REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson didn't flinch when a jury convicted him of murdering his wife, and he showed no emotion when her grief-stricken mother screamed at him from across the courtroom.

But Wednesday, when his father took the witness stand to persuade jurors to spare him from the death penalty, he broke down and wept.

"I love him very much. I have great respect for him," Lee Peterson told the jury, pursing his lips and looking toward his youngest child at the defense table.

As his voice quivered and his eyes welled, the elder Peterson added, "I'm frightened. I'm depressed, I guess you could say. Deeply saddened."

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Scott Peterson cried quietly and blotted his eyes with a tissue during his father's three hours on the stand.

The 65-year-old never directly asked the panel for a sentence of life in prison without parole rather than death, but his emotional testimony left no doubt about his opinion.

"What effect would having your son get the death penalty have?" defense lawyer Pat Harris asked.

Lee Peterson paused, shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and put his hand to his face.

"I don't know, I don't even want to entertain that thought. I just can't imagine anything worse," he said finally.

His daughter, Susan Caudillo, Peterson's half-sister, offered a blunter assessment when she took the stand later.

"I know it would kill my parents," she said. "The bottom line is I don't think my parents will make it if he goes."

Peterson and Caudillo and three family friends testified as the defense opened its case Wednesday, the day after prosecutors called Laci Peterson's mother, siblings and stepfather to the stand to recount the impact of the crimes on their lives.

Jurors who found him guilty of the murders of his wife and unborn son are to decide his punishment by weighing aggravating circumstances, including the impact on the victim's survivors, against mitigating factors, such as the defendant's positive attributes and good works.

The panel of six women and six men are expected to begin deliberating next week.

Second-chair lawyer

The day began with a surprise when Peterson's high-profile attorney, Mark Geragos, chose to let Harris, his second chair for the trial, take the lead in the penalty phase.

Harris, a lawyer in Geragos' firm who handled about 20 mostly minor witnesses during the guilt phase of the trial, delivered the opening statement and questioned Lee Peterson and three other witnesses Wednesday. Geragos questioned only Caudillo.

Although Harris did not explain the switch to jurors, second-chair attorneys sometimes take over in the penalty phase if the defense determines the main attorney lost credibility with a jury in the guilt phase by arguing for the client's innocence.

Geragos told jurors his client was "stone-cold innocent" and failed to deliver on promises of evidence that would prove someone else carried out the crimes. Some jurors stared at the floor rather than make eye contact with him during his summation last month.

In his opening statement, Harris acknowledged the jury's finding that Peterson was guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of his wife and of second-degree murder in the death of the son the couple planned to name Conner.

"We don't agree with it, but we respect the fact you came up with it, and it's time to move forward," Harris told the jury.

He promised a wide-ranging defense case with testimony from friends, teachers, a golf coach, former employers, an ex-girlfriend, and relatives who would all describe the 32-year-old as a man "who affected people's lives in a million small ways" from the time he was a small boy.

"When we show you these 30 years, I think we will show you this is a life worth saving," he said. Peterson's mother, Jackie, will be the final witness to plead for his life, making his parents "bookends" to his life story, Harris said.

'Shiny' baby

Lee Peterson described his son as a happy "shiny" baby who rarely cried and grew into a hard-working, young man. He talked extensively about Peterson's devotion to golf and his dreams to play professionally.

"He lost several matches because he didn't finish the job off. He didn't want to hurt the other guy's feelings, I swear," he testified.

Lee Peterson noted that Phil Mickelson, the 34-year-old U.S. Masters Champion, was a teammate in high school in San Diego and in college at Arizona State.

"They were friends. Not close friends, but friends," the elder Peterson said.

He said his son gave up on his dreams of a professional career because he knew he did not have Mickelson's ability.

He said Laci Peterson was the first girlfriend his son introduced to him, and said of their wedding, "I made a foolish speech and had a great time."

He said the loss of the 27-year-old mother-to-be was compounded for his family.

"Losing someone you love and now having your son in this kind of jeopardy is beyond belief. It is not something I thought I would have to go through," he said.

Family roots

As the defense attorneys questioned witnesses, they seemed to focus as much on the good qualities of Peterson's family, particularly his father, as on the attributes of the defendant himself.

Before even mentioning his son, Lee Peterson offered a minutely detailed account of his life that began with his grandmother's emigration from Lithuania to Minnesota. He recalled living in a home with no running water and accompanying his mother on her job cleaning the homes of wealthy families.

Capital defenses often focus on the neglectful or abusive childhood of the defendant, but Peterson grew up in an affluent, two-parent family who provided a home with a pool and all the golf lessons he wanted.

Harris told jurors in his opening that the experiences of his parents impacted Peterson's own behavior. Both parents, he said, were raised to keep their emotions private.

Peterson, 32, is the only child of his father's second marriage. Lee Peterson had three sons and a daughter from his first marriage and Jackie Peterson had three children of her own.

"[Scott] just brought our family together. He kind of connected everybody. He kind of completed our blended family. He made us whole, I think," Caudillo said.

Peterson 'mascot'

The other defense witnesses each described Peterson as a good child and kind, generous, hard-working man. But often their testimony also emphasized the positive attributes of his family, rather than him individually.

Jeffrey Cleveland, a former employee of the Peterson's packing business and a long-time family friend, referred to Scott as the "mascot" of a unified, loving family.

"They are one of the few families that are just seamless," he said. Asked about Scott's qualities, he referred to his similarity to his father. "A piece of Lee just fell off and there was Scott," he said.

A lifelong friend of Jackie Peterson, Joanne Farmer, also referred to Peterson's father when asked about the potential for a death sentence.

"I've watched Lee age about 20 years in the past two," she said. "I'm not sure how much more they can take."

When her son, Craig Farmer, testified, he acknowledged he was closer to Peterson's brothers than the defendant himself, but said he had always been impressed by the loving, tight relationship he had with his father.

"I wish I had a relationship like that with my dad," he said.

Prosecutors declined to cross-examine any of the witnesses called Wednesday.

Jurors appeared attentive to testimony, but they showed none of the emotion they demonstrated Tuesday when Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, testified.

As she angrily confronted Peterson, all six female panelists cried and several male jurors dabbed at their eyes.

The defense case will continue Thursday morning.