Drew Peterson hearsay decision: Prosecution filed appeal too late

Pastor Neil Schori will testify that Stacy Peterson told him a ninja-attired Drew returned to the house the night that Kathleen Savio died and put women's clothing in the washer.

A state appellate court has decided not to overturn Judge White’s decision to bar some hearsay evidence against accused wife murderer, Drew Peterson. According to the opinion, the 30-day deadline for filing the appeals was missed.

The court found the following six statements admissible:

1. portions of a letter that Kathleen wrote to the Will County State’s Attorney’s office which described a confrontation that Kathleen allegedly had with the defendant on July 5, 2002, while the divorce proceedings were pending;
2. a redacted version of a handwritten statement that Kathleen gave to the Bolingbrook police describing the alleged July 5, 2002, incident;
3. a statement that Kathleen allegedly made to her sister, Anna Doman;
4. a statement that Kathleen allegedly made in late 2003 to Mary Sue Parks, who attended nursing classes with Kathleen at Joliet Junior College;
5. another statement that Kathleen allegedly made to Parks; and
6. a statement that Stacy allegedly made to her pastor, Neil Schori, regarding an encounter that she allegedly had with her husband on the night Kathleen died.

The circuit court ruled that the remaining eight hearsay statements proffered by the State did not meet the statutory standard of reliability and that the interests of justice would not be served by the admission of those statements.

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Read and discuss today’s opinion in the comments section.

Hearsay appeal oral arguments
Read more at Fox Chicago

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Drew Peterson attempts to stop production of Lifetime movie

Rob Lowe and Kaley Cuoco as Drew and Stacy Peterson

Drew Peterson‘s lawyer, Walter Maksym, has sent a cease and desist letter to numerous entities involved in the production of a movie based on Joe Hosey’s book, “Fatal Vows”.

I’m surprised that the letter doesn’t end with “In closing, the chicken wings at Addiction Bar and Grill are the best I ever had.”

That is to say, Peterson has never been averse to the use of his name or image in the media and was even happy to promote Joel Brodsky’s sideline business. Of course, as Maksym states in the letter, an individual does hold the rights to the commercial use of their likeness, but there are exceptions when that person is a public figure and that is probably what Lifetime/Disney/A&E will claim.

They can question the accuracy of Joe Hosey’s book all they like, but if Peterson truly had objections to it, why didn’t he go after it two years ago, when it was published? And why the bolded paragraph specifically ripping Hosey and his book? It comes off as petty and personal. Has the defense team seen the script for the movie yet to know what they are objecting to?

Sadly, I’m convinced that Peterson’s problem with the movie has far less to do with any concerns over accuracy or his upcoming trial than it does with money and the fact that he isn’t getting any money from the deal.

For a further break down and discussion please read the comments section.

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Read story at the Chicago Tribune
Read Don Babwin’s AP story
765 ILCS 1075/ Right of Publicity Act

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Drew Peterson denied bid to get out of jail…again.

Not surprisingly, Joel Brodsky’s latest attempt to spring Drew Peterson from jail while awaiting an appellate court’s decision on hearsay evidence, was denied last week.

Brodky’s motion read very much like previous bids, and even seemed to have contained a paragraph or two with outdated information cut and pasted from previous motions. Since virtually nothing about the circumstances had changed since the last request, it was pretty easy to assume that the decision would be the same this time – and it was.

Peterson remains in solitary confinement at the Will County Adult Detention Facility, where he has been detained since his arrest in May 2009. He is charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

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Read more at the Shorewood Patch

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