Peterson Gun Charge Ruling Today

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 30, 2008 3:00PM

Bolingbrook's Most Notorious Ex-Husband™ will appear in court today to hear if a Will County judge will toss the gun charges brought against him or if the case will be allowed to proceed. Peterson was originally charged with felony possession of an unlawful weapon back in May after officials seized an assault rifle which had a barrel five inches shorter than allowed by law and a grand jury eventually indicted him on two counts.

Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, stands by the claim that the gun was legal because Peterson used it for his duties as a member of Bolingbrook's SWAT team. According to the Trib:

[Brodsky] said state police had the weapon in their possession before Peterson's retirement, so there was "no basis for this charge."

However, the weapon "was illegal, and it was privately owned," a spokesman for the Will County state's attorney's office asserted at the time an arrest warrant was issued for Peterson on the gun charge.

For their part, the Bolingbrook Police Department claims they did not issue Peterson the weapon and that a personal weapon must still follow the law. Lt. Ken Teppel said, "If it's a personal weapon, he is still bound by state law, federal law."