Can Drew get fair trial in Will County?
GUN CHARGE | His lawyers may try to move it elsewhere
Ex-Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson might be too famous to stand trial in Will County, his attorneys said Thursday.
They said that as a result, they might seek to move his Dec. 8 trial on a felony weapons charge out of Will County.
(Sun-Times News Group file)
Intense news coverage of the October 2007 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife and the mysterious 2004 death of his third wife could make it tough for him to get a fair trial on the weapons charge, his lawyers said.
"Given the amount of media attention, it's going to be very difficult to find jurors who don't know anything about Drew Peterson," Peterson attorney Andrew Abood said after a court hearing in Joliet.
His lawyers said they haven't decided yet whether to ask Judge Richard Schoenstedt to move the trial -- and probably won't until after a Sept. 18 hearing on what evidence will be presented during the trial, which they said could last two weeks.
Much of that time could be consumed in selecting jurors who haven't formed an opinion of Peterson, Abood and co-counsel Joel Brodsky said.
"There's a public opinion about Drew that is slanted in a certain direction," Abood said.
Peterson has been named a suspect in the Oct. 28 disappearance of 23-year-old Stacy Peterson. Police also have reclassified the 2004 drowning death of third wife Kathleen Savio as a murder.
Drew Peterson hasn't been charged in either case, but the 54-year-old former police sergeant was charged earlier this year with owning what authorities contend is an illegally modified assault rifle. Police seized it during a November search of Peterson's Bolingbrook home a few days after Stacy Peterson vanished.
Peterson, who left Thursday's hearing without comment, was entitled to own the weapon because he used it for his police duties, Brodsky and Abood have argued.
Prosecutors declined to say if they would oppose a request to shift the weapons trial out of Will County but said Peterson and his attorneys helped stoke the extensive media attention.
"This office is not responsible for Mr. Peterson's notoriety," said Charles Pelkie, a spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. "The ability to limit his exposure to the media lies with his attorneys."
Asked where he might want to have the gun trial moved, Brodsky chuckled, then replied: "Maybe China."