MODESTO, Calif.  —  A judge rejected Wednesday an attempt by defense lawyers to dismiss the case against accused double-murderer Scott Peterson (search).

Defense lawyer Mark Geragos (search) argued that Modesto police failed to pursue a "genuine investigation of Laci Peterson's disappearance" last Christmas Eve.

A judge who has not been involved with the case before made the decision.

In a 12-page argument filed with Stanislaus County Superior Court (search) on Dec. 22, Geragos maintained the murder charges against Peterson were groundless, and he stated that "police — from the very beginning — decided that their job was to put Scott Peterson on death row."

Laci Peterson, 27, vanished from her Modesto home last Christmas Eve, and a passer-by discovered her body in San Francisco Bay four months later. Police arrested her 31-year-old husband only days afterward in San Diego.

Geragos' court filing repeated many of his previous objections to the prosecution's case, arguing that there is no physical or circumstantial evidence to link Peterson to his wife's death and no evidence that she and her son died as the result of a crime.

Geragos also charged Modesto Police with ignoring or not following up on leads that pointed to other directions than Scott Peterson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.