Derek Armstrong may have to turn over Drew Peterson tapes

Self-publisher, Derek Armstrong

Drew author not protected
November 26, 2009By JOE HOSEY jhosey@scn1.com
JOLIET — Prosecutors want a Canadian publisher who penned a book about Drew Peterson to stop playing reporter.

Derek Armstrong, the operator of Kunati Publishing and the author of the account “Drew Peterson Exposed,” invoked journalistic privilege when the state police contacted him about testifying before a grand jury in November 2008.

But prosecutors filed a motion Tuesday claiming Armstrong was no reporter when he was supposedly “spending hundreds of hours interviewing key players” in the Drew Peterson case.

According to the motion, “Armstrong was not a reporter” since he was not “collecting, writing or editing news for publication” on a full or part-time basis.

In some situations, news reporters are protected from handing some information over to police or the court. That privilege isn’t ironclad and doesn’t extend to all people who write.

Armstrong failed to return calls for comment, as did Peterson’s attorney, Joel Brodsky.

Drew loses big. Change of venue denied, hearsay law upheld in Peterson case.

Drew Peterson defense team arrives at the Will County courthouse. Photo - Warren Skalski

Hearsay law upheld in Peterson murder case
October 2, 2009 4:32 PM

A Will County judge today upheld the state’s new hearsay law, which prosecutors plan to use in their murder trial against Drew Peterson.

Under the law, which took affect in December, prosecutors plans to submit as evidence letters and statements by Peterson’s third wife, Kathleen Savio, to friends and family before she was killed in 2004.

Peterson’s attorneys have argued that the so-called “Drew’s law” violates a defendant’s 6th Amendment right to cross-examine witnesses; goes against state and federal constitutional provisions against retroactively applied laws; and “erodes the presumption of innocence” by asking a judge before the trial even starts to find that Peterson murdered Savio to silence her.

But Judge Stephen White sided with prosecutors and allowed the law to stand.

Peterson’s attorneys said they would notify prosecutors whether they intend to introduce their own hearsay evidence by Oct. 29, their client’s next court date.

Peterson, in custody at the Will County Jail in Joliet, is also considered a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

Eearlier, Peterson lost his bid to move his murder trial outside of Will County.

Peterson’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, has argued that widespread publicity would make it difficult for the former Bolingbrook police sergeant to get a fair trial in Will County.

The motion cited stories about Peterson that ran in the Chicago Tribune, CNN, Huffington Post and local television stations.

Some of the stories detailed the order of protection Savio took out against Peterson and the letters she mailed out before her death. The motion argued that they exposed jurors to “highly significant information which may not be admissible at trial.”

Peterson’s attorneys also objected to a 2008 press release from the Will County state’s attorney’s office that announced that results of an autopsy on Savio’s exhumed remains concluding her death was a homicide.

The complete autopsy was not released, only the manner of death, which his attorneys said “prejudiced the jury pool in regards to the most contested fact of the entire case — namely the manner of death.”

– Steven D. Schmadeke

Read the story at the Chicago Tribune

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Drew Peterson defense adds reinforcements to the team

Peterson defense expands team
September 17, 2009 5:27 PM

To help get a handle on some 40,000 pages of discovery documents in the Drew Peterson murder trial, the former Bolingbrook police sergeant’s attorneys have brought on a team of recent law-school graduates and third-year law students.

A court order allowing daily face-to-face visits with Peterson’s legal team was recently expanded to include Michael L. Raff, Anthony Nehme and Kendall Hartsfield.

Joel Brodsky, one of Peterson’s attorneys, said a third-year student named Melissa Anderson also is assisting.

“It’s the crème-de-la-crème,” Brodsky said of the Chicago-area law-school products, declining to say whether they are getting paid.

The team, with help from another group associated with Peterson’s Michigan attorney Andrew Abood, are about 80 percent of the way through the mountain of paperwork, Brodsky said…

–Steve Schmadeke

Read the story at Chicago Tribune Breaking News
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Court date for Drew Peterson

Looks like a new court date for Drew Peterson.
Anyone know what “return of” refers to?

PETERSON DREW W 9 1 9 402 930 09CF001048 0 MURDER/INTENT TO 2 Return of
PETERSON DREW W 9 1 9 402 930 09CF001048 0 MURDER/INTENT TO 1 Return of

I’ll update the post if and when I get any more information.

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Drew Peterson hearing delayed. Potential jurors brought into court.

Peterson hearing delayed; potential jurors called in

August 14, 2009

From Staff Reports
JOLIET — An expected hearing on a motion for a change of venue in the Drew Peterson case was delayed this morning when the judge told the courtroom he planned to bring some 240 potential jurors into the courtroom.

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

Will County Judge Stephen White said this morning that the jurors would be brought into the courtroom in groups of 60. He did not indicate if arguments on the motion for a change of venue would be heard later today.

White said he planned to give the potential jurors instructions, similar to those in any other case, about presumption of innocence and burden of proof.

Potential jurors also would be admonished about avoiding media reports about the case, White said.

Jurors also will be given a questionnaire that among other things lists some 493 potential witnesses in the case. Potential jurors will be asked to indicate if they have any connection with them.

All reporters were then ordered out of the courtroom.

Andrew Abood, an attorney for Peterson, objected to what he called a “closed courtroom.”

Karen Conti, Adamski & Conti, LLC

White replied that there simply was not room for the potential jurors and the crowd of reporters.

Story at the Sun-Times

Remember, if you have a question for Karen Conti, ask it on the board or email us. Karen will appear on Fox news on Monday to comment on the latest developments.

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Drew Peterson defense to file motion barring Kathleen Savio’s cries for help

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DECLARE “HEARSAY LAW” UNCONSTITUTIONAL

View this document on Scribd

Last night on CNN’s 360, Joel Brodsky’s newest BFF, Lisa Bloom, announced that on Monday, August 10, the defense team of Drew Peterson will file a motion (see above) asking that any “beyond the grave” statements from his deceased wife, Kathleen Savio, not be admitted into court.

Looks like they are going to challenge any citing of Public Act 095-1004 (the so called hearsay-law”) on two points.

First, they will say that the law is being used ex post facto against their client.

Secondly, they are going to claim that the law is unconstitutional in that it operates upon the idea of “Forefeiture by Wrongdoing”, meaning that if it can be shown that you killed someone to keep them from testifying then you forfeit your constitutional right to confront a witness.

Strangely, this is the third time in recent weeks that Lisa Bloom has obtained defense documents days before they are filed or made public and appeared on CNN claiming to have exclusive knowledge about the case. Is this Joel Brodsky’s way of getting around Judge Stephen White’s gag order?

During last night’s interview Bloom stated, “In my opinion, this is the strongest evidence in the case. Kathleen’s statements, ‘If anything happens to me, he did it.’ There’s no DNA evidence linking Drew Peterson to this crime. There’s no forensic evidence.”

How can Bloom make a statement like that without having seen the discovery documents? Exactly what is her role in the Brodsky “White Noise” machine?

Bloom & Brodsky discuss May 8, 2009

Transcript from Anderson Cooper 360 – August 7, 2009

“Hearsay Law” Illinois public act 095-1004

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Drew Peterson Trial Questions? Ask a Lawyer!

Karen Conti and Greg Adamski

You may remember Karen Conti as the attorney who presented the prosecution’s closing arguments in The People v. Drew Peterson, the WGN-hosted mock trial of Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. 

Karen Conti and her husband, Greg Adamski, of the law firm Adamski & Conti, host the radio show Legally Speaking on WGN-AM 720, where every Sunday they give their legal insights on current news stories, argue with each other about controversial verdicts, and interview interesting lawyers and litigants.

Karen Conti has appeared on Fox News to comment on the Peterson case, and others. In fact, Ms. Conti was recently featured on the Fox News Chicago morning show discussing Peterson waiving his right to a speedy trial.

Ms. Conti has very graciously agreed to answer the legal questions that we have from time to time. So, if you have a question about the change of venue, the jury, any motions that may be presented, or anything about legal procedure involving this case, just be sure to post it or email it to petersonstory@gmail.com. We’ll send them along and post the answers.

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Drew Peterson waives right to speedy trial. Lawyer charges improper ISP conduct towards fiancée.

Chicago Breaking News (Chicago Tribune/WGN)
Drew Peterson murder trial delayed
July 14, 2009 1:32 PM

Drew Peterson’s murder trial won’t be going ahead next month as planned, after he waived his right to a speedy trial today.

During a hearing at the Joliet courthouse, Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky told Judge Stephen White that the defense team needs more time to review some 40,000 pages of evidence.

Peterson was scheduled to stand trial Aug. 24 on charges that he murdered his ex-wife Kathleen Savio in 2004. But White canceled that trial date today, after asking Peterson whether he understood that he was giving up his right to a speedy trial.

Peterson, wearing blue jail scrubs, stared down at his lap and replied “Yes, your honor.”

He did not speak again during the hearing.

Prosecutor John Connor, head of the major crimes unit of the Will County state’s attorney’s office, did not object to the trial delay.

Drew Peterson: another hearing this friday

UPDATE July 8: Hearing rescheduled for Tuesday, July 14th.

NAME                 DATE     ROOM    TIME      CASE   
PETERSON DREW W     7  10  9  402     930     09CF001048
PETERSON DREW W     7  10  9  402     930     09CF001048

Drew Peterson will be in court again this Friday, July 10, for a motions hearing. At that time Judge Stephen White should rule on continued motions and hear any new ones.

At Peterson’s last hearing Joel Brodsky argued six motions before the judge. He asked that prosecutors be required to give more details about their theory of how Peterson killed Kathleen Savio as well as summaries of the 9,470 investigative reports provided to the defense. This was denied. The judge also denied the request that Peterson be allowed to retain evidence against him while he is in jail.

At the last hearing Judge White asked the prosecution to reveal if payment or other consideration was given to Paula Stark, Len Wawczak or Thomas Morphey in exchange for their testimony. He also agreed to enter an order forbidding the state from listening to recorded phone calls between Peterson and his attorneys; although John Connor, chief of the Will County State’s Attorney’s major crimes unit stated that prosecutors have not been listening in.

The prosecution was also asked to produce a list of the fifty witnesses most likely to be called to testify, from over 800 witnesses originally named.

Will County Circuit Court Schedule

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Drew Peterson’s would-be hitman revealed?

From Fox News Chicago

Updated: Friday, 26 Jun 2009, 10:08 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 26 Jun 2009, 9:18 PM CDT

34 year-old Jeffrey Pachter is a warehouse worker who got to know Drew Peterson in the mid-90s when they both worked for a cable wiring company, that according to Pachter’s wife.

Peterson at the time was moonlighting from his job as a Bolingbrook Police Sergeant.

Pachter, who was 18, had been charged with criminal sexual abuse for his relationship with a girl who court records indicate was 13-to-16 years old.

Peterson reportedly helped Pachter get court records that later resulted in Pachter pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

When prosecutors arrested Peterson and charged him with the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, they alleged he tried to hire a hit man in late 2003, while divorcing Savio.

Pachter’s wife, whom Jeffrey is now divorcing, said he never mentioned it at the time.

But late last year when Pachter tried to reconcile with his family, he told her all about it.

According to Mrs. Pachter, Jeff said Peterson called one night and offered him $25-thousand to kill Savio but he said no and no money was ever paid.

He only told one person at the time. That friend, she says, kept the secret until Peterson’s fourth wife Stacy disappeared, and then he went to police.

Pachter is vacation with his parents in Wisconsin.

We reached his mother by phone and she said they had no comment.

Read the story at Fox News

Thanks, Lola, for spotting this!

UPDATE June 28:

Public records show that Jeffrey Pachter was charged with a crime, paid his dues, and that the case was closed in 1995.

09-29-1995 0001 4650 TERMINATE SENTENCE – SATISFACTORILY

In the eyes of the law, Jeffrey A. Pachter “satisfactorily” paid his debt to society 15 years ago.

The public records show he has no further cases of criminal sexual abuse on his record. DuPage County records show that his only active case is that of the current divorce: Case Number 2009D 000064.

Case Title IN RE: THE MARRIAGE OF JEFFREY A PACHTER AND NICHOLE K PACHTER

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