Steph Watts Talks About Peterson Case

The People vs. Drew Peterson began in earnest Monday, with Peterson pleading not guilty to charges that he murdered his third wife and prosecutors asking for the judge's removal from the case. Neither was a surprise. Peterson has denied he had anything to do with the 2004 drowning death of Kathleen Savio and the Will County state's attorney's office was not happy with Judge Richard Schoenstedt's dismissal of felony gun charges against Peterson late
last year.

But the motion for a new judge -- which delayed a request by Peterson's attorneys to ask for a reduction in his $20 million bail -- and Peterson's attorneys' plan to fight the motion signaled that the two sides will fight each other whenever they can. "It's nothing but gamesmanship," Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, said of State's Attorney James Glasgow's motion for a new judge. "It shows the state does not want to try this case on the merits."

Glasgow's office would only say in a two-page document that it wants Schoenstedt replaced "on the ground of prejudice against the State ..." Brodsky said he would press Glasgow at a hearing on Thursday to explain his reasoning. Schoenstedt dismissed the gun charges in November 2008 after prosecutors refused to hand over internal documents between their
office and the Illinois State Police that led to their decision to arrest the former Bolingbrook police sergeant. Will County prosecutors told the judge such a move would open a "flood gate" for future cases.

Even a mundane request from Brodsky asking for daily visits between Peterson and his legal team was met with a long pause from Glasgow before he ultimately agreed. Also looming is a fight over a new state law passed after the 2007 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, which allows a judge to admit hearsay evidence in first-degree murder cases if
prosecutors can prove a defendant killed a witness to prevent them from testifying. The law should be struck down because lawmakers passed it specifically to put Peterson behind bars and it is also unconstitutional, Brodsky said. Several members of Savio's family, as well as relatives of Peterson's missing fourth wife, Stacy, attended the hearing.

Stacy Peterson's disappearance prompted authorities to re-examine the death of Savio, whose body was found in a dry bathtub with a gash on the back of her head. Originally ruled an accident, Savio's death was reclassified as a homicide after her body was exhumed and an autopsy conducted. Peterson's numerous media appearances, in which he gained a
reputation for making smart-aleck remarks, played a role in Monday's hearing. While the 55-year-old Peterson, wearing a blue jail-issue jumpsuit with both his feet and hands shackled, did not make any comments, members of Savio's family said later that he'd waved to Savio's sister, Sue Doman. And, said her son, Michael Lisak, he looked at family members "almost in a mocking way."

Brodsky disputed that contention. And Peterson, who shortly after his May 7 arrest held up his hands to reporters and jokingly referred to the handcuffs as "bling," did not make any obvious gestures or facial expressions. Even one of Savio's relatives said Peterson's demeanor had changed since his arrest. "He's been walking around for over a year with a smug smirk and now it's gone," said Savio's niece, Melissa Doman. The next argument will be over Brodsky's plan to ask the judge to reduce Peterson's bond to under $500,000.
Before the hearing, Brodsky said that since police named Peterson a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance in late 2007, he has traveled to such places as Mexico, California and Florida without ever trying to flee.

With a home in Bolingbrook, where he lives with his four youngest children, and other relatives in the area, Peterson is not the kind of flight risk or danger to the community that would
justify a multimillion dollar bond, Brodsky said. The defense has not decided whether it will ask for a jury or bench trial but Brodsky said he was "leaning strongly" toward
seeking a jury from another county. He also said he doesn't know if Peterson will testify on his own behalf.