Dr Phil today - Laci Peterson story

boyohboyohboy wrote: I watched Dr Phil today and it made me think....
It was about the Laci Peterson murder, and there were 5 of the original jurors on the show talking about how the trial affected their lives..

I never really thought about how something like this would change/ruin your life..
They were saying that some of them got death threats for agreeing to seek the death penalty, and one of them had tried to kill herself over it, she was also now obsessed with writing letters to Laci's husband and hoping to hear him confess to her what he did, so she knew she did the right thing....
Almost all of them cant sleep, have terrible nightmares and have totally changed lives...
So anyway, what made me think was...if its the law that we all must take our turns on such a trial, how come the states dont offer some kind of mental health after wards, or what if you were just not the kind of person with a strong enough "constitution" for something like this?

It just seems like more victims have come out of this horrible crime now..

cameragirl21 replied: personally, i am against the death penalty but its not because i like or have sympathy for murderers and other criminals!
that said, i am absolutely repulsed that any juror would receive death threats for seeking the death penalty. why oh why would anyone want to protect someone who killed his wife right after performing a c section on her and killing their baby?!
idk, i think the system probably is flawed but what i find most shocking is that jurors would receive death threats for this. before being executed, ted bundy used to receive hundreds of letters a day from women asking him to marry them!
kind of redefines the idea of insanity, no...?

msoulz replied: The positive thing is that the jurors obviously took their job seriously. I hope all jurors do that.

jcc64 replied: ITA!

amynicole21 replied: You are so right. Imagine the greusome details they are forced to be shown and hear discussed in great detail.

stella6979 replied: I watched this as well and couldn't believe it when the one female juror said the state didn't provide them with any counseling after the trial. Apparently they could seek help, but the state felt they weren't responsibe for providing it.

punkeemunkee'smom replied:

Is that a new development? I had never heard that before

ITA about the poor jurors! I missed the show but I can't imagine the pain left over from viewing what they had to view or hearing the details! What I heard on CNN was enough to make me want to vomit!

PrairieMom replied:
I don't think that is what happened. They found the baby seperate from Laci, but I think that it was due to natural decomposation. (gruesome, Sorry)

stella6979 replied:
I followed this case from day one and never heard anything about a c section. From what I understand, the baby was "delivered" in the bay.

lisar replied:
I couldnt watch a whole lot of it. It was to detailed for me. I did watch the movie on it though. Which wasnt as detailed as what they were showing on CNN. Poor jurours they will remember that stuff forever.

cameragirl21 replied:
c section was a tongue in cheek way to put it, what i meant to say is that the baby was "surgically removed" from her body by Scott Peterson.
she was only 8 months pg, if the baby was removed from the body it was not done naturally.

sparkys2boys replied: Makes me sick to even think about it all really. And to think that he done that and for so long walked around like the heartbroken husband and father to be. Just SICK.

stella6979 replied:
But the baby wasn't "removed" from the body. They concluded that he was "delivered" in the bay after they were killed. The decomposition and pressure from the water is what caused him to "come out", so to speak.

cameragirl21 replied:
oh, that's not what i heard but that doesn't mean it's not true.
either way, it's a gruesome incident and either way, he insured his baby, who would have been viable at 8 months gestation was killed.

stella6979 replied:
That is very true. Either way, it was a horrific thing to do and my only hope is that he suffers a long and horrible life in prison, until he's executed, that is.

boyohboyohboy replied: I guess my point of mentioning this was, is it really fair to make "lay" people be jurors on cases like this?
I mean with the world the way it is today, all the parents killing their kids, child murderers, and just plain sick people out there...I for one wouldnt have the stomach to sit thru a trial about any of this....
especially if it involved a child, I am super sensative to children issues...

how can the government make these people sit there and listen to this, and then have it ruin the lives of a juror and not do anything for them? I am surprised that jurors are not sueing states for help....

Cece00 replied:
That is not true. Her uterus was intact. The baby was not removed from her body in any surgical way.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90602&page=2

>>The fetus's body was in relatively good condition, compared to Laci's, and appeared to have been protected from the elements for a considerable time, sources said. Since the mother's womb was intact, authorities concluded the unborn infant was protected inside her for several weeks before it was separated from her body.

mom2my2cuties replied:
I'm glad you found that, I remembered hearing something similar at the time. But couldn't find it.

holley79 replied: I don't know if it is different for each state or on a case to case basis. I know the jurors on the murder trial here of an 85 year old woman were offered grief counseling due to the nature of the photos that were taken.

I think that it should be offered for instances of this nature. I know I see some gruesome pictures working here at the Sheriff's Office and I can see where is can effect people.

DansMom replied: I recently reported for jury duty, and even though I didn't get seated, just being in the courtroom during the seating process for half a day was enough to make me feel shaken and depressed all week. I could not focus on my work, and my mind kept returning to the defendant. And I was lucky---my case was about the rape of a 13 year old girl by someone living in the household. In the next courtroom they were seating a jury for a man who left his three kids in a bathtub, fell asleep, and the youngest baby drowned. That jury panel was released the same time we were, and the looks on their faces said it all. I think sitting through the whole trial and all the testimony could really affect your life---definitely counseling would be a good thing to offer.