Thursday, defense lawyer Mark Geragos continued to fight to have the hair thrown out, attempting to sow doubt on the first piece of evidence. He questioned an FBI expert about a type of DNA evidence that is not widely used in court, suggesting it was unreliable and based on faulty databases.
FBI lab supervisor Constance Fisher acknowledged that mitochondrial DNA, which can show links between a mother and child, is not an exact science, that a computer program used in the analysis had several glitches and that lab equipment routinely broke down. But she said the problems didn't impair the results that showed a link between a hair in the pair of pliers in Scott Peterson's boat with a DNA swab from the mouth of Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha.
The analysis cannot show an identity match with the same level or reliability as so-called genetic fingerprinting DNA techniques usually introduced in court. The defense will present its own expert to rebut the testimony and question the DNA analysis next week.
Although the hair found in the boat does not provide an exact match with Laci Peterson, it can't be ruled out as her hair and could be used to support a possible prosecution theory that Peterson ferried his wife's body to a watery grave. Geragos is challenging the admissibility of the testimony, saying the analysis was the subject of a "raging debate" in the scientific community and suggesting the hair sample may have been contaminated or tampered with by law enforcement.
....Geragos criticized Fisher for not following guidelines that said she should have tested a second sample to remove the possibility that the first resulted in an error. "It doesn't say you have to," she said. "'Should' has wiggle room in it. 'Should' is not 'must.'"
Next, the sister: While she was cutting his hair on the 23rd, Scott told her he was going golfing on the 24th. Instead he went out on his boat. So he changed his mind, big deal. Either way, he hadn't planned on spending the day with Laci. She also said Scott had never died his hair blond before. So? He never wanted to disguise his appearance before. He moved back to San Diego and was tired of being recognized all the time. His face had been plastered on every tv network since December.
Laci's mother testified to Scott's phone call to her to say Laci was missing.
Scotts father: He didn't know his son bought a boat, but then, his son hadn't told him when he bought a motorcycle, picup truck or sailboat either.
The Housekeeper: Laci seemed content but tired on the 23rd.
We think the testimony that Laci was content and happy those last days goes to Scott's benefit. Had they been fighting or the relationhship strained, it would be more believable Scott had a hand in her disappearance or death. The fact that she was not, we think, points to a stranger.
All in all, no direct evidence of Scott's commission of the crime so far. If this is all they have, we think the state's case is very weak.
