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The Edit, The Search, The Truth            by Janey Peterson

7/31/2018

9 Comments

 
Picture
                                          THE EDIT:
 
While watching the episode of Grace vs Abrams that I participated in a couple months back, they aired the following exchange:
                                                  
Nancy Grace:      “Okay wait a minute, I want to hear him on the phone with Amber.  Everybody, listen to part of the secret tapes where Amber Frey allegedly catches Scott in multiple lies, speaking of lies.”
 
Audio Clip of Amber Frey speaking to Scott on the phone: 
Amber: “Yeah and I deserve to understand an explanation of why you told me you lost your wife and this was the first holidays you’d spend without her?  That was December 9th you told me this and now all of a sudden your wife is missing?  Are you kidding me?
 
Nancy Grace:      “That’s bad”
 
Janey Peterson: “That’s not bad when you look at the tips that are coming in and then you hear about a burglary happening across the street and – those are the things that were going through our family’s mind.”

 
When I heard my own response to that phone call being played about Scott's infidelity lies, I cringed and thought, “Did I say that?”  I would never say Scott's lies to Amber were 'not bad'.  But clearly those words came out of my mouth.  I wondered if it had been edited in some way.  Had they swapped my response from another topic?  It had been a little over 4 weeks since the taping of the show, so I couldn’t immediately remember what the topic might have been.
 
Later in the show they aired this exchange between Dan Abrams and me:
 
Dan Abrams:      “You think it was just – it’s just horrible luck – that Scott had said to Amber, “I lost my wife on December 9th,” that she goes missing two weeks later, and that the body was then found in the bay where Scott Peterson was fishing four months later?  Do you think that’s just bad luck?”
 
Janey Peterson: “First off, yes, I think it’s horrible what Scott said to Amber.  Secondly, I don’t think the bodies being found in the bay have anything to do with luck.  When I was sitting at home December 26th and watching TV with Laci missing and I saw on national news that the Modesto Police announced Scott’s alibi, I – I was stunned.  My thought was, ‘We do not know who has Laci.  We do not know what their intent is.  And if their intent is to harm her, they’re going to put her in the bay.’”

 
This is two completely opposite responses to the same phone call.  They have me saying, “That’s not bad…” and then later I say, “I think it’s horrible…”; the latter being more in line with my thoughts on the subject.  Clearly they had done some editing on what was supposed to be a ‘live to tape’ interview.  I began to rack my brain for what my earlier comments had, in fact, been in response to.
 
Was it worth trying to remember?  Was it worth correcting publicly?  We learned a long time ago that we can’t chase down all the misinformation and we are always evaluating where to put our efforts.  I kept wondering, though, had anyone else cringed at my alleged response?  Ultimately, I decided it was worth a mention.  After all, one of the reasons we agreed to do the show was because it was “live to tape”.  This generally means, that what they tape is what gets aired.  While we were told there may be some minor editing, completely swapping responses is in no way appropriate.  Editing is a very powerful tool, and this is a perfect example of how words can be twisted in an editing room. 
 
                                      THE SEARCH:
 
Since I decided to do some sort of public correction, I first needed to remember exactly what WAS said.  This part of the search entailed watching the show a couple more times and reviewing the notes I had taken right after the taping to see if that would trigger what my statement had really been in response to.  Nothing was coming to mind.  Over the next weeks I would occasionally ponder what it could have possibly been.  I knew it was in response to something Scott said to Amber, but I couldn’t remember what.  Then one day, while driving, it hit me.  My statement was in response to Dan or Nancy (I believe Dan) saying something like:
 
Dan or Nancy:    “Scott was on the phone with Amber and he says to her, ‘I didn’t do it but I know who did and I’ll tell you later when I see you.’”

Nancy Grace then said: “That’s bad”

To which I responded:    “
That’s not bad when you look at the tips that are coming in and then you hear about a burglary happening across the street and – those are the things that were going through our family’s mind.”

Finally, I remembered!  It turns out they DID edit my response and put it in an entirely different and incorrect context. 

The next part of the search was finding the actual transcript of the phone call that was mentioned during the taping, since Grace vs. Abrams had not aired it.  The call where Scott said to Amber, “I didn’t do it but I know who did and I’ll tell you later when I see you.”  I had heard that phone call quoted for 15 years, but needed to make sure I got the wording right in the comments I was preparing.  I searched the entirety of the trial transcripts for this phone conversation.  Nothing.  I kept trying various versions of the  sentence.  Nothing.  Could it be this call was never played at trial and therefore not made public?  I went on to search the over 43,000 pages of non-public prosecution case files we have and I was still unable to find any reference whatsoever to this conversation between Scott and Amber. 
 
                                      THE TRUTH:
 
The truth is, I discovered that this call never occurred. 

The truth is, Scott never told Amber "I know who did it'.
 
The breaking news of this alleged call was in a Ted Rowlands story that aired on May 26, 2003, about 5 weeks after Scott was arrested:

Authorities Have Peterson-Frey Phone Conversations
POSTED: 9:02 a.m. PDT May 26, 2003


MODESTO, Calif. -- Modesto investigators have recorded phone conversations between Scott Peterson and his former mistress Amber Frey including one in which he told her he knew the identity of his wife's abductor, sources have told Fox News.

Video:   Ted Rowlands Monday Report - From Modesto

Reporter: According to a transcript of the call allegedly recorded by the Modesto Police and released by Fox, Frey confronted Peterson about his wife's disappearance and was told by Peterson that he had nothing to do with it.  

Reporter reading Transcript:

Amber: "Do I need to be afraid of you?"
Scott: "Absolutely not, I'm not a monster."
Amber: "Did you have anything to do with your wife's disappearance?"
Scott: "No, but I know who did it and I'll tell you later when I see you."

 
The next day, the alleged conversation was printed in the New York Post and that same night on the May 27, 2003 episode of  Larry King Live, this alleged conversation is talked about:
 
Larry King: Nancy, "The New York Post" reports today in a headline, "I know Laci's killer, Scott in shock call to his mistress." According to the story, Scott called Amber five or six times a night after she went public with their affair, and they reported the taped conversation -- "Do I need to be afraid of you?" "Absolutely not," et cetera. How do they know that?

Nancy Grace: Well, apparently, they've gotten to listen to some of the transcripts or some of the tapes. And very quickly, it was said here on the panel there's going to be a lot of boring listening. If there are tapes, conversations between Scott Peterson and Amber Frey, I can guarantee you it's not going to be boring.

Larry King: No, I said the boring would be with his lawyers.

Nancy Grace: With the lawyer. Now, you may be very right about that. But regarding this, I...

Larry King: But how do you know that that's fact?

Nancy Grace: ... it was quoted...

Larry King: How do you know -- I mean, "The New York Post"...

(CROSSTALK)

Nancy Grace: And it was also reported by several other news outlets. Apparently, there's a leak on one side or the other that is releasing this, either the transcript or the tape, which is very interesting...
…
Larry King: They're the one with this headline, "Bring in the monster." Right? OK. So they've been occasionally wrong. Do we know that that's a factual call? And is it going to be introduced in evidence? Do we know that?

Kimberly Guifoyle Newsom: Right. Well, we don't know that it's actually a fact. We're not going to know any facts. All of this is speculation until the case is presented, first and foremost, in a preliminary hearing or to a grand jury, but it looks like a preliminary hearing now...


While we are grateful for Larry’s skepticism, it wasn’t shared throughout the rest of the media.  After these broadcasts, the alleged conversation was repeated by Nancy Grace, Geraldo Rivera, Rita Cosby, and various others.  And it was repeated to me on Grace vs. Abrams 15 years later.  In all the mentions of this alleged call, we never heard any audio played.  There is only an alleged ‘transcript’ mentioned.
 
The truth is, I had heard this conversation referred to before and had no idea it had never happened.  I had never looked into it because, despite media claims, there was nothing incriminating about it, as I explained in my answer to Nancy Grace.
 
The truth is, the truth requires searching.  The truth requires work.  I went looking for the truth about an incorrect edit on a television show this year and after hours of research, we found out that yet another ‘breaking news’ day in this case back in 2003 was never even news to begin with.  
 
The truth is, after 15 years, there are still things I don’t know about this case.  And what is also true is that every new thing I learn is always in Scott’s favor and brings us one step closer to justice for Laci, Conner and Scott.
 
The truth is, we will never stop fighting.  We will never stop searching.  We will never stop speaking the truth.

9 Comments
Jaime Willard
8/1/2018 12:28:53 am

I remember that Larry King interview with Nancy Grace. I was on the side of Scott throughout all of it, and I watched this interview with my mom. She, unfortunately, believed in Scott's guilt ultimately. For her, when Nancy brought up this "quote", it sealed the deal for her. There was no arguing with her about proof or reasonable doubt after that. I wonder how many others, like my mom, were swayed by this erroneous statement? For the record, I'm still 100% on team Scott and believe fully in his innocence. Goo bless you all and you'll be in my prayers.

Reply
Kasey
8/1/2018 12:29:17 am

I felt like the show was too rushed and Janey and Mark didn't get to fully explain major (and minor) points that I'm sure they wanted to. Nancy Grace seemed to like Janey and I wondered if Janey tried to ask her to fully read the appeal website (spa.org). Mark disappeared halfway through the episode with no explanation..? I wish the website could somehow be turned into a show or special on tv. And it could be read and presented in its entirety, because it's so informative. Also: at end of Grace/Abrams my heart sank when they both said (very matter-of-factly) that they didn't think Scott would be granted a new trial...they seemed so sure of it...

Reply
Kasey
8/1/2018 12:35:57 am

As if this system isn't scary enough, on top of it we have detectives like Brochinni who is such a phony. It's scary these people are in law enforcement. These prosecutors and detectives, once they have made up their minds, will never change it. I don't know if that's part of their training or what...Someone could have video evidence proving they are 1000% wrong and they still won't admit they were wrong. And that should frighten everyone.

Reply
Colette Rouleau
8/14/2018 07:45:29 pm

Yes, I agree completely with all of the above. It's very scary.

Reply
Bernie Clark
8/1/2018 03:49:51 am

I decided to watch the first episode of Grace V Abrams when it aired in Scotland the other night. I turned it off before the fist break and cancelled further recordings. I was disgusted with what I saw. Far too much gossip and 'theories'. Where are the facts?

Reply
Gary
8/1/2018 09:01:18 pm

The part were Geraldo says that death row is cushy etc. If he thinks it's a cushy privileged life perhaps he would like to trade places with Scott. So that he may enjoy this experience 1st hand. Please let us know when he accepts this offer.

Reply
Ana Cristina Costa
8/3/2018 01:06:36 am

I also remember this quote as being said to be true and I have believed it all these years. I am shocked to know it in actually never happened!
I know very well how misleading and criminal a video edition can be!

Reply
Kylie
8/6/2018 06:23:56 am

I have watched the A&E special 3 times in the last week. I have been investigating the trial, and I can tell you I honestly feel that I had been manipulated by the media. I was a young mother in 2002 who thought he was guilty as sin. However, after doing my own investigation after watching the special, this is no longer the case. I do not believe he had a fair trial. I do not think he is guilty. I do not think Justice was served. I hope he gets his appeal.

Reply
Linda
8/19/2018 07:58:43 am

I watched this show recently. As much as I did not want to believe Scott was guilty, in the end, I believe he is. I will say I don't believe there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt though.
There were 3 jurors on that jury that I thought had no business serving. One was the Strawberry Shortcake lady. The other two men were just obnoxious as hell. Janey Peterson I want to tell you that you were the smartest, most reasonable person on the panel of
Grace v Abrams. I wanted to hear more from you then all the loud mouths trying to out talk each other. You seem very sincere. God Bless you Janey. Whether Scott did it or not (i'm sorry, I believe he did) I hope he realizes how much you have devoted your life to him and this case.

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