advertising time for the verdict announcement. I bet our state govt could have raised $2.5 mil with 3 commercials, just like the Super Bowl
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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10216759.htm
Trial cost may top $2.5 million
By JIM WASSERMAN
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Costs to investigate, arrest and prosecute Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife, Laci, have topped $2.1 million in the couple's hometown of Modesto and in Stanislaus County, government officials estimated this week as they try to have state taxpayers pay the bill.
Acrimony over costs is also growing between Stanislaus County and San Mateo County, where Peterson was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the 2002 death of his wife.
The Bay Area county just south of San Francisco says Stanislaus County still owes it more than $250,000 for jailing Peterson through most of 2004, using a county courtroom for five months and keeping jurors in $135-a-night hotel rooms. The county seat of Redwood City also claims that controlling traffic, media and crowds outside its downtown courthouse have cost city taxpayers more than $70,000 since the trial began.
Frustrated with the slow pace of reimbursement, San Mateo officials said Thursday they want a court order compelling Stanislaus to pay.
Stanislaus County Auditor-Controller Larry Haugh said the county has already paid $67,000 and will pay more. ``Things are tight,'' he added.
If Stanislaus doesn't move faster, San Mateo wants legislation to have the state pay the bills.
In a letter to the county's state Assembly member, San Mateo Supervisor Mark Church said it's ``imperative'' the county be reimbursed to avoid cuts in other county services. San Mateo, Church said, shouldn't be penalized for its willingness to conduct the trial after it was moved from Stanislaus.
Combined, the still-rising costs faced by both counties seem certain to make the Peterson case the most expensive in California since 2002, when a Santa Clara County jury convicted and sentenced to death Mariposa County handyman Cary Stayner for murdering three women in Yosemite National Park in February 1999.
The Stayner case cost nearly $5 million to investigate and prosecute, according to the state controller's office, with the state picking up nearly all of Mariposa County's costs, including those of moving the three-month trial to San Jose. The controller's office reported the state also paid Shasta County in northern California $5.2 million to investigate and prosecute Ben and James Williams for the July 1999 shotgun murders of two local *** men.
Stanislaus County and the city of Modesto want the state to pay for their investigation into the 2002 Christmas Eve investigation into Laci Peterson's disappearance and murder that started in Stanislaus County, spread to searches of the San Francisco Bay that led to the discovery of the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son and then moved to the trial in San Mateo County.
From the beginning of the case, when Modesto police spent more than $100,000 on overtime searching for Laci Peterson, local officials have scrambled to get the state to pay the bills.
Estimating that costs could reach $5 million with appeals, Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Salinas, said he'll introduce a new bill to get the state to pay 100 percent of the bills when the Legislature reconvenes Dec. 6.
Denham's first bill died in the final minutes of this year's legislative session that ended in August. Although most lawmakers favored paying Stanislaus County's estimated $1.5 million costs, some objected to paying the Modesto Police Department's tab to investigate and arrest Peterson, which Denham estimates at $1 million.
Haugh said under current state formulas Stanislaus County must pay the first $1.5 million to get 90 percent reimbursement for costs above that.
``That's why the legislation we're trying to get is so important,'' he said.
Costs of Peterson's defense are also expected to run into the millions, though Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos and Peterson's family have refused to discuss their financial arrangements. The Petersons own San Diego Crating and Packing, a Poway company that provides customized packing and crating for shipping.
The Modesto Bee, citing records filed with the San Diego County Recorder's office, reported the Petersons refinanced a home in July 2003. They also lent Scott Peterson $100,000, the newspaper reported, citing records filed with the Stanislaus County Recorder's Office. Peterson used his Covena Avenue home as collateral.
A call from The Associated Press to Peterson's parents was not immediately returned.
