MODESTO, Calif. — Scott Peterson lashed out at prosecutors Thursday, telling a judge in rare court comments   that the district attorney's slow pace of turning over evidence to his lawyers left him no choice but to consent to a two-month delay in his double-murder case.

"I think we are forced to without the information coming from the prosecution," said Peterson in a loud voice tinged with annoyance when asked by Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami if he agreed to the postponement, a pro forma question that normally elicits a curt "Yes" from a defendant.

"It's not my wish, but yes," he added when pressed further.

Peterson's grudging agreement to moving his preliminary hearing from July to September was the most he has said publicly since his April arrest for the murder of his pregnant wife and unborn son.

Peterson, who insists he had nothing to do with his wife Laci's death and believes the real killer is still at large, is facing the death penalty and confined to a cell in the county jail. According to the county sheriff, the often-tearful Peterson is visited several times a day by mental health workers and, while not officially on suicide watch, is monitored closely by the staff. His supporters have said he is eager to begin the preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will disclose their evidence against him.

Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, denied the prosecution was dragging its feet in turning over police reports and other evidence to the defense team as required by law.

"There are tens of thousands of pages of discovery that have been provided so far," Goold said, noting that the police and law enforcement from several other agencies were painstakingly cataloging each piece of paper before copying it to a compact disc to be made available to both prosecutors and the defense.

"We're trying to be very even handed in that," said Goold.

The discovery includes about 9,000 tips phoned in to police during the four-month search for Laci Peterson. Her badly decomposed body and the remains of her son, to be named Conner, washed up on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay in April.

Thursday afternoon, the prosecution filed court papers opposing cameras in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing, now scheduled for September 9. The district attorney cited the opposition of Laci Peterson's family and the potential to disrupt the lives of witnesses and jurors.