Prosecutors Ask State Supreme Court to Intervene in Drew Peterson Case
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Aug 26, 2011 9:00PM
Prosecutors have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to jump in on the murder case against Drew Peterson. Procedural rulings related to important hearsay evidence have held up prosecutors' progress, largely due to the fact that they may have missed a deadline.
An Illinois Appellate Court ruling last month limited the amount of so-called hearsay evidence prosecutors can use in court when Peterson stands trial for [Kathleen] Savio’s 2004 murder. Prosecutors contend the secondhand evidence — mostly statements Savio and Stacy Peterson made to other people — is crucial to their case against Peterson.
Peterson's attorneys were quick to say Peterson should be released from jail while the legal battle continues. Peterson has been charged with drowning his third wife Kathleen Savio, and he's been held on $20 million bail since May 2009.
“The real injustice here is Drew Peterson sitting in the Will County Jail,” Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky told the Tribune. “Without this unreliable hearsay evidence, they don’t have enough evidence to prove him guilty of anything.”