Request Denied For Laci Mistrial

Scott Peterson's defense attorney Mark Geragos angrily demanded a mistrial in the double murder case Monday.

It happened during the testimony of Modesto police officer Matthew Spurlock, one of the first officers investigating the disappearance of Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci, reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone. Spurlock said when asked details about his fishing trip that day Peterson was evasive then walked away and cursed thru clenched teeth.

"Supposedly, Scott went outside he house and threw down his flashlight and said the F-word," said observing defense attorney Dean Johnson.

With that testimony Geragos jumped to his feet, saying it was a fabrication, that the police officer had not reported it and the prosecution had withheld the information.

Several audience members chuckled out loud when Geragos then called for a mistrial, reports Len Ramirez of CBS station KPIX-TV, but Geragos spun around and threatened to have the courtroom cleared. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi then said that only happens in the movies, and he warned the prosecution, but denied the mistrial.

Prosecutors will suggest Peterson's anger came as his alibi seemed to be falling apart.

"Was he golfing, was he fishing? Was he golfing, was he fishing?" said Johnson, pointing out the two alibis Peterson allegedly claimed. "And the Modesto police were already beginning to close him on him and find suspicious things in the house."

But Scott Peterson's mother told reporters her son was in shock when police arrived.

Spurlock said Peterson told him he had been fishing alone on the bay the day his wife died, but could not say what he was trying to catch.

"I'm surprised he could speak at all. I wouldn't have been able to," Jackie Peterson said.

The defense demand for a mistrial fits with what has become the defense approach: trying to take the focus off Scott Peterson by putting both police and prosecutors on trial

Another officer who first investigated the case, Derrick Letsinger, testified Monday that he didn't smell bleach and didn't notice any signs of a recent cleaning, he did say that he became skeptical after seeing a crumpled rug, dirty towels on the washing machine and a wet mop behind an otherwise "model home."

Prosecutors have argued that Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci, was killed in the couple's Modesto home and her body was dumped in San Francisco Bay around Christmas Eve in 2002.

Defense lawyers say authorities bungled the investigation almost as soon as they responded to a report that Peterson had returned home to find his wife gone. His attorneys have asserted that someone else abducted Laci while she walked the dog.

Peterson's defense attorney Mark Geragos got a chance at cross-examination. He got Spurlock to testify that, despite his fears, everything seemed in order when he entered the Peterson home.

"It appeared to be a normal house," he said.

And under fierce questioning from Geragos, Letsinger acknowledged that police did not test the home that night with Luminol — a chemical that can detect unseen traces of blood and body fluids.

More police officers were set to take the stand Tuesday.