Joliet, IL— The Illinois Third District Appellate Court had denied retired Bolingbrook, Il police sergeant Drew Peterson’s petition for a reduction in his astronomical bail of $20 million.
Peterson’s lawyer, Joel Brodsky released the following statement, "We're disappointed in the ruling from the Illinois Third District Appellate Court, but we accept the Court’s ruling. However, we are also confident that as the weakness of the State’s case is exposed over the following weeks and months we will have another opportunity to ask for a reduction in bond."
What this means is Peterson may well remain jailed during the period it will take the lawyers and the courts to digest and investigate the small truckload of discovery material that The Will County State’s Attorney has generated during their 18th Month investigation.
The actual trial of Drew Peterson is not expected to begin for at least a year or more.
I remain convinced that the paper thin case against Peterson only has emotional appeal for those who hate Peterson and more importantly lacks substance and genuine evidence.
The “Drew Peterson Hearsay Law” seems sure to fail especially when it comes to the double hearsay of the young minister, Neil Schori who claimed that Stacy Peterson told him that Drew Peterson confessed to killing his third wife.
Questions we need to explore here are complicated and mind boggling. Did the missing Stacy Peterson embellish, lie about or misstate what Peterson told her or did the talkative, tabloid informing reverend make up what he claimed to hear from Stacy Peterson?
Does allowing that type of testimony before a court violate a defendant’s fundamental right to confront and cross examine his accuser? The answer is obvious.
One thing for sure, the taxpayers and Drew Peterson are going to take a serious financial beating as a conviction will be very evasive. A serious drawback for justice is that double jeopardy will attach and prevent a retrial of Peterson should reliable evidence ever surface.
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