Laci DA Miffed Over Autopsy Leaks

The district attorney prosecuting the Laci Peterson murder case told CBS News Thursday that he will ask a judge to unseal the autopsy report on Laci and her unborn baby.

A flurry of unattributed reports on the condition of the bodies prompted Stanislaus County District Attorney James C. Brazelton to withdraw opposition to the unsealing of the autopsy reports.

Earlier, both the AP and MSNBC quoted unnamed sources that the autopsy had revealed that the body of Laci's unborn son had a significant cut and a short length of plastic tape wrapped around the neck.

A source close to the case who requested anonymity confirmed information in the autopsy report to The Associated Press.

Stanislaus County prosecutors did not return telephone calls for comment by The Associated Press. But it did later give a statement to CBS saying that it could not comment on the court-sealed case. But that in "direct response" to the "selective" leaks by "unknown persons," the DA's office would withdraw its opposition to the unsealing of the autopsy reports.

Part of the autopsy report indicated the unborn baby boy had 1 1/2 loops of plastic tape around his neck, the MSNBC report said.

Scott Peterson, 30, of Modesto, Calif., is accused of killing his wife and unborn son, whom the couple had planned to name Conner, last Dec. 23 or 24 in their home. His 27-year-old wife was eight months pregnant at the time. The bodies washed up on the shore of San Francisco Bay last month.

Contra Costa County authorities concluded their autopsy report earlier this month, but said they were unable to determine a cause of death. The autopsy results have been sealed by a Stanislaus County court order.

It's possible the baby's body was cut shoulder to shoulder or became wrapped in the tape because of its long submersion in San Francisco Bay, the MSNBC report said, adding that the part of the coroner's report the network received "doesn't prove anything one way or another."

Peterson's defense attorney Mark Geragos would not comment on the report. He said Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami, during a closed meeting in his chambers Tuesday, "more than telegraphed that he does not want us commenting on the case."

Girolami had said he was considering a gag order in the case to prevent news leaks.

The MSNBC report called the findings a "significant development" and suggested it could be used to create reasonable doubt in a jury's mind about murder charges against Scott Peterson.

Geragos, who took Peterson's case May 2, has suggested that members of a satanic cult were the killers. He has also hinted that a female mystery witness could lead authorities to the real killer and free Scott Peterson.

The network did not say how it obtained the report.