Peterson lawyer: Cop hit on Drew's fiancee
JOLIET — A state police detective took a break from the Drew Peterson case long enough to ask the alleged wife-killer's young girlfriend out on a date, Peterson's lawyer said after a court appearance Tuesday.
Attorney Joel Brodsky said, "I'll confirm that," when asked whether a state police investigator asked out Peterson's 24-year-old girlfriend and supposed fiancee, Chrissy Raines.
Brodsky also said he believes state police protocol "does not include dating a witness as a proper method" of investigation.
Brodsky said the detective asked Raines out to "dinner and a movie."
Trooper Mark Dorencz of the state police failed to return calls for comment on Brodsky's allegation.
Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.
His fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007. He faces no charges in her disappearance, but remains in custody at the Will County Jail on a $20 million bond.
Raines' father shocked
Raines' father, Ernie Raines, was shocked by Brodsky's claim.
"This is news to me," Ernie Raines said. "What is Joel trying to do?"
Ernie Raines thinks he has an idea.
"So this is what (Brodsky's) going to use for his defense, my daughter and this detective," Ernie Raines said before lashing out at the lawyer for messing with "the wrong family."
"I'd like to see him face-to-face. I would kick the (expletive) out of him right now, and I wouldn't worry about going to jail," he said. "If I see that (expletive), I would take him apart. He's a (expletive) scumbag just like Drew."
Chrissy Raines had been visiting Peterson in the county jail, but her father said he put a stop to that.
"When I went over there, I told her (Peterson's) a scumbag. I told her she's ruining her life," Ernie Raines said. "I told her, 'Don't go over there anymore.'"
'Ridiculous assertion'
Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said there was no truth to Brodsky's claim.
"This is an absolutely ridiculous assertion," Pelkie said.
"You have two officers who have had multiple professional contacts with Christina Raines. They told her they would leave the door open to talk to her at any point, whether it was during business hours, whether it was after business hours, whether it was over coffee, lunch, dinner, whatever made her comfortable," he said, stressing that two investigators were always present with Christina Raines and calling their offer to meet with her "good detective work."
"For anyone to say that this was anything but a professional offer is preposterous and disingenuous," Pelkie said.
Trial delayed
Brodsky confirmed the story about the state cop supposedly asking Raines out after a Monday morning court hearing in which he threw in the towel on his demand for a speedy trial.
"We have over 40,000 pages of discovery that's been tendered to us. Some of it we didn't get until the last few days," Brodsky said of his decision to capitulate and postpone the murder trial originally scheduled for Aug. 24. A new date for the trial has yet to be set.
"We can't digest all that information and be ready by the end of August," he explained.
Peterson will return to court Aug. 14, at which time Brodsky said he will dispute the constitutionality of the hearsay law passed last year under which prosecutors hope to introduce evidence against Peterson.
Brodsky said that during the Aug. 14 court appearance he also will attempt to get the case taken out of Will County and moved to another jurisdiction.
Brodsky said the locals are too biased against Peterson and that "the further we go from Will County the less people have formed opinions."