This Just In... No Cameras In The Courtroom!

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MODESTO, Calif. — Cameras will not be allowed in the preliminary hearing for Scott Peterson's (search) double murder trial, a judge ruled Monday.

The decision was a victory for the prosecution, which argued courtroom cameras would make fair proceedings next to impossible and add to the "media circus" nature of the case.

"The media has the right to attend and report on open judicial proceedings, but does not have a constitutional right to photograph or otherwise electronically record them," Judge Al Girolami wrote in his decision.

"The applications to permit cameras (television and still) and recording devices during the preliminary hearing are denied."

Girolami's ruling was a defeat for the media, which has been pushing for an on-camera preliminary hearing all along, and Peterson's defense attorneys, who abruptly changed course on Thursday and sided with the press on the camera issue.

The judge said in his decision that a preliminary hearing forces the victims' families to "relive their worst nightmare in a very public way." He said televising the proceeding wasn't necessary.

Last Thursday at Stanislaus County Superior Court, Girolami denied a defense request that the hearing, currently scheduled for Sept. 9, be sealed to the media and the public and only be open to essential personnel.

The judge delayed the camera decision after Peterson's defense attorney Mark Geragos changed his position on the matter.

Preliminary hearings in California and other states are like minitrials, with testimony from witnesses. At the end, a judge decides whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Scott Peterson, 30, has been held without bail since his arrest in April, when the remains of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, washed ashore in San Francisco Bay.

The former fertilizer salesman said he was fishing near the area on Christmas Eve, when Laci, 27, disappeared from their Modesto, Calif., home. Peterson has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The case has drawn intense publicity and caused some analysts and others to compare it to the O.J. Simpson double murder "trial of the century," which also attracted wall-to-wall press coverage. Cameras were permitted in that courtroom during the trial itself — which many who followed the case believed turned the proceedings into a media circus and detracted from the legal proceedings.

Because of the level of media attention in the Scott Peterson case, Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said in a news conference last week that he expected a change of venue at some point for the trial — which is likely at least a year away.

In Thursday's proceedings, the judge also called for an inquiry into a possible defense gag order violation. Additionally, rumors swirled that the defense may want to postpone the preliminary hearing another month or two.

The defense is arguing that a satanic cult kidnapped and murdered Laci and her unborn baby. It has pointed to another unsolved murder of a pregnant woman in the area and ties to what it says is a local group of devil-worshippers. Last week, the team attempted to tie "demonic" paintings to its cult theory, but the local artists who created them said there was no link.

The prosecution has refuted the devil-worshipping murder theory, contending that the evidence of Peterson's guilt is overwhelming. Unlike the defense team, however, the district attorney's office has refrained from leaking too much about the case it intends to build in the hearing and at trial.

Laci Peterson's grieving family, meanwhile, continues to suffer. Last week their attorney Adam Stewart released a statement to the media asking for respect in its coverage of the case.

"We plead with the media to be sensitive," said the statement from Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, and the rest of the Rocha family.

"This is our Laci and Conner, whom we love with all our hearts," the statement said. "This is not a story. This is our life. Please treat her in death respectfully. …We ask that you respect our privacy and understand our pain as we grieve."

Fox News' legal editor Stan Goldman, Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report.