A state university in Modesto launched a formal investigation into a study cited as a reason for moving the Scott Peterson murder trial

The school is investigating allegations the study was improperly done.

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In his decision to move the trial out of Modesto, Calif., a judge cited the survey conducted by students at California State University, Stanislaus. It concluded that jurors were less biased in the San Francisco area and Southern California. Eight of those students have since told The Modesto Bee they made up results in the poll that counted toward their grade.

Prosecutors who argued unsuccessfully to keep the case in Modesto may ask the judge to reconsider his decision.

Meantime, state court officials say four counties have offered to hold the trial.

The list approved by the state's administrative court office includes three counties preferred by the judge in the case: Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.

Orange County court officials say they can handle the trial, but the judge overseeing the case said he wants it within driving distance of Modesto.

A hearing is scheduled next Tuesday to consider where the case should be moved.

Scott Peterson is charged with murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son just over a year ago.

Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, said Modesto citizens are prejudiced against his client, making it difficult for him to get a fair trial. Geragos has referred to Laci Peterson as a "posthumous celebrity" and says her husband has been demonized.

Prosecutors said widespread publicity makes a change of venue pointless. They said the jury selection process will eliminate anyone whose mind is already made up. And they blamed much of the publicity on Geragos himself -- and what they described as his "media grandstanding."

Scott Peterson has been charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Laci Peterson, 27, and the couple's unborn child, whose remains were found on the shore of the San Francisco Bay on April 13, 2002. He pleaded not guilty.

Scott Peterson, 31, was arrested five days after the bodies were found, raising suspicion among some because of his changed appearance (bleached hair and goatee) and location (San Diego). Police also say Scott Peterson was carrying $10,000 in cash and his brother's driver's license.

Laci Peterson was last seen Christmas Eve 2002. Scott Peterson told investigators he returned from a fishing trip in the San Francisco Bay to find her gone and their dog wearing a muddy leash. She was eight months pregnant.

Complicating emotions of Laci Peterson's family, the Rochas, news surfaced in January that Scott Peterson was having an affair with a Fresno, Calif., woman, Amber Frey, a 28-year-old massage therapist. Later, police told the Rocha family that Scott Peterson took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife, and in February, the family learned that Scott Peterson sold his wife's sport utility vehicle to purchase a new truck.

But although defense attorneys acknowledge Scott Peterson was an unfaithful husband, they say there is no evidence to support the prosecution's assertion that he killed his wife and dumped her body in the San Francisco Bay.

Defense attorneys argue that there is no physical or circumstantial evidence to link Scott Peterson to his wife's death and no evidence that she and her son died as the result of a crime.

In a 12-page argument filed with Stanislaus County Superior Court, Geragos asserted that the murder charges against his client are groundless, adding that "police -- from the very beginning -- decided that their job was to put Scott Peterson on death row."

Geragos, a high-profile attorney simultaneously representing pop star Michael Jackson amid child molestation charges, will formally move at a Jan. 14 court hearing to dismiss charges that Scott Peterson killed his wife and their unborn son, Connor.

The defense also points out that no cause of death has been determined, and prosecutors have yet to publicly acknowledge exactly where, why or how they think Laci Peterson was killed.