Joliet, IL--In a ruling handed down this morning by Will County, Circuit Court Judge Richard Schoenstedt he refused to dismiss a felony Indictment against retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson for, Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
The issue is the length of the barrel on Peterson’s Colt, AR-15 rifle he used in connection with duty on the department’s SWAT Team. The Illinois State Police claimed the barrel was 3/8 on an inch too short of the required 16 inches for civilian ownership. Apparently the judge did not agree with defense lawyer Joel Brodsky’s position that a federal law in fact allowed such possession.
The ruling came after a motion made last month by Peterson’s lawyer to dismiss the allegation based on a federal law that allows such weapons to be in possession of police officers.
Now this case moves into the discovery phase and it’s expected that the defense will seek to have Peterson’s rifle examined and measured by a firearms expert. I have repeatedly reported that it’s really unlikely that the barrel is 3/8” too short. Nobody would go to the trouble of cutting that small amount of steel and re-machine the threading. There is no possible benefit to the owner of such a weapon.
Judge Schoenstedt set a pretrial hearing on this matter for August 28.
It seems clear that the judge avoided making a final dettermination and is simply allowing the case to move forward. It looks like the defense request in not by any means dead.
Los Angeles--The L.A. City Council has stepped in to control the diet and nutritional choices for residents of certain poor neighborhoods. The council was concerned about obesity and all those diseases that are enabled through poor nutrition. Yesterday, they banned new fast food restaurants in or near poor neighborhoods.
I’m trying to figure out why only folks in the poor neighborhoods are worthy of having the food police? Perhaps the concerned folks on the City Council could bring more laws that would mandate good table manners and brushing teeth after every meal while they’re at it.
What makes politicians believe they must interfere with absolutely every aspect of our lives? Where in the Constitution did they suggest America’s free enterprise needed to be strangled by red tape, regulations and outright bans?
With the unlimited lawmaking ability of city councils, county, state and state federal government we will soon have killed every tree in America to make enough law books. Is this really what our founding fathers wanted?
Los Angeles 11:42 AM.–Being in a multiple story building while the building begins shaking is unsettling. I’m always prepared for any emergency but felt foolish that I was wasting time looking for my wallet, keys, cell phone and gun so I could escape a potential disaster. Quick! I need my laptop and cameras! There’s no time! Had this been a big one I was toast and knew it.
The building went up and down numerous times before it began to rock back and forth. It seemed like little more than 2 minutes but soon the quake slowed down and stopped and that gave me hope.
I also knew the odds were slim that this was going to hit really big. After a deep breath and a quick phone call I went outside and saw the wide smiles of people, mostly UCLA students that were glad to be alive and not dealing with property damage.
At this time we all seem safe and things are getting back to normal. I can’t help but wonder how they weathered this quake at the downtown L.A. pre-trial hearing of record producer, Phil Spector that was most certainly going on during the quake. Now that hearing and results will be a small news story being pushed aside for our seismic excitement. I know from my contact there that the trial has been pushed back until early October and most serious defense motions have yet to be ruled on. I don’t think that new date is set in stone either.
Just when you think you’re in control of your world Mother Nature and God can send you a message.
Update: The quake did not strike until the Spector hearing was over and he was out of the building. I thank my kind source for that tidbit.
We in America were protected by our brilliant founding fathers better than most will ever realize. We have a Bill of Rights that most folks don’t really know about or think are only protections for serial killers.
A regular visitor to this blog was just sworn in as a citizen. He is a refugee from the United Kingdom. He sought citizenship because he admired our freedom that exists in few countries on this planet. He sent me a link to a Tucson, AZ blog link, Disloyal Opposition.
I got a lot of questions as a firearm instructor about cooperating with police after someone justifiably shoots another in self-defense. I put an entire half-hour into my presentation to cover this subject. I always get lots of argument about my instructions to students about the four words I tell them to say, “I want a lawyer.”
The emotionally charged critics of my advice tell me, “No! Tell the cops you shot him because you were in fear of your life!” Confession to the police that it was you who shot that man may be good for your soul, but too often for the police it’s a rock solid confession. The cops are not psychic and until you told them they could only guess who shot who.
These critics of my advice to stay silent quickly counter with, “You have to trust the police!” Then I hear another familiar refrain, “If you got nothing to hide you can talk to the police!”
Most prosecutors in big cities hate gun-rights and self-defense and will enjoy putting you on trial for your life for killing even the most vicious criminal. To avoid being jailed for one to three years and being bankrupted you really have no choice but to shut up.
That jail time and monetary loss will happen even if you’re found Not Guilty! I have seen many of my clients walk out of jail after an ordeal like that destitute with their family shattered by divorce and a dark future. Your life will have changed.
Don’t take my word for it but that of a really dynamic speaker, Professor James Duane of the Regent University School of Law.
When you finish Professor Duane’s video it’s time to watch a long time police investigator George Bruch of the Virginia Beach Police Department explain the reality of Professor Duane's message.
Unfortunately the good professor and detective left an incredibly important point out of their presentations. Anything you say to anyone other than a spouse, physician or lawyer can also be used against you.
Parents, children, siblings, friends, co-workers and cell-mates will be subpoenaed to testify about those things you may have told them. It gets to be fun for prosecutors when your own loved ones try to help you by exaggerating or mistakenly repeating whatever you may have said to them in front of a jury.
Don’t talk to police or anyone but your lawyer about anything at all while you’re under investigation.
We Americans are so candyassed and super-sensitive about such terms as Nigger, Kike, Slope, Wop, Spick, Polack and Mick.
You can call people the most vile of insulting names and nobody cares until race is involved. The question I have is who is more ignorant, the person using the words or those reacting or more often over-reacting to them.
I’m not sure why that too many African-Americans use the ‘N” word on each other but absolutely go bananas when they hear that word said by members of other races.
Fighting words? Hardly, just pure and simple bad taste. Civilized folks avoid those words. These are only words and we give these words and those who use them raw power they don’t deserve.
If people would stop programming themselves to be offended and remember the, Sticks and Stones” rhyme instead the nasty racial epithets those ugly words would soon disappear.
Los Angeles—Yes, I do serious criminal defense investigations along with other endeavors. When I’m retained to work on a defendant’s behalf I’m on the side of exploiting reasonable doubt and mitigating despicable acts that people do. I prefer the matters where a client is innocent any day and there are an abundance of them to handle.
If I’m retained on a criminal case I cannot also blog about it. No defense lawyer would allow that and when it was discovered any judge would impose one of those rare gag orders. The defense attorneys would be very unhappy about that.
As for those high profile criminal cases I showcase here are for the most part matters where reasonable doubt and serious questions of innocence are very real.
Private investigators like me exist for one simple reason; people lie and do so freely even while under oath in courtrooms. That includes government witnesses and people designated by police as victims. Our job is to learn the truth for our clients so it can be exposed to civil and criminal juries.
Whose side am I on when I write about retired police sergeant Drew Peterson or record producer Phil Spector? That’s an easy answer. I’m on the side of the presumption of innocence, Due Process and fair trials. That in no way makes me a political Liberal. I subscribe to the concept that it’s better that we let a dozen killers go free rather than destroy the life of one innocent person.
Every day in America, prosecutors have been getting more frightening laws passed that make convicting innocents easier. They are done under the bogus disguise of “Victim’s Rights”. Closer examination reveals there is little for victims but sneaky ways to admit hearsay evidence or to inhibit or prevent solid defense investigations.
Victims and witnesses have no stake in the outcome of criminal trials. The accused have their entire lives on the line even if they face only a few years behind bars.
Criminal trials are held for only three reasons. One is the defendant is innocent and demands his day in court or two, that the state has a really week case. The third is where the prosecution has demanded the maximum penalty such as death or life without parole and the defendant has nothing to lose by making the government prove their case at a trial.
Most criminal cases are settled in plea agreements with the defendants getting a bargain in the process. Criminals could shut down the whole system in a single day by all demanding a trial in unison. The entire system would collapse and never recover.
I’m on the side of Freedom where the Secret Police can’t just arrest people and make them disappear. I’m on the side of Liberty where we don’t punish everyone for the criminal acts of a few.
Many people would rather hold trials by gossip. Whoever screams the loudest or puts on the best show wins. That worked for the Taliban but it won’t work for me. I refuse to apologize for my support of our entire Bill of Rights.
Bollingbrook, IL--I received a comment from one of the Illinois State Police self described informants, Len Wawczak. Wawczak claimed that he and his wife used Illinois State Police eavesdropping equipment during a seven month period to somehow implicate, retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson in the mysterious disappearance of his fourth wife Stacy Peterson.
For obvious reasons I can’t reprint his remarks for the libelous statements and gratuitous profanity contained in the response.
Here is an excerpt from his comment where Wawczak defends his Bankruptcy with an explanation that is in no way supported in the official court records.
Here is the excerpt: “I would like to talk about the bankruptcy for a few though , if anyone knows anything about filing bankruptcy then you would know that my case was filed May 11th 2004 and dismissed July 14th 2004 ( 2 months later ) that's not even long enough to do a chapter 13 which by the way is a pay-back plan ( so I had plans on paying everyone back ) and not chapter 7 where the creditors get nothing . At any rate the case was DISMISSED two months later because I had worked out a deal with the creditors on my own and seen no reason for me to pay a court appointed trustee extra money every month to do what I could do on my own . The reason I was so in debt is because my mother had come to live with me and she was very sick ( I didn't want to send her to a nursing home , the thought of that made me feel horrible ), we had home hospice coming in a few times a week and her doctors worked with us as well . We took care of my mother in my home for years and as you all know insurance company's don't pay everything, so between that and my mothers prescriptions it just ate me up money wise ( money in the bank - gone - refinanced the house 2 times , etc ) will I deny that I filed bankruptcy 1 time ? No I wont , I chose to do the right thing which was take care of my mother in her last stages of life so if this makes me a terrible person then I guess I am .”
Here are additional documents that should set the record and Mr. Wawczak’s personal credibility straight.
I have wondered what it would be like for Drew Peterson’s Children to be caught in the middle of the investigation and search for Stacy Peterson. I think we can all agree that no child deserves punishment for what their parents are merely suspected of doing. With respect to Peterson’s children the government ‘s conduct must be reigned in somehow.
I personally take no position on the guilt or innocence of Drew Peterson for any crime. America’s presumption of innocence is something that I’m thankful about. It’s the hallmark of a free country along with free speech and the right to keep and bear arms.
If police can establish a crime and probable cause to make an arrest that is their mission that we all must respect. A suspect’s Due Process rights to a fair trial will follow. Proven guilt will be punished under our justice system.
During an interview with Peterson's lawyer, Joel Brodsky he expressed concerns about continuing police conduct and the emotional damage that's being inflicted on the children. Brodsky wrote his own appeal for for Peterson’s children and I have his permission to publish it.
Click on scene picture to enlarge. Bolingbrook, IL.—Self -described Illinois State Police informant, Len Wawczak is in custody of Bolingbrook police after he was arrested for battery on Drew Peterson outside the Hydrogliphics barber shop on Schmidt Rd in Bolingbrook just walking distance from Peterson’s home, The attacked happened shortly before 2:00 PM.
Witnesses claimed to have seen the "wired" informant attack Peterson while Peterson's back was turned. Reportedly neither Peterson nor his attacker required emergency medical treatment. Wawczak should be eligible for release on the standard $1000.00 bail after he completes the booking process and his fingerprint clears a standard warrant check.
Update: Bolingbrok police have asked the Will County State'sAttorney for approval of felony charges. If they are approved the bail must be set by a judge in Joliet before Wawczak can be released.
Second update: Bollingbrook police have infact charged Wawczak with a single count of misdemeanor battery on the signed complaint of Drew Peterson. Peterson has left the Bolingbrook police stattion. After processing Wawczak may post his bail if he has the dough.
Bolingbrook, IL.-- Police informants Len Wawczak and his wife Paula Stark are no strangers to courthouses. Their credibility may well rest with their past endeavors.
I’m still looking for additional documents to post here on the couple who claim to have bugged Peterson for seven months in an effort to solve the case of Stacy Peterson. These are record summaries from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Wiil County Circuit Court In Joliet, Illinois.
Memphis, TN—Police officers across the country have quickly discovered the power of information.
Today’s technology has given individual officers the power to unwrap their own agency’s dirty laundry and questionable practices. The tool is a simple blog. Unlike my blog, most police blogs not run by the agencies but are authored by anonymous officers. They are sure to become the object of wrath if their identities are discovered. There are several such blogs listed in my sidebar. Most I listed are located in the Chicago area.
The two most widely read police blogs are Chicago’s Secondcitycop and New York’s, NYPD Rant. The Rant editor was uncovered and quickly fired. Secondcitycop’s fate has been better, so far.
Memphis police officials are trying to uncover the authorship and readers of MPD Enforcer 2.0.
That popular site has brought sunshine to an otherwise secret world angering city officials and police administrators.
The Memphis Police Department has started a fight by trying to subpoena the names of the site’s authors, contributors and readers. This fight goes straight to the heart of free speech and privacy of all Americans.
Taxpayers can find out about wasted public funds, events by administrators that bring costly and unnecessary lawsuits and misdeeds by officials that they could cover up in the past.
Some police officials complain that officers use the sites to conspire about unlawful job actions like work slowdowns or to libel them personally.
Los Angeles—Lawyers for both sides are setting the stage for the second trial of legendary record producer, Phil Spector on the charge of 1st Degree Murder. This is in connection with the tragic death of Lana Clarkson.
Lana Clarkson a total stranger to Phil Spector, agreed to leave her job at the Hollywood House of Blues and go to Spector’s home spending the night.
Clarkson’s false eyelashes were left on a bathroom sink, and there is solid DNA evidence that she willingly engaged in sexual activity with Spector.
Sometime in the morning hours Clarkson who was addicted to and clearly under the influence of narcotic pain killers and alcohol suffered an intra-oral gunshot wound and expired in a chair.
The real question is, how did she get that way? I have extensively written about this case from the beginning and believe as does the defense that this wound was self-inflicted and not a crime. The absence of blood and tissue spray on either sleeve of Spector’s white dinner jacket tells the real story.
Some have painted a persona of Clarkson, a failed actress as angelic when the contrary was the case. Clarkson was a deeply troubled woman, who like most actors failed in Hollywood. Actor or not, substance abuse has never helped anyone’s career.
Clarkson was manipulative and conned her friends out of money as she raided their medicine cabinets in search of drugs for her addiction. On the night in question Clarkson seemed to be engaged in an act of sexual commerce with Phil Spector.
I suspect that Clarkson’s death was as a result of either suicide or her own drunken horseplay with a loaded gun. The horseplay angle makes the most sense to me personally.
In Spector’s life there were women, lots of them. Because Spector is a wealthy and famous record producer that attracted too often gold diggers, scam artists and many shady ladies. Spector has an absolute demonstrated weakness for the sexual power women enjoy over men.
That brings us to the Bimbo Parade. Over many decades Spector has had encounters with some women that were never worthy of sustained police investigation, prosecution or criminal conviction. These events did not cause any civil court to weigh in on claims against Spector. Some incidents led to unflattering articles in the gossip rags and unauthorized biographer's work products that cover Hollywood.
California passed a heavily lobbied law sought by prosecutors that’s been rejected by most other states. That led to the creation of 1101(b) in California’s evidence code. It allows prosecutor’s to bring in any testimony from anyone that alleges similar conduct involved in a current prosecution. There is no requirement of timeliness negating statutes of limitations, or any independent evidence.
1101(b) created a way for prosecutors to force defendants to stand trial for additional crimes never charged or that have never met the minimal required burden of Probable Cause. During the first trial these 1101(b) witnesses testified about accusations from more than 30 years ago. The most bizarre part of their testimony was that they were threatened by Spector with guns and continued to work for and sleep with him until Spector lost interest in their company.
Was being jilted or fired by Spector what’s really behind these claims? Perhaps it was the cash some received from tabloid publications that encouraged these women to disparage Spector’s character.
If the charge is murder I ask how a past event that did not even result in injury should now be placed into evidence as a suggestion of similar behavior to murdering? Judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed such material to taint, confuse and pollute the jury’s fact finding process.
One woman from the first trial, Diane Ogden has since died of a drug overdose and videotape of her former testimony will be played as the jury is kept in the dark about her drug use and mental condition we now know existed.
Spector’s lawyers have filed their strongest motion yet to eliminate this testimony that’s grossly unfair to Spector. The problem is that Judge Fidler has made nearly every court ruling he could against Spector and seems to do everything he can to convict the defendant. I don’t expect Judge Fidler will do the right thing now either.
Here is the 1101(B)related Defense motion now under consideration by the Judge:
Joliet, IL--In a ruling handed down this morning by Will County, Circuit Court Judge Richard Schoenstedt he refused to dismiss a felony Indictment against retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson for, Unlawful Use of a Weapon. 
