DREW PETERSON CASE: HEARSAY STATEMENTS USED TO BACK UP CASE BASED LARGELY ON PATHOLOGICAL REPORTS RULED OUT BY APPEAL COURT; CHICAGO TRIBUNE;

"Peterson, 57, is charged with killing Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004. Officials initially said the death an accidental drowning, but authorities reopened the case after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in October 2007. He remains a suspect in her disappearance but has not been charged.

Glasgow largely has built his case around pathology reports and 13 hearsay statements that he says would allow Savio and Stacy to speak from the grave. He even pushed for a new Illinois statute -- dubbed Drew's Law -- to allow secondhand testimony at trial if the judge finds it reliable and if the bulk of evidence shows that the defendant made the witness unavailable."

REPORTERS STEVE SCHMADEKE AND STACY ST. CLAIR; CHICAGO TRIBUNE;

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BACKGROUND: (WIKIPEDIA); Drew Walter Peterson (born January 5, 1954) is a former Bolingbrook, Illinois, police sergeant who is suspected of killing his third and fourth wives. The story has received national media attention in the United States. Peterson has repeatedly denied involvement in both cases. On May 7, 2009, Peterson was indicted by a Will County, Illinois grand jury and charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Peterson currently resides in the Will County Adult Detention Center, Joliet IL, awaiting trial.

Early life:

In 1972, Drew Peterson graduated from Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois, where he ran cross country. After high school graduation, Peterson joined the US Army. In 1974, he briefly attended the College of DuPage. Peterson later moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where he trained as a military police officer.

Police career:

Drew Peterson had a 29-year career as a police officer. He began working with the Bolingbrook Police Department in Illinois in 1977. In 1978, he was assigned to Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, and in 1979, he received a "Police Officer of the Year" award from the department.

In 1985, Peterson was fired from the Bolingbrook Police Department after the village board of police and fire commissioners found him guilty of disobedience, conducting a self-assigned investigation, failure to report a bribe immediately, and official misconduct. He had been indicted two months earlier on charges of official misconduct and failure to report a bribe. Peterson was working under the auspices of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad at the time. Indictments alleged he solicited drugs in exchange for information about his agency. The charges later were dropped. Special prosecutor Raymond Bolden said at the time the charges were not provable. Peterson won reinstatement with the department in March 1986. Judge Edwin Grabiec ruled police and fire commissioners lacked sufficient evidence to find Peterson guilty of the charges. Peterson was also accused of using excessive force for allegedly breaking the thumb of an arrestee in May 2007. The charges were later dismissed on the grounds that Peterson was not present during the arrest, nor on duty that day.

Following his fourth wife Stacy's mysterious October 28, 2007, disappearance, Peterson announced his plans to retire as a Bolingbrook police sergeant as of December 2007. On November 15, 2007, the Bolingbrook Police Pension Board voted to allow Peterson to collect his pension of $6,067.71 per month, stating current law gave them no option, as Peterson had not been convicted of a crime.

Marriages:
Carol Brown:

Peterson was married to his first wife, Carol (Hamilton) Brown, from 1974 to 1980. They divorced after she learned about his infidelity. Peterson and Brown met in high school in Villa Park, Illinois, and together attended his senior prom.

Victoria Connolly;

Peterson married his second wife, Victoria (Rutkiewicz) Connolly, in 1982. Connolly has alleged a history of abuse during her 10-year marriage to Peterson, as has her daughter who lived in the household during this time, from the age of 8 to 17 years. In 2007, Connolly stated that Peterson "was a legend in his own mind". The couple divorced after Peterson started dating Kathleen Savio, who would later become his third wife.Their divorce was finalized on February 18, 1992, and Peterson married Savio two months later.

Kathleen Savio;

Peterson married Kathleen Savio (born June 13, 1963) on May 3, 1992. Their divorce was finalized on October 10, 2003. It was reported that between 2002 and 2004 police were called out to the Peterson house 18 times on domestic disturbance calls, including calls for returning children late after visitation. On March 1, 2004, Kathleen Savio's body was subsequently found in a waterless bathtub. Her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning, by a coroner's jury that included a police officer who personally knew Peterson and assured the other jurors that Peterson was 'a good man who would never hurt his wife'.

However, following Stacy Peterson's disappearance, Savio's body was exhumed and underwent forensic examination on November 16, 2007. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner who conducted the examination at the request of Savio's relatives and Fox News, concluded that she died of drowning following a struggle when her body was placed in the bathtub. The results of the official autopsy ordered by the county have yet to be released to the public. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow told the press that after examining evidence in the case, he believed that the death was a "homicide staged to look like an accident." On February 21, 2008, Glasgow announced that a pathologist determined that Savio's death was a homicide, adding that the death had been investigated as such reopening the case following the exhumation.

Rev. Neil Schori, a pastor at Stacy Peterson's church, reported that Stacy had told him that Drew had killed Kathleen Savio and had made it look like an accident and that she was fearful of her husband. Stacy had provided Drew's alibi for his whereabouts on the evening that Kathleen Savio died.

Stacy Peterson:

Peterson married Stacy Ann Cales (born January 20, 1984) on October 18, 2003. She disappeared on October 28, 2007. Stacy Peterson was officially reported missing in the early hours of October 29, 2007, after her sister, Cassandra Cales, failed to hear from her when expected. Drew Peterson claims that Stacy called him at 9 p.m. on Sunday to tell him that she had left him for another man and that she had left her car at Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport.

The last recorded words from Stacy Peterson were left on a voicemail on her father's answering machine on October 17 at 12:37 p.m., 11 days before she disappeared. The message said, "Hey dad! It's me, Stacy, I just wanted to call you and tell you I love you. I also wanted to give you my new phone number. OK, love you."

Engagement to Christina Raines

In December 2008, Drew Peterson's publicist Glenn Selig confirmed that Peterson was engaged to a 23-year-old mother of two, Christina Raines; she would be his fifth wife. On January 30, 2009, it was made public that Raines had moved out of Peterson's house. Her father, Ernie Raines, had issued an ultimatum, having her choose between him or Peterson. Raines had issued the ultimatum to his daughter because he didn't like the way Peterson began to control Christina; he was also scared that she would disappear as Stacy had. Raines moved out of Peterson's home "when she came to her senses", calling the engagement a publicity stunt designed to keep Peterson in the media spotlight. Then, in February 2009, Christina Raines and Peterson appeared on NBC's Today Show, confirming that she had moved back in with Peterson. Though his divorce from his fourth wife Stacy is not yet final, Peterson said he hopes to marry "as soon as possible". Christina Raines said her father made it clear he would not attend their wedding; she also admitted none of her friends or family support the relationship. When asked by NBC's Amy Robach if they would like to have more children, Peterson responded, "We have enough, we have 8 between us" (apparently including in the count his adult children, as there are only 6 children living in the home: the two he had with Kathleen Savio, the two he had with Stacy, and Christina's own two). Christina Raines replied, in a question-like tone, "Maybe one more?" When asked why she is with Peterson, Raines said "I love him, he makes me laugh" and claimed to have no concern for her safety.

Disappearance of Stacy Peterson:

Several leads have been followed in the investigation by Illinois State Police with FBI involvement. Four search warrants have been issued and carried on Drew Peterson's property following Stacy's disappearance, including seizure of his vehicle and Stacy's vehicle, and Drew's firearms.

Rick Mims, Peterson's long-time friend, has admitted that Drew Peterson and Mims bought three blue containers from a cable company, where they both worked part-time in 2003, and has provided photos of the containers to police. Mims had also sold his story to the tabloids for an undisclosed sum of money. Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, attempted suicide two days after allegedly helping Drew carry a large blue plastic container from Peterson's Bolingbrook home to his sport utility vehicle, fearing he may have helped dispose of the body of Stacy Peterson. Neighbors reported seeing Peterson and another man hauling a 55-gallon barrel, large enough to hold a person, out of the house shortly after Stacy's disappearance. Cassandra Cales, Stacy's sister, said she wanted Drew Peterson to take a lie detector test about his knowledge of a blue barrel or container that she said she saw in their garage two days before Stacy disappeared. Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney, has denied any container is missing from the home. There were also reports of truckers referring to the containers, but their stories were treated as not credible, after it was found they were not in the Bolingbrook area at the times they claimed.

Murder of Kathleen Savio:

On May 7, 2009, Peterson was indicted[2] by the Will County Grand Jury and arrested for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Bail was set at $20 million.[21][30] While being arrested, Peterson joked, "I guess I should have returned those library books".

In October 2009, Peterson sued JP Morgan Chase for revoking a home equity credit line that he wanted to use to pay legal expenses. His income of "nearly $109,000 per year" from his pension and Social Security was not sufficient. In July 2010, Judge Stephen White ruled that Peterson would remain in the Will County Jail for the remainder of his trial and appeals process. Prosecutors argued he could pose a danger if released.

On July 21, 2010 it was revealed hearsay statements indicating Drew Peterson killed two of his wives are not reliable enough for a jury to hear at his trial. After presiding over a lengthy hearsay hearing, Judge Stephen White issued a four-page sealed ruling in May obtained by the Daily Herald. White ruled prosecutors proved Peterson killed both Kathleen Savio and Stacy Peterson "by a preponderance of the evidence," but nearly all statements attributed to Stacy Peterson "do not provide sufficient safeguards of reliability." Stacy Peterson's statements are crucial to the prosecution's case, since it lacks other evidence.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Peterson

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"Will County prosecutors were dealt a significant setback in the Drew Peterson case today, as an appellate court refused their request to allow critical hearsay statements at the ex-Bolingbrook police officer’s murder trial," the Chicago Tribune story by reporters Steve Schmadeke and Stacy St. Clair published earlier today under the heading, "Appeals court upholds limits on Drew Peterson hearsay evidence," begins.

"In a divided opinion by the Third District Appellate court, the justices ruled the Will County State’s Attorney’s office missed the appeal deadline when it sought to overturn a trial court’s decision barring eight hearsay statements. Prosecutors contend the statements are crucial to their efforts to convict Peterson for the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio," the story continues.

"The court also upheld decisions by Judge Stephen White, who is now retired, to prohibit both evidence of other alleged criminal activity involving Peterson and expert testimony predicting the financial cost of Peterson’s divorce from Savio, according to today’s ruling.

Peterson’s lawyers described the decision as a major victory for their client.

“It’s a big win because it keeps out evidence that was unreliable,” said attorney Steve Greenberg, who argued the defense team’s position before the appellate court. “It reduces the chance of the trial being based on rumor and innuendo.”

Will County prosecutors have not yet commented on the ruling.

The case, which has drawn national media attention, has been put on hold for more than a year as State’s Attorney James Glasgow pushed for the hearsay statements to be declared admissible. The trial judge had ruled jurors could not hear the statements because they were unreliable.

Peterson, 57, is charged with killing Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004. Officials initially said the death an accidental drowning, but authorities reopened the case after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in October 2007. He remains a suspect in her disappearance but has not been charged.

Glasgow largely has built his case around pathology reports and 13 hearsay statements that he says would allow Savio and Stacy to speak from the grave. He even pushed for a new Illinois statute -- dubbed Drew's Law -- to allow secondhand testimony at trial if the judge finds it reliable and if the bulk of evidence shows that the defendant made the witness unavailable.

Though White sided with prosecutors in finding that the preponderance of evidence showed Peterson's wrongdoing, he still barred the majority of hearsay witnesses because they did "not provide sufficient safeguards of reliability."

Prosecutors can still appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court, but Peterson’s defense team believes the appellate ruling will be difficult to overturn.

“It’s clear that the state is a day late and a dollar short,” defense attorney Joseph Lopez said. “It’s a good day for Drew. It’s a good day for all of us.”"

The story can be found at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-appeals-court-upholds-limits-on-drew-peterson-hearsay-evidence-20110726,0,3446350.story

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;