Midge, Amazon reviewer from Texas
Amazon.com review of Matt Dalton's Presumed Guilty by "Midge."
"Midge" is not a shill. He or she, more likely, has pages and pages and pages of thoughtful reviews on Amazon.
Anyone giving this book a bad review already had their mind made up before reading it... if they actually read it... which I doubt. The details from the police records and the independent research and interviews of witnesses by this author were outstanding.
Originally, I was fervently of the same opinion as the jury in this case. I was positive he was guilty. I had thought the idea of a bunch of fanatics in Modesto as ludicrous...
I was wrong. After reading this book and Crier's book "A Deadly Game" which give us tons of info from police records that none of us ever heard about... nor were presented in court... I found that there was a lot more to the story than we had been told. After reading about these police reports and credible witnesses and details none of us ever knew... nor were these presented in court. These official reports and details and witness reports contain crucial details which really change the basis of what we thought we knew.
You really need to read this book and Crier's book to get the full story. I also recommend the book by the Jury as well. There was a lot of improper behavior on their part and one juror having 3 others kicked off because he did not want to waste time deliberating. He wanted to return to work and not lose income so he kept reporting jurors with letters to the judge. He was not interested in justice. He just wanted to get out of there.
The tampering the Modesto police did with the evidence and covering up crimes occurring across the street from Laci and crimes committed in clear view of the police is an atrocity. The Modesto police should be investigated and sentenced for the crimes they committed. They committed Federal crimes by denying Scott's rights by tampering with evidence and hiding details from his attorneys. These are on record in the police files as to how they buried evidence, changed dates, ignored witnesses, gave criminals deals, listened in on attorney-client privileged conversations, destroyed evidence, buried crimes and even hid a jailhouse phone recording of a criminal talking to his cohort about the pregnant woman they killed on Christmas Eve. I saw quite a bit more police file information in the book "A Deadly Game" as well. All of this is in the police files and records and verified by witnesses.
We have been lied to about a lot of things. Our beliefs were based on those lies. You need to read these two books... and read them with an open mind. I had been 100% certain of Peterson's guilt. I was wrong because the information I got from the media was wrong and they were given false info by the police.
Did you now that the tan pants Laci wore on the 23rd were hanging in her closet and identified by her sister Amy? We were told these were on her body. They were not. It was a falsehood told to the media.
Another falsehood was about Scott getting a huge insurance policy on her just before her death. That was not true. The police admitted they had told the Rocha's that to get them to turn against Scott. The only insurance they had was a family package which included retirement planning and Scott was insured for twice as much as Laci. Laci had been the one to get the insurance several years prior. So, this was not done as a prelude to her demise as had been floated by the police... and they admitted it was a ploy to create hatred against him.
The hair in the pliers could have gotten in there from anywhere. She could have used those same pliers in the house to fix her jewelry. I got my hair caught in pliers many times.
As for the concrete anchor, Scott showed the receipt where he had only bought a small bag for one and only had one bucket to mix it in. It was having problems setting up because it was below 50 degrees, so it was crumbling and didn't mix well. The photos do not show rings for multiple anchors. No one ever mentioned he had a receipt which showed the amount of concrete he had purchased.
A witness who had an office near Scott's warehouse told police that she saw Laci there on Dec 20th and since Scott had stuff piled in front of the bathroom in his warehouse... Laci had gone over to her office there to use her restroom that day. No one ever mentioned this witness. The boat was there that day where Laci could see it.
Laci's missing watch was pawned at a shop near her home but police prevented the defense from obtaining info about it and about who sold it to the pawn shop.
As for Scott having asked about selling his house and car... the police had taken his vehicles, computers, paperwork, mail and even the checks he needed to pay his employee and do his job. If you can't work, you can't pay your bills... so you either have to work or sell your house and vehicles or lose them. He could not file bankruptcy because he and Laci had previously done so. What would you do if you couldn't work or pay your bills? The comments in the police files in Crier's book showed that the police were deliberately abusing the warrants to take everything to make it impossible for him to work and pay bills to stress him out until he cracked. The police were quite amused about it according to their own comments Crier included in the other book.
Did you know that Scott had told a previous girlfriend, Katy Hansen (The one he was seeing when he graduated Cal Poly) that he had "lost" his wife? That was years before. It was a line he used for sympathy. Not an intent... but dumb on his part as was his lying. My own son, same age as Scott who also lives in the bay area, tells women whoppers like that... things like being born in Ireland and owning property in Mexico, etc. My son tells all kind of lies about traveling in Europe and SE Asia when he is juggling more than one girlfriend. He's a cad as well. It is an example of things immature cads say in their 20's & 30's when they are cheating on girlfriends and wives... I don't approve of it, but these are stupid things they say.
Did you know that Ron Grantski, Sharon Rocha's companion, was also Fishing on that same morning Dec 24, 2002 at the very SAME time... yet the Modesto police detective admitted in court on the witness stand that the Modesto police did not find out that Grantski was fishing until after Scott's trial had started. Did the police bother to interview anyone? How could they not interview someone who also had motive, opportunity and access? Especially her mother's companion... someone with the same alibi which Scott was prosecuted on. Read the court transcripts of Grantski's cross examination. He sounds like a bully.
Did you know that the robbery directly across the street from Laci occurred that morning of Dec 24, 2002. The neighbor who witnessed the robbery is on record having called it in that morning and was adamant about the date. The thieves only agreed to plead guilty if the date was changed to the 27th. The neighbors who owned the house returned home on Christmas and reported the theft to the police at the Peterson home. Other neighbors also reported the robbers on the 24th. All of this was buried by the police including Laci's getting involved.
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Another review from "Angel Eyes":
I was an avid follower of Laci's story from the beginning when she dissapeared. I, feuled by the media reports was right on the band wagon screaming, "He's Guilty!!!" I said to myself and many others that even Stevie Wonder could see that this man was guilty and that he fully deserved whatever fate awaited him after the arrest. I cheered at the guilty verdict and kind of winced at the death penalty reccomendation and sentencing. I wanted him to have to live with what he had done. Then when the hoopla died down and I got to actually read court transcripts and realized the lack of foundation for the state's claim, I re-thought my position and the research began. Then came this book written by a former defense team investigator, I was riveted with every new revelation. I don't feel that what he is writing is conjecture. He has more inside knowledge than any other individual to produce a book yet. It completely turned my head around.
Now, more than ever, I am protesting that he should not have been found guilty in a court of law. There was reasonable doubt. Tons of it. I feel that Geragos didn't defend Scott as well as he could and should have.
This book will make you re-think your position on Scott Peterson. Even if you still think he is actually guilty, you will at least agree that there was sufficient evidence had it been presented and heard by the jury, that it would have cast enough reasonable doubt to exhonnerate Scott and maybe put a little more pressure on the police to go back and follow up on hidden leads that were never checked out.
It was just appalling to me how much information the law let fall underneath their noses, only to blind themselves to one theory and one suspect: Scott Peterson. The man never had a chance.
Hopefully, his appellate lawyers will get this all out and get Scott an aquittal. Yet, sadly, I feel he is there in San Quentin to stay. What is past is prologue. Soon, no-one will care. No-one except Scott's friends and family that love him.
"Good Advice" left this review:
I am amazed by the hostile reactions to this book. It is utterly absorbing. It takes you inside a complex, fascinating investigation, and presents powerful evidence that no one else has ever addressed -- and think of the endless one-sided chatter this case has generated. If you want to have an informed opinion about this case, Matt Dalton's book must be considered.
