Peterson-Inspired Hearsay Law Hearing Begins

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 19, 2010 3:20PM

A hearing will get underway today in which a judge will ultimately determine which, if any, hearsay statements the jury will be allowed to hear in the upcoming murder trial of Drew Peterson. Peterson has been charged with the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. The controversial law was passed by the state legislature in 2008. The law is controversial because, well, hearsay is generally not accepted in trials [see Article VIII, page 15 - PDF]. There are exceptions, which this new law proposes to be, but it still seems to walk a fine line and, if Peterson is convicted, will surely be the cornerstone of any appeal, as will the retroactive application (i.e., the ex post facto nature) of the law (as pointed out by readers in the comments of this old post on the story).

During this hearing, according to the Tribune, around 60 people will be called to testify in regards to 15 statements, some involving Drew's fourth (and currently missing) wife, Stacy Peterson. Of particular interest is a statement Stacy allegedly made to her priest, claiming Drew admitted he killed Savio and made it look like an accident (her death was originally ruled an accidental drowning but was later reclassified a homicide in the wake of Stacy's disappearance). There are a few instances which would seem to be allowed as hearsay exceptions:

Eighteen times in two years, police were called to the couple's Bolingbrook home to respond to reports of trouble between the two, with Savio telling officers that her husband had beaten her and threatened to kill her. Peterson was never charged. Savio was charged with domestic battery and later was acquitted.

There also are court documents that prosecutors are expected to present into evidence, including a 2002 order of protection in which Savio alleges that Peterson knocked her down, ripped off her necklace and left marks on her body.

"He wants me dead, and if he has to, he will burn the house down just to shut me up," she wrote.

The hearing is expected to last about three weeks.