Drew Peterson bail reduction is denied

Associated Press
Chicagotribune.com
June 6, 2009

CHICAGO - A lawyer for Drew Peterson says an Illinois appeals court has denied a petition to lessen Peterson's $20 million bail.

Attorney Joel Brodsky expressed disappointment in the ruling from the Illinois Third District Appellate Court in a statement late Friday. Brodsky says there may be another chance to request a reduction in bail.

He says what he calls "the weakness of the State's case" will become clear...

Vigil Planned For Anniversary Of Caylee's Death

Event Slated For June 16June 1, 2009

wesh2.com

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Some of the many people who helped search for slain toddler Caylee Anthony are planning a vigil to mark the one year anniversary of her death.

A source told WESH 2 the vigil will be held June 16 -- the day investigators believe Caylee died...

Organizers hope to hold the event at Jay Blanchard Park in East Orange County. The event will include a balloon release and communal prayer...

As for the new member of Casey Anthony's defense team, Andrea Lyon...and her sister, Rachel, have produced controversial documentaries covering media, race and their relationship to the death penalty.

In two documentaries produced by her sister, Lyon has taken the position that the media unfairly portrays African Americans, and that stereotype contributes to people of color being dealt death sentences unfairly...

Casey Anthony is not a person of color, but her defense team has cited negative coverage as one reason to move the trial out of Orange County. Lyon said her first priority is to convince the judge the evidence is not there to warrant the state seeking death.

New Attorney: No Casey Anthony Trial By October

Judge Delays Decision On Jail Video

June 1, 2009

wesh2.com

The newest member of Casey Anthony's defense team said there is no way Anthony's trial will start in October.

Andrea Lyon, a professor at DePaul University College of Law, was introduced at a hearing Thursday. Lyon is to handle death-penalty matters.

Lyon, who has requested the time to get up to speed on the case; also said she will prove the case does not qualify for the death penalty. She said motions will be filed in the next few months showing that the state does not have sufficient evidence to prove that Anthony's case is a death penalty case. Life without parole would be ok with me, too.

Thursday morning's hearing on the release of a jail video of Anthony ended without a decision.
Prosecutors argued that they have not had enough time to review and response to the new motion. Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland also wanted to give attorneys for media outlets seven days to argue for the release under the state's public records law. Anthony’s attorney filed the motion late Wednesday laying out arguments for why the jail video of Anthony should be sealed...

Strickland also heard arguments from several people who have objected to the defense's request for their phone records, including Roy Kronk, the former meter reader who found Caylee's remains. The judge is requiring Baez to amend the motion to limit the amount of information he is seeking...

The jail video was made on the day a child’s body was found in December 2008. The child was identified later as Anthony’s daughter, Caylee.

In his motion, attorney Jose Baez argues that the videotaping was orchestrated to “get some reaction to the discovery of Casey Anthony’s remains believing that it was evidential in some way.”

Baez said the video also captured part of his meeting with Casey Anthony in jail that same day. Although there is no sound on the video, Baez claims it is a violation of Casey's right to attorney-client privilege.

Also Thursday, Baez will argue why he should be entitled to subpoena a sweeping amount of information from a number of key players in the case; much of it revolves around telephone records.

Just this week, one of the people subpoenaed, Casey's former fiancée, Jesse Grund, filed an objection in court saying Baez' subpoena is too broad and would constitute an invasion of privacy.

Others, including Casey Anthony's friend Amy Huizenga and the man who discovered Caylee's remains, Roy Kronk, have filed similar objections...

Judge limits Drew Peterson publicity

By DON BABWIN

Associated Press Writer

Chicago Tribune

June 3, 2009

JOLIET, Ill. - A judge on Wednesday sought to control publicity of the Drew Peterson murder case, after prosecutors complained the former suburban Chicago police officer and his lawyers have turned the case into a media circus.

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Will County Judge Stephen White ordered Peterson's lawyers to give him a list of family, friends and attorneys that Peterson calls from the Will County Adult Detention Facility. If Peterson wants to call somebody who is not on the list, he has to get permission, White said.

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White also ordered that all attorneys in the case must notify him and the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of any interviews and send copies of press releases. "If you are going to do an interview, I would like to be informed (beforehand) as to the time and place," White said.

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The judge's order came a week after Peterson called a radio show from jail and cracked jokes about prison showers, a "Win a Conjugal Visit with Drew" contest and the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio...

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Both Peterson and Savio's family have hired publicists. The publicity threatens the ability for a fair trial, said Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, who said he has limited speaking out on the case. "This is the place to put a cap on it," he said of pretrial publicity. "I'm trying to protect the jury pool here."

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Brodsky countered that he needs to be able to talk to the media, saying publicity might prompt potential witnesses to come forward with relevant information. Glasgow also sought to limit Peterson's contact visits after reports surfaced that he had played cards with one of his attorneys in jail. White denied the motion, but he made it clear that he didn't think playing cards was appropriate and Peterson would have to follow jail rules. "There won't be any more card games," said Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas after the court hearing.

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The judge set an Aug. 24 trial date. Brodsky, who can ask for a continuance, said it was a realistic date as long as Peterson is in custody. White also ordered the names of witnesses and potential witnesses be sealed. In some cases witness lists are public information. There are several hundred witnesses and potential witnesses, Brodsky said after court.

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Glasgow said he expects the defense to move for a change of venue because of the publicity. Brodsky did not address the change of venue, but has said the defense is considering that. He said Wednesday that solitary confinement has been difficult for Peterson, who has been held away from other prisoners after his May 7 arrest. "It has an effect on his psyche, no question about it," Brodsky said. Ahh. tsk.

Now Drew Peterson's lawyers want new judge

Criminy...

May 30, 2009
BY DAN ROZEK

Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter

A week after a Will County judge refused to lower Drew Peterson's $20 million bail, defense attorneys asked Friday that Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes be removed from the case because of bias.

They also asked that Judge Daniel Rozak not be assigned to the ex-cop's high-profile murder proceedings.

The motion contends the veteran trial judges are "prejudiced against the defendant."

Defense attorney Joel Brodsky called the legal move routine in major murder cases. Peterson, 55, a retired Bolingbrook cop is charged with drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Peterson has been in a Will County jail since he was arrested May 7. At a May 22 bond hearing, Policandriotes refused a defense request to slash his $20 million bail, which requires him to post $2 million to be released from custody.

During that hearing, defense attorneys contended Policandriotes had signed documents related to the Peterson-Savio divorce and asked her to consider voluntarily withdrawing from the case. She refused, saying she didn't remember having any role in the divorce case. The only thing I have found is a motion to dismiss the restraining order against Drew. Kathleen agreed and her lawyer concurred that, having filed for divorce in the meantime, the restraining order was built in to the divorce so was no longer needed on its own. Policandriotes DID sign the motion to dismiss. It was very standard procedure. I think they REALLY don't want a woman judge, with Peterson being such a prick and shameless womanizer.

Will County prosecutors filed a similar substitution request that resulted in Judge Richard Schoenstedt being removed from the case. Defense attorneys initially balked at having Policandriotes assigned to Peterson's case, but recanted and agreed to accept her.

These substitutions mean both prosecutors and defense attorneys have used up their allotted challenges, so the next judge assigned likely will end up presiding over the case. Will County Chief Judge Gerald Kinney will assign a new judge, likely at Peterson's June 17 court hearing.

ROBERT ABNER FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

Abner found guilty on all counts

BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Photo from http://www.kansas.com/
Jaime Oppenheimer

The Wichita Eagle

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Right: Robert Abner is taken out of the courtroom after he was found guilty on all 10 counts for robbing, kidnapping and sexually assaulting Joyce Patterson last summer.
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Joyce Patterson and Larry Patterson held a press conference after a jury found Robert Abner guilty on all 10 counts for robbing, kidnapping and sexually assaulting Patterson last summer. Joyce chose not to speak at the conference.

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WICHITA - "She was on a mission."

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Larry Patterson was telling reporters how his 49-year-old wife, Joyce, responded since being robbed, kidnapped and sexually assaulted last summer while working as a Viola (Vi-OH'-lah)convenience store clerk.

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Joyce Patterson declined to speak Monday after a jury found Robert Abner guilty of all 10 charges against him. Her husband spoke at a brief news conference after the jury announced its verdict -- following about one hour of deliberation.

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Asked what he meant by "on a mission," Larry Patterson said that during his wife's abduction, "She promised herself if she got out of that, she was going to make sure he paid for what he had done."

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In great detail, she told detectives and a sexual assault nurse/examiner what her abductor had done to her. Then last week, she testified in open court for more than three hours.

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"Joyce has been strong as she could be through this," Larry Patterson said. She was the victim. But in some ways, she was on trial.

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In closing arguments Monday, one of Abner's defense lawyers, Deputy Public Defender Jama Mitchell, accused Joyce Patterson of not being a credible or consistent witness.

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Mitchell conceded that Abner had robbed Patterson, but said Patterson consented to sex and made no effort to leave Abner's rental home during four days there.

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Mitchell said Patterson had an unhappy home life and that Abner catered to her by bringing her food, drinks and cigarettes and rubbing lotion on her feet.

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Marc Bennett, the prosecutor, dismissed that contention as ridiculous, saying that Abner's home was no spa.

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The Pattersons, who have been married 27 years, sat together in the courtroom Monday holding hands. Bennett defended the Pattersons' marriage in court, saying that of the hundreds of people investigators talked to, no one said the marriage was unhappy.

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Larry Patterson said after the verdict that he understood that the public defenders have "a job to do, just like the District Attorney's Office does."

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To get guilty verdicts on every count was "phenomenal," he said. He thanked the prosecutors, the investigators who had worked on the case and women from the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center who supported the couple.

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The jury found Abner guilty of one count of aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy and six counts of rape. Now that Abner has been convicted, District Judge David Kaufman said he was replacing Abner's $500,000 bond with no bond, saying he considered Abner a "flight risk and danger to the community."

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Abner, 40, is set for sentencing July 10. Mitchell said her client could face 40 years in prison.
Months before the robbery, Abner had stopped at the store in Viola, in southwestern Sedgwick County, while working in the area as a carpenter, according to testimony.

Earlier Monday, in closing arguments, Bennett asked the jurors to remember: "There is a difference between submission and consent."

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According to Bennett:

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Joyce Patterson's ordeal began June 23 when Abner came into the store wearing a disguise and held what she thought was a handgun. He grabbed her by the hand and forced her out of the store. He told her to run to his car and not to look at him. He made her get down on the floor of his car.

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The defense argument that she simply went with him didn't make sense, Bennett said. Abner took her to his house in north Wichita, where he sodomized her and raped her -- six times over a couple of days, Bennett said.

A gynecological exam showed injury, but the defense team had countered that the injury was limited to a small abrasion. If she was consenting, Bennett asked, "Why does he have to hogtie her?"

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Although investigators would later recover a BB handgun from Abner's car after police arrested him in Oregon, the gun Patterson saw during the robbery looked dangerous to her, Bennett said. She "believes it's a gun, and she complies." "What choice does she have?"

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After keeping Patterson bound at times and blindfolded off and on over four days, Abner was moved by seeing her family plead on television for her safe return, and he dropped her off outside her pastor's home, according to testimony.

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In her closing argument defending Abner, Mitchell said the evidence showed that Patterson followed Abner to the car and that he couldn't understand why Patterson didn't go into the store bathroom, as he ordered, so he could make a "clean getaway."

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Once at his house, she never tried to leave or seek help, or thought about it, even though she had windows and doors to escape by and had access to a weapon nearby -- scissors on a night stand, Mitchell argued.

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After Abner dropped Patterson off, investigators asked her leading questions to get the answers they wanted, Mitchell said. Mitchell argued that Abner -- described by prosecutors as a menacing 300-pound man at the time of the robbery -- was an "overgrown adolescent" who told Patterson "fantastical stories."

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"Find him guilty for what he did," Mitchell said.

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After the jury found Abner guilty on all 10 counts, Larry Patterson said, "The system does work."

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Sentencing is set for July 10.