West Suburban Bureau

(CBS) Drew Peterson will have to do without his guns and cars a little while longer after a judge denied his request to get those items back from police.

Police seized 11 guns, two cars and other items from Peterson's home during their search for his missing wife, Stacy Peterson.

Peterson says he wanted those items returned -- in particular his vehicles and a computer -- because it's been a financial strain on his family to have to rent a minivan and buy a new computer.

CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports that a Will County judge ruled Monday that police can keep those seized items as evidence.

Drew Peterson said Monday night he is OK with that.

"Judge Rosek's a good guy," Peterson said. "I've known him for many years, and I'm sure he's making the best decision for all concerned."

Drew Peterson was not present for Monday's hearing, which was over in a matter of minutes. The ruling means Peterson won't be getting his guns or cars back anytime soon.

"We're a little bit disappointed in the judge's ruling he didn't release these items today," Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky said.

He had sought to force the state to return Stacy Peterson's Pontiac Grand Prix and Drew Peterson's GMC Yukon Denali. Brodsky also sought the return of 11 guns Drew Peterson owns, as well as some computers and a number of Stacy Peterson's personal effects.

CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller sees only one reason for Monday's ruling.

"He's saying the police have the right to have a reasonable amount of time to go over this, to check out the car, to check out the property," Miller said. "You never know what could come up in the future that you may to look at something else in the car."

The judge said he will re-examine the property seizure in late January.

"To have the judge keeping the state police and the grand jury on somewhat of a short leash to make sure they don't keep the property longer than necessary is a good thing," Brodsky said.

He also submitted a letter requesting that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate potential violations of state grand jury secrecy laws, stemming from alleged leaks to the media.

Brodsky claimed the leaks have tainted the potenial jury pool for Drew Peterson if he's ever charged in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, or the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

"The prejudicial reports are to such great extent and repeated on an almost daily basis, that he cannot receive a fair trial anywhere in the United States," Brodsky said.

Miller says that the appointment of special prosecutor more than likely will not happen.

"There has to be concrete proof that the police or the prosecutor have done something illegal," Miller said.

Drew Peterson has been named a suspect in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, but has not been named as a suspect in the death of Kathleen Savio.

"That's kind of putting the cart before the horse," said Will County prosecutor Charles Pelke. "There are no criminal charges in this case and at this point here it would be inappropriate to speculate on criminal charges or who would or would not get a criminal trial."

Brodsky said he does not expect Drew Peterson will ever be charged in either case. He also said he will return to court in about a month for another attempt to get his client's belongings returned to him. 

Also Monday, the family of Kathleen Savio, Drew Peterson's third wife whose 2004 accidental death is being re-investigated as a possible homicide, said they are considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Drew Peterson.

 

Even with reports that Stacy Peterson confided in a church pastor that Drew Peterson told her he had killed Savio, Miller says Savio's family would have an uphill legal battle.

 

"They have a couple of problems, one there is generally a two-year statute of limitation to file a lawsuit such as that, although there are some exceptions to that rule, but more importantly, you still have the problem, you can file a case, but you still have to prove it," Miller siad.

 

Miller says it's too early to tell if charges will be filed against Drew Peterson in either his wife's disappearance or Savio's death, but one thing is very clear – investigators are being extra careful that they get this investigation right, so that they know they have a case they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt if it goes to court.


CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli and Mai Martinez contributed to this report.

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