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Peterson case to open today

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - The state attorney general once described the case against Scott Peterson as a "slam dunk." But legal experts, noting an absence of direct evidence linking Peterson to his pregnant wife's death, now say prosecutors appear to be relying on a web of circumstance.

As opening statements were set to be presented today, the main focus was shaping up to be how tight a web the government can spin, and how ably the defense can explain away Peterson's behavior following Laci Peterson's disappearance.

If convicted, the former fertilizer salesman from Modesto could face the death penalty or life without parole.

Prosecutors don't have a murder weapon or even a cause of death. With the trial starting following 12 weeks of jury selection, they are expected to call hundreds of witnesses over five months or more to argue that any other explanation but Peterson's guilt is simply too outlandish.

Some observers say the outcome is too close to call.

"The defense can mainly take comfort in the fact that they do not have a cause of death, and proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is very, very hard without that," said Robert Talbot, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.

"What the defense has to overcome is if you look at the whole picture, any other explanation the defendant has for her murder isn't going to be very good."

It is unclear what witnesses will be called because the list is sealed and attorneys are working under a sweeping gag order. Defense attorney Mark Geragos has presented a list of just 18 witnesses, according to a prosecution filing last week.

Authorities allege Peterson, 31, killed his 27-year-old wife in their Modesto home because he was having an affair, then drove her body nearly 100 miles to San Francisco Bay and dumped it from his small boat.

The bodies of Laci Peterson and her fetus, a boy the couple planned to name Conner, washed ashore in April 2003. The site is a few miles from the Berkeley Marina, where Peterson told authorities he set out on a solo fishing trip on the morning of Dec. 24, 2002, the same day he says his wife vanished.

Prosecutors will use many of Peterson's nearly 3,000 telephone conversations that police recorded after his wife's disappearance. Likely among the most damaging, experts say, are calls between Peterson and his mistress, Amber Frey, who began cooperating with authorities soon after Laci Peterson vanished.

Peterson was arrested in April 2003, not far from the Mexican border. He was carrying $10,000 and his brother's driver's license and had dyed his hair blond.

Geragos has floated several theories, such as satanic cult connections, and that the killer could have dumped the bodies in the bay after hearing of Peterson's fishing trip account.

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