Peterson Jury Quits For Weekend

The jury in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial had not asked any questions of Judge Alfred A. Delucchi during its first full day of deliberations before resting for the weekend.

Deliberations are expected to begin again on Monday.

CBS's Teri Okita reports that the jury could seal the fate of the former fertilizer salesman any day now. It's been almost a month since Peterson was convicted, but just days since the jury heard dramatic closing arguments: One pleading for Peterson's life, the other calling for his execution.

In a scene fitting for a TV drama, Peterson's lawyer begged jurors not to sentence his client to death for killing his pregnant wife.

"All that's being asked of you is to punish him with life without parole," defense attorney Mark Geragos told the six men and six women Thursday. "Just don't kill him. That's all I am asking of you. End this cycle."

Geragos was humble.

"He admitted to the jury, 'I must have done this wrong; that's the explanation for the verdict. I didn't do my job well,'" said criminal defense attorney Chuck Smith.

Geragos begged jurors not to call for Peterson's execution, that spending his life in a cell the size of a king size photos would be punishment enough, reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.

Then he told jurors there's "no reason to continue the cycle of death."

"I thought he did a brilliant job of putting the death penalty on trial," said law professor Robert Talbot. "The discussion about how there is no solace, there's no closure, there's no peace after a death verdict. The tone was perfect."

The jurors also heard an impassioned plea from prosecutor Dave Harris on the final day of the penalty phase of Peterson's murder trial. He showed the horror of the murder by bringing the victims, Laci Peterson and her unborn son into the courtroom through photographs.

"Remember graduations that will never come," he said, "smiles that will never be shared, friendship, birthdays ripped away by an evil man."

The jurors deliberated two hours Thursday before retiring to a hotel for the night.

There are many who believe there will be a quick verdict, but former prosecutor Dean Johnson says deciding life or death is not easy.

"Many jurors come out of this decision with something very much like post-traumatic stress disorder," he said "It's a tough decision."

The former fertilizer salesman faces either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2002 murders of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the 8-month-old fetus she was carrying.

Under California law, if the jury decides Peterson should be put to death, it must be approved by the judge, who has the power to reduce the sentence to life in prison, reports CBS News Correspondent Steve Futterman.

"This is somebody who had everything and threw it away," Harris said of Peterson, 32. "He had a plan and he executed it."

The state maintains Peterson smothered or strangled Laci in their Modesto home on or around Christmas Eve 2002, then dumped her weighted body into San Francisco Bay. The remains of Laci and the fetus were discovered about four months later along a shoreline a few miles from where Peterson claims to have been fishing alone the day his wife vanished.

"The D.A. summed it up saying 'Scott wanted to be free. Laci was an anchor around his neck so he put one around hers,'" said former prosecutor Jim Hammer.

Peterson doesn't have a lot going for him, says CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "In fact, about the only thing he has going for him is that this case is in California, which typically doesn't sentence people to death as regularly as other states. That, and the fact that it only takes one juror to hold out for life over death."

Harris reminded the jurors of the 39 witnesses called to testify on Peterson's behalf; he called only four, all members of Laci's family.

"Thirty-nine witnesses," Harris said. "And those 39 witnesses pretty much all said the same thing: 'This man who sits here, this convicted double murderer, is not the man that I know."'

He walked over to the defense table, stood directly in front of Peterson and pointed at him. "They didn't know the real Scott. ... That he's a manipulator. That he's a liar."

The prosecutor then showed a television news segment recorded before Peterson was arrested in which he sobbed uncontrollably and talked about how much he missed his wife.

"He played the part of a grieving husband," Dave Harris said. "The great fraud. He turned on tears and played the part. ... He's not a person who deserves your sympathy."

Geragos stressed what the 39 witnesses had testified to — that Peterson lived a good, charitable life for the 30 years before the murders.

He also reminded jurors about the harsh conditions Peterson would endure in prison.

"He will stay in that cell every single day until he dies," Geragos said. "He's going to have to look over his shoulder at all times ... he's going to be a marked man.

"Some guard's going to walk by and bang on the door ... and say, 'Peterson, your mom's dead.'"

Jackie Peterson, Scott Peterson's mother, seated in the first row of the gallery directly behind her son, cried and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

Said Geragos: "There does not need to be any more death in this case."