Prosecutors have rough start in Peterson trial

Prosecutors have roughstart in Peterson trial
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Prosecutors trying Scott Peterson's murder case got off to a rocky start Thursday, with some of their first witnesses seeming to do more harm to prosecutors than good.
Their case only got muddier when they presented witnesses from a day spa and hair salon who contradicted what they saw Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci, wearing the day before she disappeared.
And when questioned during cross-examination, those same witnesses ended up making the Modesto, Calif., police look like they couldn't write an accurate police report or notice security cameras in the hair salon that could have confirmed what Laci Peterson was wearing.
Even the testimony of Laci Peterson's half-sister, Amy Rocha, who spent the whole afternoon on the stand, raised confusion when, under cross-examination, she said that the pair of pants prosecutor Rick Distaso presented to the jury Thursday -- supposedly matching the pair she was wearing when her body was found -- actually didn't match the ones she saw her wearing the day before Scott Peterson told his family his wife had disappeared.
The prosecution "is helping the defense," said Michael Cardoza, a former Alameda County, Calif., prosecutor following the case. "They started on the starting line and are 10 yards behind already. They're running the wrong way."
Thursday was the first full day of witness testimony in the celebrated trial against Peterson, a 31-year-old fertilizer salesman accused of killing his pregnant wife and unborn son either late Dec. 23 or early Dec. 24, 2002.
Tiananmen anniversary
BEIJING -- Police kept Tiananmen Square free of demonstrators today, detaining at least 16 people while activists abroad marked the 15th anniversary of the deadly attack on pro-democracy protesters and pressed their demands for political change.
Since the June 4, 1989, military assault that killed hundreds, and possibly thousands, communist leaders have made many changes demanded by the dissidents, scrapping rules dictating where Chinese could work and whom they could marry. A decade of stunning economic growth has given millions new choices in life.
But the closed, secretive ruling party that crushed the protests still permits no independent political activity and has jailed or driven into exile most of China's active dissidents.
Reporters saw 16 middle-aged men and women picked up today on the square in twos and threes and dragged to waiting police vans. It wasn't clear whether the detentions were related to the anniversary, but security forces had been trying to block public commemorations for people killed in the military crackdown.
Dust on computers isa hazard, study says
SAN FRANCISCO -- "Toxic dust" found on computer processors and monitors contains chemicals linked to reproductive and neurological disorders, according to a new study by several environmental groups.
The survey, released Thursday by Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Computer TakeBack Campaign and Clean Production Action, is among the first to identify brominated flame retardants on the surfaces of common devices in homes and offices.
Electronics companies began using polybrominated diphenyl (PBDEs) and other flame retardants in the 1970s, arguing that the toxins prevent fires and cannot escape from plastic casings.
"This will be a great surprise to everyone who uses a computer," said Ted Smith, director of the Toxics Coalition. "The chemical industry is subjecting us all to what amounts to chemical trespass by putting these substances into use in commerce. They continue to use their chemicals in ways that are affecting humans and other species."
Explosion kills seven
MOSCOW -- Two gas canisters exploded at an outdoor market in central Russia, killing seven people and injuring at least 15 in an apparent accident, the country's emergency response ministry said.
The blast occurred about midday at the Kirov market in Samara, some 500 miles southeast of Moscow. A duty officer at the Samara section of the Emergency Situations Ministry said that the canisters had exploded while being used to cook food, and that foul play was not suspected.
The duty officer, who asked not to be identified, predicted that the death toll would rise.
Gas canisters are widely used in Russia at outdoor markets and street food stalls, and explosions are common. Four people were killed in an explosion of canisters in March in the Siberian city of Omsk, and a May 2003 blast in Moscow killed one person and damaged the outdoor terrace of a restaurant.
Combined dispatches