Kmart parking lot - now jury overflow

The county courthouse has about 200 spaces set aside from jurors on the premises and leases an additional 34 slots from Redwood City on Arguello Street next to the Caltrain parking lot, said Mel Toomer, deputy court executive officer for San Mateo County.

Those spaces typically suffice, but with two large capital cases on top of the average need, the county had to find somewhere to park the overflow. Parking options were narrowed even further by the closing of Middlefield Road and the scores of journalists and spectators drawn by the Peterson trial.

Kmart, on Veterans Boulevard, agreed to lease another 300 spaces at the daily rate of $2 per vehicle. The lease starts tomorrow morning and runs through May. It can be renewed if needed.

Jury selection in the Peterson case is estimated to take at least six weeks with roughly 200 people called each day. Scanlan is scheduled for one month beginning March 8 with 67 prospective jurors queried daily, said prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe.

On average, about 200 jurors for other trials will come and go at the courthouse, Toomer said.

The need to find parking off county property is a first, Toomer said.

Officials looked at several other different sites include the vacant Excite property and the empty former Chrysler car dealership lot on Veterans Boulevard. In the end, they decided Kmart was the closest site that could provide ample spaces.

Kmart customers will not be able to park in any of the 300 spaces and jurors will still need to display their summons in their car window. A security guard will be stationed and a shuttle provided to take jurors from their cars to the courthouse and back again.

Death penalty cases usually require so many potential jurors because many are expected to be disqualified automatically for being anti-capital punishment under any circumstances. The length of the Peterson trial, estimated at about five months, will also create undue hardship for another percentage of the jury pool.

Peterson, a 31-year-old former fertilizer salesman from Modesto, is accused of murdering his 27-year-old pregnant wife and the couple's unborn son. His defense attorney, Mark Geragos, actually requested separate juries for his guilt and possible penalty phases but presiding Judge Al Delucchi declined.

Scanlan, 26, confessed last April to the fatal shooting of a Burlingame bank manager during an armed robbery the previous fall. Scanlan has also admitted nearly a dozen other felonies that will send him to life in prison without the possibility of parole if a jury rejects the death penalty option.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.