Drew's Lawyer: Prosecutors Playing Games

Former police officer Drew Peterson pleaded not guilty Monday to killing his third wife, and the prosecutor in the case asked for a new judge to oversee the hearing. Will County State's Attorney James Glascow did not give a reason for asking that Judge Richard Schoenstedt be removed and the court recessed to call someone else to handle it.

During Monday's arraignment, Peterson stood silently wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and shackles. He had been jailed since May 7 on first-degree murder charges in the 2004 slaying of Kathleen Savio. Her death was originally ruled an accident.

But after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007, Savio's body was exhumed, and authorities reclassified her death as a homicide after an autopsy. Peterson, 55, has denied any involvement in Savio's death or Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Attorney Joel Brodsky said Monday he wanted Peterson's bail reduced from $20 million to less than $500,000.

"Drew has proven he is not a flight risk or danger to the community. Bonds are not supposed to be punitive, but to ensure someone's presence in court," Brodsky said on NBC's "Today."

Brodsky pointed out in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that, in the past two years, Peterson has been to such places as Mexico, California and Florida without ever trying to flee. Peterson's numerous media appearances, where he has gained a reputation for making smart-aleck remarks, could play a big role as prosecutors try to lock him up.

Peterson, of suburban Bolingbrook, has never shied from the media, seeming to relish the spotlight and often offering reporters a joke. As he was led to his first court appearance this month, he referred to his prison-issued jumpsuit as a "spiffy outfit" and his handcuffs as "bling." And that, attorneys say, could be one of Peterson's biggest problems.

"If one wife goes missing and (another) wife is dead, those aren't usually the subject of jokes," said Roy Black, a defense attorney whose clients have included Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith. "People are going to think this is a very bizarre person, who's more likely to have committed murder than someone who is in mourning."

Peterson is accused of drowning Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004 with a gash on the back of her head. Her death originally was ruled an accident, but after Stacy Peterson went missing, Savio's body was exhumed and authorities ruled it a homicide staged to look like an accident. Even if the videos of Drew Peterson's arrival in court or of his interviews don't make it into trial, they can still have an effect.

"Whether it's admissible or not is one thing ..." said Joe Tacopina, a prominent defense attorney in New York. "But it's certainly admissible in the court of public opinion, which is your jury pool."

Brodsky has said that joking around is how Peterson deals with stress. His personality is "unique, but he's honest," the lawyer said Monday.

"He doesn't try to act or change the way he is in order to come across and I think that that will resonate with the jury to show his honesty if, in fact, he does choose to testify," Brodsky said on ABC's "Good Morning America." Peterson has said he wouldn't behave any other way.

"Would it be better if I hid my head down and tried to hide my face and hunched and had tears in my eyes?" he asked NBC's Matt Lauer during a telephone interview aired Friday on "Today." "I mean, no, that's just not me."