Trips and Vehicles
This month, our Featured Facts will focus on Scott's trips to the Berkeley Marina, Scott's use of rental cars, and the circumstances surrounding the trade-in of Laci's car.
Scott's trips to the Berkeley Marina
Scott went to the Berkeley Marina on multiple occasions while Laci was missing.
Scott's trips to the Berkeley Marina
Scott went to the Berkeley Marina on multiple occasions while Laci was missing.
It was widely publicized that the police and other agencies were searching the waters of the San Francisco Bay for Laci’s body. The Berkeley Marina is the largest marina on this bay and it’s where Scott launched his boat when he went fishing on December 24, 2002. Scott was actively involved in the search for his wife and visited not only the Berkeley Marina but also the San Luis Reservoir and the Pittsburgh Marina where searches occurred.
Additionally, Scott had another pressing reason to visit the Berkeley Marina. It was no secret that Scott had gone fishing in the Bay Area on December 24, 2002, the day his wife Laci went missing. The simple truth is Scott never hid the fact that he went fishing. He immediately gave the police his parking receipt from the marina, and he took officers to see his boat that evening.
Additionally, Scott had another pressing reason to visit the Berkeley Marina. It was no secret that Scott had gone fishing in the Bay Area on December 24, 2002, the day his wife Laci went missing. The simple truth is Scott never hid the fact that he went fishing. He immediately gave the police his parking receipt from the marina, and he took officers to see his boat that evening.
In a sit-down interview with Det. Brocchini the evening Laci went missing, Brocchini asked Scott if he saw or spoke with anyone. Scott said he talked to a couple of fishing guys and that the “maintenance guys got a good laugh from me trying to back down the trailer.”
That night, police asked Scott what kind of bait he used. Scott said he was not a bait fisherman (he preferred using lures). Since Scott did not name a type of bait, this, of course, became “an inability to explain what he was fishing for.”
The next morning, the Modesto Police published Scott’s alibi in a press release, and multiple law enforcement agencies began using extensive resources to search the bay for Laci’s body. On December 26th, Scott and other family members did a Good Morning America interview. At this point, if you watched the news in the United States, you knew Laci was missing and Scott said he had been fishing.
The next morning, the Modesto Police published Scott’s alibi in a press release, and multiple law enforcement agencies began using extensive resources to search the bay for Laci’s body. On December 26th, Scott and other family members did a Good Morning America interview. At this point, if you watched the news in the United States, you knew Laci was missing and Scott said he had been fishing.
On December 27th, Det. Armendariz with the Modesto Police found a Berkeley Marina groundskeeper that said he saw a Ford 4x4 extended cab pickup with a small trailer the afternoon of December 24th, and it was backing into the ramp area. The driver was a white male adult with sandy-colored hair in his thirties and appeared to be “having difficulty backing the trailer into the ramp area. [The groundskeeper] waited as the driver of the Ford truck drove back and forth, in an attempt to align the truck and trailer.”
Just to recap, Scott was white, male, adult, medium brown hair, 30, driving a Ford 4x4 extended cab, towing a small trailer, claiming to be at the Berkeley Marina the afternoon of December 24th, claiming to have had trouble backing up the trailer, and claiming to have seen a maintenance guy in the ramp area. We’re checking lots of boxes here. It looks like Det. Armendariz did good police work, AND it looks like Scott told the truth.
However, on January 2nd, Det. Grogan called Scott and said, “. . . you said there were some people over there that saw you having trouble backing the boat down. We tried to find them, have not been able to. Ah, so we’re gonna show a photograph of your truck and the boat to the press today just to see if we can get some witnesses to come forward on that.”
However, on January 2nd, Det. Grogan called Scott and said, “. . . you said there were some people over there that saw you having trouble backing the boat down. We tried to find them, have not been able to. Ah, so we’re gonna show a photograph of your truck and the boat to the press today just to see if we can get some witnesses to come forward on that.”
The press release from that day said the Modesto Police needed the public’s help to “corroborate Scott’s trip to the Berkeley area.” This created a public perception that the police could not confirm whether Scott was telling the truth about being at the marina.
Over the next week, police surveillance showed that Scott made three trips to the Berkeley Marina. One of the reasons he made these trips was to look for the people he saw on December 24th. These trips to look for witnesses are called “surreptitious” in court documents, as though Scott is secretly returning to the scene of the crime.
Scott was not returning to the scene of a crime, he was looking for witnesses the police claimed they couldn’t find. This is the kind of twisted evidence the state continues to use to claim that Scott is guilty.
Scott's use of Rental Cars
The prosecution also implied that Scott was sneaking to the marina in “automobiles that weren't usually associated with him”. Scott used friend's vehicles as well as rental cars. We offer the following facts regarding Scott's use of rental cars:
- On December 26th, 2002, both Scott's F150 4x4 crew cab and Laci's Land Rover were confiscated by the Modesto Police to be searched. The Ford had a monthly payment of over $600 that Scott had to maintain even though the truck was in police custody. The vehicle was returned to Scott's family after his arrest by court order in the fall of 2003.
- From December 26th to January 3rd, while both his vehicles were in police custody, Scott either borrowed vehicles from friends or rented vehicles. On December 30th, Scott told Det. Grogan during a phone conversation that he would need to start renting a car if one of his cars was not returned, as he had been borrowing cars up to that point.
- The police returned Laci’s Land Rover to Scott on January 3rd. Scott had the police drop off the Land Rover at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where he was returning a rental car. Laci's Land Rover was returned to Scott with multiple problems. Scott returned it to the Modesto Police for repair on January 15th . The Modesto Police made repairs to the vehicle and returned it to Scott on January 23rd.
- From January 3rd to January 15th , before Scott returned the Land Rover to the police to be repaired, Scott would rent vehicles if he was leaving Modesto due to the mechanical problems with the Land Rover. During this time, Scott had to rent a pick-up to take care of a delivery for work.
- From January 15th to January 23rd , the Land Rover was being repaired by the police so both vehicles were again in police custody again. Scott rented a Lincoln Town car during this week as his bosses were in town from Europe.
- From January 27th to January 29th , Scott rented a Dodge Dakota pick-up. He needed to move the items from the warehouse to his home and a storage unit.
- On January 29th, Scott traded in the Land Rover for a Dodge Dakota pick up. His only car rental after that date was on February 18th when the police confiscated his Dodge Dakota pickup for a day.
Not only did Scott tell police he was going to have to rent cars, he had the police meet him at Enterprise Rent-A-Car on January 3rd. The Enterprise facility is about 6 blocks from the Modesto Police Station. It is egregious to assert that Scott was trying to sneak around in “automobiles that weren't usually associated with them him.”
Audio of Scott and Detective Grogan where Scott discusses his need for a vehicle while his vehicles were in police custody:
The Trade-in of Laci's Land Rover
On January 29th , Scott traded in their Land Rover for a 2002 Dodge Dakota pick up. We offer the following facts regarding the trade-in of Laci's car:
- Scott had asked several times for his truck to be returned to him (see Detective Grogan's testimony). It was not going to happen so Scott needed to make other arrangements because he needed a truck for work.
- The used, 2002 Dodge Dakota that Scott purchased on January 28th was worth less than the 2002 4x4 crew cab F150 the police had confiscated. The suggestion that Scott was uncaring and went to get a new truck while his wife was missing is unreasonable. Scott had a new truck before Laci went missing, but it was in police custody. Her car was traded in for the Dodge out of necessity.