January 19th Hearsay Evidence to be aired

[Lorie Taylor]

*This thread will be updated as evidence of hearsay is either allowed in, or not allowed at trial*


THIS WHOLE THREAD IS BEING MOVED TO IT"S OWN SECTION ON MAIN PAGE OF BOARD. I WILL BE POSTING WHAT WAS SAID AT HEARSAY HEARING UNDER EACH PERSONS NAME WHO TESTIFIED AT HEARSAY HEARING. I ALSO WILL BE POSTING AT TOP OF EACH THREAD THE HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT WAS SAID BY EACH PERSON TESTIFYING, AND IMPORTANT THINGS THAT MIGHT OF BEEN SAID IN THE PAST MEDIA APPEARANCES OR IN THE PAPER.

[Lorie Taylor]

cbs2chicago.com/local/drew.peterson.attorney.2.1404571.html

Peterson Attorney Files To Seal Hearsay Evidence Reporting
Mike Puccinelli BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS)


BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ¯ Click to enlarge1 of 1
Drew Peterson mug shot, taken shortly after he was arrested.
Will County's Sheriff's Department


It's the crucial evidence Drew Peterson's legal team doesn't want you to hear. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, and now the former cop's lawyers are taking a page right out of the R. Kelly defense team's playbook. CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.

It's a two-page motion that could dramatically affect what the public knows about the most highly publicized murder trial in the history of Will County. It was filed Monday by Drew Peterson's defense team.

"We filed a motion today to seal and close a hearing that's going to start on January 19th to admit hearsay," said Peterson's defense attorney Joel Brodsky.

The defense team moved because Brodsky says if the proceedings are not closed, Peterson can't get a fair trial because the jury pool will likely be tainted by what he predicts will be saturation coverage in the media.

"This has got nothing to do with truth or innocence," Brodsky said. "This has to do with whether the jury is going to hear things that a judge is going to decide not to allow into evidence."

Many hearsay statements that Kathleen Savio allegedly made to family members and attorneys before she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004 are well known. But Brodsky says many other alleged statements are not.

"Probably more than half of the statements that the state wants to introduce in hearsay have not been previously disclosed," Brodsky said.

CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller says trying to keep the public and the media from hearing those statements is sound legal strategy.

"I think what the defense did was a very smart, strategic move because they're trying to keep any taint from this jury pool even before the trial," Miller said. "And secondly, if Drew Peterson gets convicted, this is possible grounds to appeal the conviction."

Brodsky says today's motion was in part based on a successful motion filed by attorneys representing another high-profile client.

Brodsky says, as far as pretrial publicity and pretrial hearings goes, the R. Kelly case provided him with a roadmap on how to defend Drew Peterson.

That's because in the famed singer's child porn trial, the judge closed certain pretrial hearings in order to protect R. Kelly's right to a fair trial, and to keep the jury pool from hearing inadmissible evidence. R. Kelly was acquitted.

"The R. Kelly case was really one of the first cases in Illinois that this even came up," Miller said. "And it does provide a roadmap. And it allows the judge to protect the rights of the defendant."

Miller says the judge has to balance the public's right to know with the defendant's right to a fair trial. He says the public's right is a qualified right whereas Peterson's right is fundamental.

He says when weighing the two, the defendant's right takes precedence. Ultimately, he says it makes for a very tough call for the trial judge.

[Lorie Taylor]

Lawyers want closed Peterson hearing

January 5, 2010

By JOE HOSEY [e-mail]
Barnum & Bailey want to shut down the circus.

Drew Peterson's legal team has asked to bar the public from a potentially explosive hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at the former Bolingbrook cop's murder trial.

» Click to enlarge image The legal team for Drew Peterson (left) has asked to bar the public from a hearing to determine whether any hearsay evidence will be allowed at the former Bolingbrook cop's trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio (right).

RELATED STORIES• Special section: Drew Peterson Case

Local attorney George Lenard, who signed on with the Peterson camp just last month, filed the motion Monday. Lenard failed to return calls for comment, but the motion signals an abrupt change in Peterson's defense strategy, which had been marked by an attraction to the limelight and the airing of everything from secret messages and photographs that supposedly cleared Peterson of guilt to details of his love life and plans to make a 23-year-old local mother his fifth wife.

More often than not, Peterson's lead attorney Joel Brodsky could be found at the forefront of the frenzy.

Brodsky appeared on numerous TV programs in the more than two years since Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished. Sources who had been close to Peterson and privy to his financial arrangements said Brodsky's compensation for taking the case came exclusively from funds generated through publicity. Brodsky failed to return calls for comment on this allegation.

Less than three months ago, Brodsky and co-counsel Andrew Abood seemed eager for their chance to publicly cross-examine the state's witnesses during the hearing. At that time, Brodsky said, "People's assumptions are going to be turned on their head — it's going to be 180 degrees."

Brodsky also said, "We're going to ask some very interesting questions of the state's witnesses" and boasted that there will be "secrets coming out" at the hearing.

Gag order

The public spectacle of the Peterson case was drastically subdued by a gag order on attorneys effected by Judge Stephen White in May. White also forbade the jailed Peterson, who is charged with murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, from making telephone calls to anyone not on an approved list. Peterson called a Chicago radio station to tell jokes on air after he was arrested May 7.

Now, instead of letting Peterson clown around, his lawyers want to ban the public from his Jan. 19 hearsay hearing.

The motion claims "the potential jury pool will be saturated with television, newspaper and Internet coverage of inadmissible hearsay information that will be reported over and over before the actual trial begins" and "this national exposure of testimony elicited during this pretrial hearing will likely result in the potential jurors having preconceived notions as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, thus depriving him of a fair trial."

The motion also points out that an appellate court upheld the decision to close some of the pre-trial hearings in the case against R&B sensation R. Kelly, who was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008.

Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the state's attorney's office, declined to comment on the motion to seal the hearing.

[Lorie Taylor]

Published : Thursday, 07 Jan 2010, 9:01 PM CST

Craig Wall, FOX Chicago News

Joliet – Drew Peterson will be back in the limelight Friday, this time fighting to stay out of the spotlight for once.

It’s a pre-trial hearing about never-before-reported details of the case, and it could have serious implications for Peterson’s murder trial.

Peterson, who was the consummate media hound before being locked up on charges he murdered his third wife, is expected to ask the judge to close a hearing scheduled for next week. During that hearing prosecutors are expected to lay out, in great detail, controversial hearsay evidence that they want to present at trial.

“The information that they’re talking about, given that there’s almost a complete lack of physical evidence in this case, it’s gonna be like a smoking gun, to a lot of jurors,” says DePaul University Law Professor Leonard Cavise.

The case involves Kathleen Savio. While in the middle of a messy divorce from Peterson, she was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004, her hair soaked in blood.

The case was originally ruled an accident, but a second autopsy led prosecutors to believe Savio was murdered.

Peterson was arrested and charged with her death last May. At trial, prosecutors want to use hearsay evidence, statements made by Savio before hear death, as well as statements from Peterson’s missing fourth wife Stacy.

Peterson’s attorney Joel Brodsky says they are fairly sensational statements. On Friday he plans to argue that next weeks hearing, where that evidence would be made public, should be closed to the public.

“Our problem here is that inherently unreliable testimony, that might not get into the trial, could be discussed very broadly and potential jurors could be exposed to it and that’s the problem,” Brodsky said.

He says even during jury selection, where potential jurors would be asked if they can put aside what they’ve heard and only consider the evidence presented at trial, can’t wipe out what they’ve heard.

“It’s like saying to a juror go stand in that corner and don’t think about a brown bear. It’s gonna be impossible for them not to think about that brown bear. It’s the same thing with these hearsay statements, if you say don’t think about these hearsay statements, they’re gonna think about them. It’s human nature.”

Legal experts say it’s highly unusual for judge’s to close pre-trial hearings, but this may be a good exception.

“It’s very tempting to allow this hearsay evidence into the trial because it is so prejudicial,” said DePaul’s Cavise. “But as far as I’m concerned, it’s very clearly inadmissable evidence and if they judge agrees with that position, that it’s inadmissable, he has to do is very best to keep it out of the public eye.”

www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/peterson’s-lawyer-to-seek-closed-hearing

[Lorie Taylor]

Just in on Justice Cafe from Joe Hosey, Facs, and Rescue regarding the appeal Joel Brodsky, and attys are in court with prosecution to seal the hearsay testimony from public, and press. Joel is arguing this morning that it would taint the jury pool whether hearsay is allowed or not in the case. I will update as it is coming in from Justice Cafe. You can also go there to read, which also has extensive documents, and information about the case.

petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/sun-times-puts-up-a-fight-files-motion-to-cover-peterson-hearing/#comments


rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 9:54 am | #4 Quote Brodsky’s compensation for taking the case came exclusively from funds generated through publicity.

Hmmm, taking this into consideration and a step further, if this were to be true, I imagine the terms can’t be changed now. Also, if true, that means the funds are cut off, since there’s a gag order in place and Peterson can’t drum up any publicity right now.

So, either there are still funds in the coffer from the early defense website asking for money, and the payment for books, stories and/or interviews, or the funds have dried up. The question is, if the funds have dried up, how does Brodsky get paid? Is there going to be more information about this coming out? This is a really interesting new twist on this Drewgate mess.

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 10:24 am | #5 Quote Joseph Hosey is at the Will County courthouse for Drew Peterson’s hearing.
43 minutes ago

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 10:37 am | #6 Quote Drew was just brought into the courtroom.
1 minute ago from txt

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 10:41 am | #7 Quote Attorney Martin Glink has filed a motion objecting on behalf of the Savio family.
2 minutes ago from txt

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 10:45 am | #8 Quote FYI – a story about and guidelines for tweeting from court:

www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/live-blogging-and-tweeting-from-court

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 10:49 am | #9 Quote Brodsky cites R. Kelly case in argument
less than a minute ago from txt

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 11:00 am | #10 Quote Glasgow is up
less than 20 seconds ago from txt

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 11:03 am | #11 Quote Glasgow compares sealimg hearing to th Spanish Inquisition
half a minute ago from txt

Said R. Kelly case is completely inapplicable


facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 11:19 am | #13 Quote I guess if Joel can bring up R. Kelly, then Glasgow can bring up the Spanish Inquisition…

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 11:19 am | #14 Quote Sun-Times attorney Seth Stern now arguing
less than a minute ago from txt

rescueapet January 8, 2010 at 11:27 am | #15 Quote Abood called Glasgow’s honesty into question. Glasgow angrily objected
less than a minute ago from txt

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 11:28 am | #16 Quote It’s getting hot in there!!

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 11:31 am | #17 Quote Decision time at 1:30
3 minutes ago from txt

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 11:44 am | #18 Quote WBBM report says there will be 50 witnesses to be heard.

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 11:59 am | #19 Quote Much appreciation to Joe Hosey for the tweets!

[Lorie Taylor]

Ruling on Peterson hearing expected today

January 8, 2010

By Joe Hosey
JOLIET — Judge Stephen White is expected to rule at 1:30 p.m. today wheter the public should be barred from a Jan. 19 hearing to determine what — if any — hearsay evidence will be allowed in Drew Peterson's murder trial.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, was charged in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

During arguments this morning in Will County court, defense attorney Andrew Abood implied State's Attorney James Glasgow is a liar. Glasgow, who cited the Spanish Inquisition in his argument, angrily objected.

Lawyers for Sun-Times Media, which includes The Herald-News, were to file a motion today objecting to the defense request to bar the public from the hearing.


www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1980680,Ruling-Peterson-hearing-expected-JO010809.article#

[Lorie Taylor]

January 8, 2010 at 1:39 pm | #28 Quote Judge White denied Brodsky’s motion
3 minutes ago from txt

facsmiley January 8, 2010 at 1:40 pm | #29 Quote That Judge White is consistent, isn’t he?


petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/sun-times-puts-up-a-fight-files-motion-to-cover-peterson-hearing/#comments

[Lorie Taylor]

So Brodskys motion was Denied by Judge White .........Great work Glasgow, and media keeping this case open, and public!

[Lorie Taylor]

www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/will-county-drew-peterson-media-hearsay-trial-010810-81015147.html

Irony Alert: Drew Wants to Avoid the Media
Will County judge will decide Friday what we can and cannot see in hearsay hearing
By PHIL ROGERS and BJ LUTZ
Updated 1:15 PM CST, Fri, Jan 8, 2010


A Will County judge will rule Friday afternoon on Drew Peterson's request that the media be barred from an upcoming hearing where the state will reveal critical evidence it intends to use in Peterson's trial.

"A lot of this is going to be fairly sensational," argued defense attorney Joel Brodsky, in reference to 15 so-called "hearsay statements" prosecutors intend to use. Many of those statements were purportedly made by Peterson's deceased third wife, and his fourth wife who is missing.

Brodsky argued that even if the judge rules that some of the statements are inadmissable, the media will still report them, and the potential jury pool will be tainted. "It will be impossible for the jurors to avoid it," he said.

But prosecutor James Glasgow vehemently urged the judge to keep the hearing open. "You've all heard of the Spanish Inquisition. Close the doors, bad things can happen," he said. "In the United States, we don't do that!"

Pointing at the assembled reporters, Glasgow told the judge, "The press is scrutinizing me, they're scrutinizing you, to make sure we do it by the rules!"

The "Drew Peterson Law," as it's called, was approved by the state legislature last July. It allows hearsay to be admitted as evidence in cases where prosecutors believe the victim was killed specifically to prevent them from testifying. Similar laws exist in 12 other states, including Wisconsin.

Peterson's attorneys contend the law is unconstitutional because it would allow gossip, rumor and innuendo to enter the court. They also say it would be unconstitutional to use a law passed after a crime was committed.

Peterson is being held in the Will County Adult Detention Facility in Joliet on first-degree murder charges surrounding the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Many suspect he also had something to do with the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. He maintains his innocence.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/index.html

Judge refuses to close Peterson hearing
Comments


January 8, 2010

By JOE HOSEY [e-mail]
JOLIET — Judge Stephen White on Friday denied a motion to bar the public from a Jan. 19 hearing to determine what — if any — hearsay evidence will be allowed in Drew Peterson's murder trial.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, was charged in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

During arguments in Will County court, defense attorney Andrew Abood implied State's Attorney James Glasgow is a liar. Glasgow, who cited the Spanish Inquisition in his argument, angrily objected.

Lawyers for Sun-Times Media had filed a motion objecting to the defense request to bar the public from the hearing.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/01/drew-peterson-kathleen-savio-stacy-will-county-court-joel-brodsky-murder-charges.html


Judge refuses to bar public from Peterson hearing
January 8, 2010 1:55 PM

The public will have access to a first-of-its-kind hearing later this month at which prosecutors are expected to lay out much of their case against Drew Peterson, the former Bolingbrook police officer charged with drowning his third wife in 2004.

Peterson’s attorneys took the rare step of asking a judge to seal the courtroom for a Jan. 19 hearing required under a new state law on hearsay evidence.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow and an attorney representing the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune and the Associated Press argued this morning that the hearing — which could last more than two weeks and feature testimony from 60 people — should be open to the public.

“In the United States of America, we don’t do that,” Glasgow said of barring the public from court proceedings. “We do it out in the open.”

Prosecutors want Judge Stephen White to allow hearsay statements from 15 people to be heard by a jury. But they must first convince White at the upcoming hearing that a “preponderance of the evidence” shows Peterson killed ex-wife Kathleen Savio.

Hearsay includes any evidence based on what witnesses hear others say, as opposed to what they themselves have experienced themselves.

In the end, White said in issuing his ruling that he could find no reason to keep the hearing closed.

Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky had argued that publicly airing “sensational” statements that may never be heard at trial would undoubtedly prejudice jurors. He gave the judge five possible options — ranging from closing the hearing to all but certain Savio family members to sealing his findings on whether Peterson likely killed her.

“Transparency in legal proceedings is essential,” Brodsky said in court this morning, before White’s ruling. “But there is a right of the defendant…and right of the state to have an impartial jury hear the case.”

Glasgow told White that there must be a “substantial probability” that the jury pool would be tainted and that there was no other way — such as through the normal juror selection process — to address it.

Seth Stern, a lawyer for the newspapers, said sealing a court proceeding like the one planned for Jan. 19 should only be a “last resort” that is typically only used in cases involving national security.

– Steve Schmadeke

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/peterson/1980801,Judge-refuses-close-Peterson-hearing_jo01710.article#


Judge refuses to close Peterson hearing


January 8, 2010

By JOE HOSEY [e-mail]
JOLIET — The bid by Drew Peterson's legal team to bar the public from a landmark hearsay hearing failed, setting the stage for potentially explosive testimony to air in a proceeding that could last longer than a month.

Judge Stephen White rejected the arguments of Peterson's attorneys Joel Brodsky and Andrew Abood that keeping the hearing open might bias potential jurors against their alleged wife-killing client.

State's Attorney James Glasgow countered Peterson's pair of lawyers and compared sealing the upcoming hearing to determine what — if any — hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson's murder trial to a distinctly unAmerican and anachronistic system of justice.

"You've all heard of the Spanish Inquisition," Glasgow said. "You close the doors and bad things happen. We don't do that in America."

While Glasgow cited the Spanish Inquisition, Brodsky pointed to the child pornography case of R&B sensation R. Kelly as his reason for keeping the public out of Peterson's pretrial hearing. Some of those proceedings, which included the playing of a videotape of Kelly allegedly having sex with an underage girl, were closed to the public.

"There was some sensational evidence," Brodsky said. "It was because of the sensationalism, and (the judge) didn't want any potential jurors hearing anything about that tape."

Glasgow accused Brodsky of being way off base with his Kelly comparison.

"It's the centerpiece of their motion, and it doesn't apply," Glasgow said.

Peterson could face as many as 60 prosecution witnesses ranging from a man he allegedly solicited to kill his third wife, Kathleen Savio, to his stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who claims he was asked by Peterson to kill his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, and later helped carry her body out of the family home in a blue barrel.

Peterson is charged with drowning Savio in March 2004. The state police suspect he may also have killed Stacy Peterson, who vanished in October 2007 and remains missing.

Peterson has not been charged in connection with the disappearance of Stacy Peterson.

Abood predicted Peterson's murder trial would begin "sometime before October" but conceded this prediction was "just a hunch."

Glasgow's argument to keep the hearsay hearing open to the public was bolstered by Martin Glink, a lawyer representing the Savio family in a wrongful death lawsuit, and Seth Stern, an attorney appearing on behalf of Sun-Times Media, the Associated Press and the Tribune Co. Sun-Times Media is the parent company of The Herald-News.

"We're just pleased the court weighed the importance of the First Amendment considerations at issue and made the right decision," Stern said.

the hearing, Abood raised Glasgow's ire by questioning the state's attorney's sincerity. Abood asked how Glasgow could be fighting to keep the hearsay hearing open to the public after petitioning for an order forbidding attorneys to discuss discovery evidence.

"Why did they file a motion to put a gag order on us?" Abood said.

Glasgow jumped up and angrily objected to Abood's attack. During a break in the hearing, he declined to discuss the exchange further.

After losing the argument in court, Brodsky said Peterson is "very confident" and "in good spirits" because "there's no evidence he did anything wrong."

Brodsky claimed the testimony he wanted kept out of the public eye is nothing more than "fabrications" and "falsehoods" coming from people "known to be fabricators of falsehoods."

"This stuff isn't evidence yet," he said. "It's rumor, innuendo and gossip."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/special_report/analysis-drew-peterson-ruling

Analysis: Breaking Down Peterson's Public Hearing

Updated: Friday, 08 Jan 2010, 10:03 PM CST
Published : Friday, 08 Jan 2010, 9:06 PM CST

By Larry Yellen, FOX Chicago News

Chicago - Drew Peterson's attorney argued in court Firday that the impartiality of potential jurors may be compromised if a if a hearing, which starts Jan. 19, is open to the news media.

The hearing, which could last several weeks, will determine if hearsay statements from Peterson's alleged victim, Kathleen Savio, can be admitted into evidence at trial. The evidence consists largely of Savio's notes and remarks to friends and family.

Will County Judge Stephen White decided that the hearing should be open to the media, although he will closely examine some of the hearsay statements before deciding whether to publicizing them.

This isn't surprising. There's much legal precedent for making sure that hearings and trials in criminal and civil cases are open to the public. Judges routinely have pretrial hearings involving the possible suppression of evidence at trial, including confessions, even though publicizing confessions might taint potential jurors. Past cases suggests that such hearings can be closed only as a last resort when no alternatives would remedy the problem.

In Peterson's case, the hearsay hearing will be held months before the trial, so the passage of time may dilute it's impact on potential jurors. Also, a thorough questioning of potential jurors is another remedy. The judge needs to be certain that he can find a dozen impartial jurors, who come to the trial with an open mind regarding Peterson's guilt or innocence. He apparently believes this will be possible, even after a widely-publicized hearsay hearing.

[Lorie Taylor]

The Drew Peterson case: 2 wives to have major roles in pretrial hearing into drowning
By Steve Schmadeke
Tribune reporter

January 17, 2010

Former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson is charged with drowning estranged wife Kathleen Savio, but much of the information likely to be presented at a unique pretrial hearing that starts Tuesday will involve the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

For Stacy’s family, the hearing will provide their first detailed look at what was uncovered during the massive investigation launched after she vanished in 2007. Her disappearance and the exhumation afterward of Savio’s body and reclassification of her death as a homicide helped turn the case into national tabloid fodder.

Stacy’s family immediately feared the worst. She had talked of divorcing Peterson, and on the Saturday night before she disappeared, her sister Cassandra Cales said, Stacy leaned over the kitchen table in the Peterson home and whispered: “If I go missing, come find me.”

Kathleen Savio’s family also is hoping for more answers. After her sister drowned in 2004 while going through a bitter custody battle with Peterson, Sue Doman placed a note in her coffin asking her to tell her how she’d died, Doman told the Tribune last year.

When the body was later exhumed, Doman added a flower and a new note that read: “I’d been waiting four years and you still haven’t told me — so please tell me what happened to you,” she said.

For prosecutors and defense attorneys, the hearing that starts Tuesday and is expected to last a month will be a high-stakes marathon.

Prosecutors must prove by a “preponderance of evidence” that Peterson made Stacy or Kathleen “unavailable” to testify against him. If they succeed, Judge Stephen White has the option, under a new state law championed by State’s Attorney James Glasgow, of allowing certain statements to be heard at a jury trial.

One of the linchpins of the government’s case may be hearsay statements that Stacy and Kathleen allegedly made to others.

“Drew Peterson has told me he’s going to kill me and make it look like an accident,” is how Glasgow in court described the statement Savio allegedly made to “trusted friends and relatives.”

Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky last week said the hearsay statements were “rumor and innuendo and gossip” from “out-and-out unreliable people.”

As part of their case to essentially prove, under a lower standard than required at trial, that Peterson killed his wife, prosecutors have subpoenaed records of “bathtub-related fatalities” from 14 Illinois counties, including Will, DuPage, Lake and Cook, for the years 2003 to 2005, according to court records.

Prosecutors will likely use them to argue that the circumstances of Savio’s death — the 1-inch gash on her head, along with bruises and cuts elsewhere — are so singular that she could only have been murdered.

Glasgow has said Savio’s death was “staged to look like an accident” and that Peterson knew facts about the manner of death only the killer could have known.

Brodsky agrees that the autopsy results are straightforward — but that they clearly point to an accidental drowning.

It may be a daunting task for Judge White. Prosecutors have turned over lists of hundreds of pieces of evidence in Savio’s death and Peterson’s disappearance.

There are hundreds of potential witnesses, including two former acquaintances of Peterson who wore wires and also videotaped him, Brodsky has said in court, asking that prosecutors reveal whether they were paid.

It’s not clear how or when prosecutors will address their own handling of the Savio case. Glasgow expressed frustration with his predecessor at a hearing last spring, noting that a letter Savio wrote to prosecutors alleging that Peterson sneaked into her home in 2002 and held a knife to her throat did not result in battery charges being filed.

Prosecutors have said in court that in Savio’s original autopsy, the pathologist was not asked to rule on the manner of death. A coroner’s jury ruled it accidental.

[e-mail]

[Lorie Taylor]

Seen this posted on Justice Cafe by Facs:
petersonstory.wordpress.com/



www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=351508

Drew Peterson pre-trial hearing will examine hearsay evidence
By Christy Gutowski Legal Affairs Writer

In the months before Kathleen Savio’s mysterious drowning death, relatives say, the Bolingbrook woman grew “terrified” that her estranged husband would harm her.

Her fears also were captured in writing, such as in a 2002 letter to a prosecutor in which Savio said Drew Peterson “knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away. Or kill me instead.”

Such hearsay evidence, which, in effect, allows Savio’s words to be heard from beyond the grave are the subject of a landmark court hearing opening Tuesday in Will County

Peterson, 56, is charged with murdering his third wife, whose body was found in a dry bathtub on March 1, 2004, in the midst of their bitter divorce.

Authorities initially ruled the 40-year-old woman’s death accidental but, after Peterson was named a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, last seen in October 2007, Savio’s body was exhumed. Her death was ruled a homicide after a second autopsy.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has not been charged in Stacy’s disappearance, but he was arrested May 7, 2009, in the Savio investigation.

His trial won’t begin until later this year, but media members from across the country are expected to converge on the Joliet courthouse for a hearing that may take three weeks with up to 60 witnesses.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow will lay out much of the prosecution’s case against Peterson during the hearing, which is required under a recent state law written in part to respond to the ex-cop’s high-profile case.

The law requires a judge to hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether so-called hearsay evidence – testimony or documents that quote someone secondhand who is not in court – is admissible in murder trials.

Prosecutors must prove whether a “preponderance of evidence” shows those statements are reliable and that the defendant’s wrongdoing made the witness unavailable to testify. If not, the evidence cannot be presented to a jury at trial.

Glasgow has not publicly released the lengthy witness list, but he showed much of his hand during a May court hearing when the defense unsuccessfully challenged the law’s constitutionality.

Prosecutors said Peterson killed Savio because he faced financial devastation from their divorce as he tried to begin a new life with his fourth wife, Stacy, 23, – with whom he had an extramarital affair while he still was married to Savio. Peterson even offered a man $25,000 to kill Savio months before her death, prosecutors said.

“My life would be easier if she were just dead,” Glasgow quoted Peterson as telling a fellow police officer he saw at the courthouse before Savio’s death.

Both state witnesses likely will testify at the hearsay hearing, along with relatives who have said Savio feared Peterson. She repeated those fears in court records.

“She told me that she would never live for the settlement,” sister Anna Doman said, “that Drew was going to kill her and that if anything did happen, to please take care of the children. She said, ‘You know, Drew’s lethal.’ She was terrified of him.”

Peterson would have had to pay as much as $200,000 in a lump sum to Savio and likely would have lost the couple’s Bolingbrook home, Glasgow said. He said her death led Peterson to receive about $25,000 annually in Social Security payments for their two young sons, who as beneficiaries of their mother’s life-insurance policy stand to receive $500,000 each.

In addition, evidence in the Stacy Peterson investigation is expected to be presented in the hearing. The Rev. Neil Schori told police Stacy Peterson confided in him before she vanished that her husband admitted killing Savio. He, too, may take the witness stand.

The defense team, led by attorney Joel Brodsky, unsuccessfully fought to have the hearsay hearing in a closed courtroom to control media coverage that it argues will taint the jury pool with “rumor, innuendo and gossip” and “erodes the presumption of innocence” by asking a judge to decide before the trial even starts that Peterson murdered Savio to silence her.

Drew Peterson will not testify.

“You’re going to see a lot of the state’s case, which we’ll attack, but not ours to a great extent,” Brodsky said. “We don’t want to show them our hand. This is not a mini-trial. This is really the state exposing their case and letting us cross-examine their witnesses.”

Will County Circuit Judge Stephen White ruled this month that public access to court proceedings is paramount. The judge took earlier steps to protect the jury pool. In August, White warned some 240 potential panelists to avoid Peterson media coverage. He said a follow-up letter also would be sent before the hearing starts to remind them of his edict.

This is the second time a hearsay reliability hearing is being held under the law. In DuPage County, prosecutors successfully invoked the law in the Oct. 9, 2004, fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Warrenville girl who was killed shortly after accusing an acquaintance of battery. The man, Joshua Matthews, 24, goes on trial later this year in Wheaton.

Peterson is being held on a $20 million bond in the Will County jail. He maintains his innocence.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1997009,Peterson-hearsay-hearing-JO011810.article#


Peterson hearsay hearing starts Tuesday
Comments

January 18, 2010
By Joe Hosey

JOLIET — The police can't find Stacy Peterson, but dead or alive, the young mother's words may come back to haunt her allegedly murderous husband.

Starting Tuesday, former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson will get to hear what his wife supposedly told numerous men and women in the days leading up to her October 2007 disappearance.

Former Bolingbrook police Officer Drew Peterson (left), his missing fourth wife, Stacy, and his late third wife Kathleen Savio. Peterson is charged with killing Savio.



But Peterson faces no criminal charges in connection with whatever befell his missing fourth wife. He is up on a murder charge only in connection with the March 2004 apparent bathtub drowning of wife No. 3, Kathleen Savio.

Still, during this week's historic hearsay hearing, prosecutors are expected to prove Peterson killed Stacy in order to make her unavailable to testify, opening the door for others to recount what Peterson supposedly told Stacy about Savio's death.

At the pretrial hearing prosecutors can pull in witnesses to repeat statements Stacy made to them due to hearsay legislation passed in late 2008. The law mandates a hearing to determine the merit and relevance of the hearsay evidence.

At the conclusion of this court proceeding, Judge Stephen White will rule not only whether Peterson made Stacy unavailable to testify, but if the statements she allegedly made to others about her husband's involvement in Savio's death should be admitted at his murder trial.

The state's attorney's office has about 60 witnesses on tap to testify at the hearing, which might last longer than a month. Among these witnesses are a man Peterson allegedly tried to hire to murder Savio. Another potential star witness is Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who claims he was asked by Peterson to kill Stacy, and later helped carry her body out of the family home in a blue barrel.

Savio will also get her day in court, although it is coming nearly six years after she was found drowned in her dry bathtub. Her statements likely will come via family members who have repeatedly said Savio claimed to fear for her life, and that if anything untoward happened to her, it would be at the hands of Peterson.

A November 2002 letter Savio sent to former Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Fragale is also expected to be entered as evidence. In the letter, Savio wrote that Peterson "knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away. Or kill me instead."

One of Peterson's attorneys, George Lenard, requested that White shut the public out of this week's hearsay hearing. Lenard's motion made the case that media coverage of the hearsay proceeding would poison the jury pool.

White shot down the motion and kept the hearing open to the press and public.

Comment on this story.

www.heraldnewsonline.com

[Lorie Taylor]

Online content – Wire feeds – Illinois | State & regional
Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 | Comments (0) | Recommend (0)
Witness: Drew Peterson threatened to kill Savio
The Associated Press

JOLIET, Ill. — A one-time co-worker of Kathleen Savio says Savio told him Drew Peterson threw her to the floor one night and told her he could kill her.

Issam Karam (ih-SAHM’ kah-RAHM’) testified Tuesday at a hearing in the former Bolingbrook police sergeant’s case. Peterson has pleaded not guilty in Savio’s murder.

The hearing stems from a state law that allows a judge to admit hearsay evidence in first-degree murder cases if prosecutors can prove a defendant killed a witness to prevent him or her from testifying. After the hearing, a Will County judge will decide if jurors can hear the witness statements when Peterson stands trial.

Karam says Savio said Peterson grabbed her throat and had a knife, and that he told Savio he “could kill her there and then.”

www.bnd.com/326/story/1094490.html

[Lorie Taylor]

Joliet tackles parking during Peterson hearing
January 18, 2010 11:21 PM

Unless you’re gambling, parking in downtown Joliet can be a challenge.

So with a media horde expected to converge on the courthouse Tuesday for the start of a much-anticipated pretrial hearing in the Drew Peterson murder case, the city took action.

It is clearing spaces at a nearby employee lot and leasing them for $250 a week to media outlets whose large TV trucks officials decided would clog traffic outside the courthouse.

“The trial is drawing a huge amount of media attention,” city spokeswoman Rebecca Barker said. “All the major network stations (are renting spaces.)”…

www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/01/joliet-tackles-parking-during-peterson-hearing.html

[Lorie Taylor]

POSTED BY FACSMILEY ON JUSTICE CAFE
petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/first-peterson-hearsay-minitrial-takes-place-today/#comments



January 19, 2010 at 12:45 am | #2
Quote

From Facebook:

Dave Tortorici
has to drive 32 miles to court for Drew Peterson tomorrow morning and why? I don’t even know I met the dude like 3 times why me! This is now twice in less than a year that I got screwed for working at FRIDAY’S! WTF
2 hours ago

[Lorie Taylor]

POSTED BY RESCUEAPET ON JUSTICE CAFE:


January 19, 2010 at 8:55 am | #5
Quote

In case ANYONE who reads here thought that Reem Odeh’s “stunning” looks were not to be taken lightly, the defense team has come along and put out a special PR to remind us all of that. Rest easy everyone. I’m sure it’s been keeping a few of us awake at night with worry that she was anything otherwise. :roll:

*******