Drew's lawyers want new judge
MURDER CASE | Claim bias related to role in divorce
A week after a Will County judge refused to lower Drew Peterson's $20 million bail, defense attorneys asked Friday that Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes be removed from the case because of bias.
They also asked that Judge Daniel Rozak not be assigned to the ex-cop's high-profile murder proceedings.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
The motion contends the veteran trial judges are "prejudiced against the defendant."
Defense attorney Joel Brodsky called the legal move routine in major murder cases. Peterson, 55, a retired Bolingbrook cop is charged with drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Peterson has been in a Will County jail since he was arrested May 7. At a May 22 bond hearing, Policandriotes refused a defense request to slash his $20 million bail, which requires him to post $2 million to be released from custody. During that hearing, defense attorneys contended Policandriotes had signed documents related to the Peterson-Savio divorce and asked her to consider voluntarily withdrawing from the case. She refused, saying she didn't remember having any role in the divorce case.
Will County prosecutors filed a similar substitution request that resulted in Judge Richard Schoenstedt being removed from the case. Defense attorneys initially balked at having Policandriotes assigned to Peterson's case, but recanted and agreed to accept her.
These substitutions mean both prosecutors and defense attorneys have used up their allotted challenges, so the next judge assigned likely will end up presiding over the case. Will County Chief Judge Gerald Kinney will assign a new judge, likely at Peterson's June 17 court hearing.