May 11, 2009 5:42 am US/Central
Attorney Hopes To Get Peterson's Bond Reduced
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Drew Peterson mug shot, taken shortly after he was arrested.
Will County's Sheriff's Department
Joel Brodsky, Drew Peterson's lawyer, hopes to get Drew Peterson's $20 million bond reduced so his client can get out of jail and await trial at home.
Brodsky returned to Chicago Sunday for the first time since his high-profile client was charged with murder on Thursday. Brodsky talked to reporters at O'Hare International Airport about Peterson's arrest.
"They did not make a motion for no bond, which was right to do, therefore indicating a bond should be set and if a bond should be set, it should be a reasonable one," Brodsky said.
Brodsky maintains reasonable bond would be about $500,000. If bond is reduced, Brodsky says he thinks Peterson could raise the money.
In addition to the bond issue, he also told CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli he plans to challenge a new evidence law.
Many people have taken to calling that law the "Drew Peterson law" because they believe it was specifically drafted to allow the words of Kathleen Savio to be used against Drew Peterson in a court of law, even if they're not able to do so in person themselves.
"It's just simply a bad law," Brodsky said. "It allows rumor, backyard gossip and innuendo come into a court of law masquerading as evidence."
And if he wins that fight, Brodsky seems confident that he can win an acquittal. "We're very confident we'll have a good outcome on this case," he said. "It may not even see trial. If we win on the hearsay, it may simply go up simply on appeal."
If hearsay is allowed, statements about alleged death threats that Savio says Drew Peterson made against her could possibly be heard in open court. Savio's sister in November 2007 said her late sister lived in constant fear of Drew.
In a letter written to an assistant state's attorney in 2002, Savio wrote that Drew "pulled out a knife that he kept around his leg and brought it to my neck. I thought I'd never see my boys again. I just told him to end this craziness and for some reason he pulled back."
Some legal analysts say such statements shouldn't be allowed because there's no ability to cross-examine Savio.
But backers of the hearsay law wrote it specifically so that testimony can be heard if a witness was murdered in order to prevent that person from testifying.
"In essence, what you're basically allowing the victim of a violent crime to do is testify from the grave," Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said last week.
Brodsky also gave CBS 2 some insight into Drew Peterson's new life as an inmate.
"I'll be seeing Drew later on today at the jail," Brodsky said. "Drew absolutely continues to maintain his total complete innocence in Kathleen Savio's death."
Peterson has yet to have any of his children pay him a visit in the Will County Adult Detention Center because he'd prefer they not see him behind bars. But Brodsky has spoken with his client on the phone and his law partner has already met him face-face-to-face.
"He's doing fine in jail; he's in segregation, which means not that he's away from everybody – he's not in solitary confinement, but he's not in general population," Brodsky said.
Brodsky is not sure he will ask for change of venue because he says Peterson is well known in the community. He thinks there are some positives to Drew Peterson being so well known and having spent so many years as a law enforcement officer.
The stepmother of Kathleen Savio says her family is relieved by murder charges against Peterson.
Savio was in the process of divorcing Peterson when she was found dead in a bathtub in 2004. Her death was initially ruled an accident, but a second autopsy later revealed her death was a homicide. Peterson remains jailed on charges of first-degree murder in the 2004 death of Savio. Peterson's also been characterized as a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.
In her first interview since Peterson's arrest, Marcia Savio told the Chicago Tribune that Kathleen lived in fear and that the family suspected she was abused.
A judge continued Peterson's scheduled arraignment to May 18 because Peterson's attorneys couldn't attend Friday's hearing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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