Posted on by facsmiley Joel Brodsky, Judge Edward Burmila, Judge Michael Powers, motions, murder charge, post-verdict, sentencing, Steven Greenberg

Post Drew Peterson Sentencing: Joel Brodsky turns on Peterson

Not 24 hours after Drew Peterson was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the killing of Kathleen Savio, Joel Brodsky was taking to the air waves to try to put some distance between himself and his one time partner-in-publicity.

On a local news show Brodsky claimed that he had never seen Peterson act or sound the way he did in court yesterday when he blurted out, “I did not kill Kathleen”, and then launched into a long self-pitying rant in his own defense.

“Maybe he’s right” Brodsky said about his one-time foe, States Attorney Jim Glasgow, who said that the outburst showed us “the real Drew Peterson”.

Brodsky also took to Facebook in an attempt to exonerate himself from claims that he had made a horrific blunder during Peterson’s trial by calling attorney Harry Smith to the witness stand. Even Judge Stephen Burmila had warned the defense that calling this witness could be risky to Peterson’s defense as he was liable to give testimony that put Drew Peterson at the scene of Kathleen’s death.

The decision to call Harry Smith was called out in Peterson’s motion for a new trial which was denied yesterday, shortly before his sentencing. Although Brodsky was took the stand to testify about his financial arrangements with Peterson, he was never questioned about the Harry Smith matter.

Brodsky wrote:

Joel A. Brodsky, Attorney at Law
2 hours ago

Here is the true story on why Harry Smith was called to testify:

Drew Peterson was convinced that we needed to impeach Stacy’s hearsay. He said that we either had to do it in by using Stacy’s alibi statement or by calling Harry Smith to testify that Stacy was trying to extort him. Drew said that if we didn’t do one or the other than he would insist on taking the stand himself. It was Drew’s right to take the stand if he wanted to, it was his decision, and we couldn’t stop him if he wanted to. We all knew that if Drew took the stand it would have been a disaster, 100% guaranteeing a conviction. Therefore if we were to have any chance of winning we had to either get Stacy’s alibi in, or call Smith, risky as calling Smith may be.

First Attorney Steve Greenberg was supposed get the alibi into evidence through one of the state police officers he was designated to call, Sgt. Collins. However, he failed to do it, and that left no choice but to call Harry Smith. I knew that Smith would be a difficult and risky witness , so instead of putting him off on some other lawyer on the team I felt that as lead lawyer I would be the one who called Smith because it was dangerous, and since I was lead it fell on me to take the risk (being a leader isn’t just a title, it means you take responsibility). Therefore, I was the attorney who called Harry Smith.

All of the attorneys on the team agreed that Harry Smith had to be called. I have both documentary and independent eye witness evidence that Steve Greenberg specifically agreed that Harry Smith should be called to testify.

I didn’t disclose this earlier because Drew’s post-trial motions were pending, and as much as I knew the argument being made was wrong, Drew was still my former client, and I didn’t want to take any action that would prejudice his chances for a new trial. Now that the motion for new trial is denied, I can let the truth about this subject be known.

What should make you mad is that Attorney Steve Greenberg knew all this and was still attempted to put the entire loss on me even though he agreed with the decision to call Harry Smith, made calling Harry Smith a certainty by failing to get the Stacy alibi into evidence, and understood that if we didn’t call him that Drew would take the stand. Greenberg’s intentional and knowing lies about me to the public and the court are reprehensible and he will be held to account for them.

Joel Brodsky has also been stating on camera that Peterson’s current defense team is abandoning his case to the State Appellate Defenders – something that Steve Greenberg denies although attorney Joe Lopez stated this morning on that same news show that he will not be a part of the appellate team (go to 03:35):

Joel Brodsky has filed a suit claiming defamation against Steve Greenberg, the Tribune company and AOL Patch.

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31 thoughts on “Post Drew Peterson Sentencing: Joel Brodsky turns on Peterson”

  1. Drew Peterson’s new life as an Illinois Department of Corrections inmate has begun.

    Peterson was transferred this morning to the Stateville Correctional Center near Crest Hill, where he will be evaluated for placement based upon factors such as his conviction, length of sentence, program needs and medical and mental health requirements.

    The Will County jail – which has held Peterson in solitary confinement since his May 2009 arrest for his own safety – had the paperwork prepared for his transfer by the time he returned from his sentencing hearing Thursday, officials said.

    The sheriff’s department, which oversees the jail, kept the former Bolingbrook police sergeant segregated from the general population there amid concerns that his high-profile case and law-enforcement background would make him a target of inmates looking to build tough-guy reputations.

    State prison officials arrived at the jail to pick up Peterson at 8:30 a.m. this morning and he left without incident by 9:22 a.m., officials said.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-drew-peterson-sentence-20130221,0,1883440.story

  2. Thanks Facs! As usual you rock!

    This is the first I’m seeing this video of Brodsky. I think everyone here knows that I have NEVER been a fan of his. Having said that, I think this is the first time I have ever seen him being somewhat honest.

    I need to digest that video for a little while. 🙂

  6. As for the video, Joel says he had never heard Drew sounding that way before but he also says that if Drew had taken the stand during the trial that there’s no doubt it would have meant a conviction so obviously he knows that Drew would have been just as antagonistic, obnoxious, self-centered and rude as he was in his sentencing statement.

    IMO, Joel is butt-hurt about Drew throwing him under the bus and he can lash out at him now because it’s no longer of any benefit to him to pretend that Drew is the “great guy” that Selig was trying to sell.

  9. Here’s another long interview with Joel from WGN this morning. He says he hasn’t talked to Drew for about 2 months. Maybe that’s why he suddenly seems so calm and sensible?

  11. WOW……………..I’m very surprised that Drew was moved so quickly to the state prison facilities! Usually, it takes some time, up to a month, to place a prisoner once they’ve been convicted.

    I haven’t watched the videos of Joel Brodsky yet, but I’ve wondered about him. It was mentioned here a few days ago that Joel may know something. He was so close to Drew for all these years, he may know or may have a good guess as to what happened to Stacy.

  12. Just read that the transfer to Statesville is normal, for physical and psychiatric evaluation. Then he will get assigned to a federal prison, meaning that he might not stay there at all. And that could take several weeks

  14. Glasgow talked about the personal attacks he suffered from the defense team. When the Illinois supreme court backed him up, suddenly the legal pundits “the wind socks” changed their direction to be in his favor.

    They play clip of Joel saying “no comment” on whether Stacy is still alive or not.

    Glasgow says if they think they can win a case, even w/o a body, they’ll go forward. Next week going to assess the situation and decide if they will go forward with a prosecution. They won’t ignore the case if they think they can prove it.

    Difficult to comment on an ongoing case, but you can convict someone w/o a body.

    Drew going after Glasgow personally in court yesterday: I was watching the tirade of a psychopath, a narcissist. He trashed everyone. A pathetic display. So glad he did it so everyone could see how he truly is.

    Lopez said, “Drew loes his children more than he hated any of the women he was ever with” Glasgow says that statement is intellectually dishonest. Absurd.

  16. I’m not sure what to make of Brodsky’s videos. I guess my guard is up, because I just never thought of him as a trustworthy, honest, or respectable person.

    On one hand, he seems somewhat honest and sincere in the videos.

    On the other, he is blaming everything on Drew. I have to wonder if that is really the case. After all, would there be this brutal feud between him and Greenberg if that were really true? If it was really Drew’s decision, wouldn’t the rest of them know this? Why would Greenberg so aggressively come after Brodsky if that were the case?

    I just don’t know. Drew can’t say anything about this. Maybe Joel is saying this now, knowing that. Plus, in one breath he says he hasn’t talked to Drew in a few months, and in the next he says “to this day” Drew knows what happened.

    Hope this is making some sense of where I’m coming from. I just don’t see this as being as cut and dry as wanting to sever ties.

  18. I agree Harley. Nothing is black and white and the fact that Brodsky seems to now be showing respect for the victims and their families, that doesn’t instantly erase the years of absolutely awful behavior on his part.

    I’d never want to say that people can’t change, or change their minds, but it’s a lot to swallow.

  20. Brodsky’s a gamesman first and foremost. I wouldn’t trust him. As for his Harry Smith explanation? I couldn’t care less. At alL.

  21. LOPEZ interview

    Did you say “Drew loves his children more than he hated any of the women he was ever with”?

    Yes, it means he wouldn’t do anything to hurt his kids.

    Did he hate his ex-wives?

    He and Kathy hated each other. They had brawls during the divorce.

    I was expecting a lot more than 40 years for Drew. 55 I thought.
    I was shocked. I must have done a good job.

    I am completely on the sidelines when it comes to the animosity between Greenberg and Brodsky.

    As soon as a notice of appeal is filed I am no longer on this case. Not doing the appeal.

    The publicity aspect was just another day in paradise for me!

    I would have had my client hiding though – away from the press.

    The sunglasses were not a staged thing. I always wear sunglasses.

    Is it the job of the lawyer to be the sympathetic one when your client is unsympathetic?

    Hard to say. Jury will look at the evidence, not the lawyer. Jury was told not to watch the media coverage.

    What about the personal attacks between defense and prosecutors and now inside the team?

    I wasn’t part of those tactics. I laid low. It’s like playing basketball. You could have dinner together the next day.

    Hard to say if charges will come regarding Stacy. Obviously Kathy was the stronger case.

  24. 02/22/2013 Sheriff / Jail / DOC Receipt
    02/22/2013 Judgment – Sentence – IDOC – Amended
    02/22/2013 CF – Minute Entry
    02/22/2013 Impounded Document-Defense Exhibits
    02/22/2013 Sheriff / Jail / DOC Receipt Amended Mittimus sent to Stateville

  25. I hope these Defense lawyers will just go away and move on to their next case (if there is one), instead of going to do the rounds of all radio and t.v. stations still wanting to blow their own trumpet.

    Joel was more-or-less-ever-so-slightly vindicated as it was shown the Defense team could’nt win their way out of a paper bag even without him –

    As Cassandra Cales said their motions for a new trial was “a whole bunch of nonsense” and that just about sums it all up.

    Drew received the justice he deserved and it was a long time coming ……..

  26. After spending nearly four years in the Will County Jail, convicted wife- killer Drew Peterson has a new home, though he likely won’t be there for long.

    Peterson was transferred “without incident” Friday morning to the Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, Will County sheriff’s officials said in a statement.

    The transfer came a day after the former Bolingbrook cop was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 drowning death of his ex-wife, Kathleen Savio.

    Peterson will receive medical and psychological evaluations at an intake center there before being assigned to a state prison to serve his sentence.

    Those assessments could be completed within a few weeks, officials have said.

    http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/18405892-418/drew-peterson-transferred-to-stateville-prison.html

  27. Had to share this great comment from the Sun-Times story:

    Brigitte Cowan 6 minutes ago

    Peterson complained about 2 bouts of skin cancer, high cholesterol and blood pressure? Well two of his wives wish they had ANY blood pressure. He killed 2 wives and he wants us to feel sorry for him that he’ll die behind bars. These two women died at the hands of the person who was supposed to love and PROTECT them, not abuse and kill them. He feels betrayed by the system, well I’m quite sure his wives felt quite betrayed by him. Only difference, he is going to prison Guilty for his actions, his wives went to their graves INNOCENT, for the sin of being married to him. I hope this man rots in prison till his dying day.

  28. “Brodsky’s a gamesman first and foremost. I wouldn’t trust him.”

    Bucket I agree with you there! I can’t believe he’s become Mr Nice Guy after all these years. Seems to me he usually has a selfish motive for anything he says or does… We’ll see.

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