Joliet, IL—For the past 18 months Illinois State Police have been investigating retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson. One of Peterson’s four wives died in a bathtub and yet another is missing. I have no problem with cops and prosecutors doing their sworn duty by vigorously investigating these two matters.
Drew Peterson was called a murder suspect by officials long before they had minimal probable cause to suggest that. Peterson had had numerous search warrants served on his home and vehicles. He’s had property seized and kept by police. Peterson has cooperated with and not obstructed this investigation.
Prosecutors took special steps to influence the Illinois legislature to make a special law that would allow them to arrest and charge Peterson with murder by allowing third-party hearsay evidence at trial. Of course this untested law will get full scrutiny now. Making special laws for specific defendants is also unconstitutional.
Drew Peterson has not been charged with capital murder that would negate bail being set. Instead of a standard bond, an unheard of $20 million dollar bail has been ordered. That outrageous bail can’t possibly stand appellate review should that be sought.
Generally the law allows for those higher bail amounts in cases where the proof is evident or the presumption is great or the defendant has somehow demonstrated that he is a flight risk. Those factors are not present so a reasonable bail is called for here. My thoughts are the very highest bail should not exceed $250,000.00 allowing him to be released for %10 percent or $25,000.00 in cash or property.
There can be no question Peterson knew they were looking to jail him. He had more than ample opportunity to flee the jurisdiction and chose not to do so. Earlier police and prosecutors charged Peterson with a bogus gun law violation and Peterson never missed the chance to appear in court and seek clearing his name. The case was properly tossed out. Peterson stayed put.
Peterson has children, a pension and strong ties to the community. Peterson has never been convicted of any crime at all.
The Illinois State police were told by Peterson’s lawyer, Joel Brodsky he’d surrender Peterson any time they want him. Not only did they take Peterson down like a fugitive, they invited TV news crews to film the grand event.
The Will County Sheriff’s department knew Drew Peterson’s lawyer had arranged a continuance on the arraignment. The Sheriff ‘s department chose to hold a media driven Red Carpet Perp Walk for Peterson anyway. They paraded him before TV cameras with unusually high security. Handcuffs, belly chains, leg irons and a special chaining connecting them all were applied to Peterson along with a bright red jumpsuit.
Two very portly county jail guards took the very unusual step of parking an unnecessary distance from the courthouse prisoner receiving door then held both of his arms so they could display Peterson rather than simply bring him to court. It was a silly exercise to say the least.
Why all the special treatment you ask? Peterson unlike the vast majority of defendants has steadfastly spoken up for himself, and proclaimed his innocence to the point of hiring a publicist. TV appearances and his highly visible effort to move on with his life have obviously angered officials, family members of wives number three and four and many members of the public that can’t consume enough of this news story.
Peterson’s efforts proclaim his innocence and move forward with his life has been branded as arrogance. That happens a lot with accused suspects that are later exonerated. What’s the big deal here? Peterson has an serious obligation to his children to make all the money he can so seeking work doing TV shows and such is very reasonable.
The Peterson case is a full blown circus now and the question is, with all the special treatment can he get a fair trial? Stay tuned.
There is one additional issue here, Peterson is now incredibly famous. The cops and prosecutors working this case know they too will win fame now too. This always affects the outcome of high profile cases in a negative way.
20 comments:
"Prosecutors took special steps to influence the Illinois legislature to make a special law that would allow them to arrest and charge Peterson with murder by allowing third-party hearsay evidence at trial."
Can we say Bill of Attainder??
It was only a matter of when and where this would happen.
I am glad he is behind bars.
I have no opinion of his guilt or innocence, mainly because I do not have enough facts.
I have several cases going to trial over the next two months myself and there most important to me.
However the. admissibility of 3rd party testimony that you mentioned, is unacceptable.
Therefore I will say NO to that.
I'm just a seeker of the truth.
I'm not a Drew fan... but as a kid I loved the Nancy Drew mystery novels.
My comments to your post was the photo.
Those two morbidly obese cops are flat out disgusting.
They make Drew appear to be in shape next to those two whales.
Those twp fat boys are not cops. They're Will County jail guards.
Paul I stand corrected.
If their not cops then their just two morbidly obese huge disgusting insulting fat jailer/white guys.
Would Peterson help himself by NOT yucking it up for one and all? Or can he just not help himself?
Just wonderin'.
Jail guards in Calif are know as correctional officers with the Dept of Corrections. (CDC)
They are peace officers too.
They also make well over 100,000.00 each year to babysit inmates.
Jail guards or correctional officers; we pay their taxes and they make too much an ought to be disciplined in their pathetic weight.
California is broke because the pay their jailers $100,000.00 plus benefits. They are peace officers there.
Will county, IL can’t afford that kind of money and have to hire whatever fat ass walks through the door.
They are not peace officers and will get pinched for carrying concealed weapons off duty. There training is minimal too.
He had it coming !!!!
Steve
He is getting the treatment, but he is guilty as hell. They are going to try and make something stick, and "I" believe this is going to come down to forensics.
And yes the jail guards are a disgrace to any uniform.
Crimefile said...
Those twp fat boys are not cops. They're Will County jail guards.
May 09, 2009 2:00 PM
Actually, in Will County they can rotate out of the jail onto the street and become "road deputies." Often, they get hurt on the road and land back in the jail.
I've spent time with many of these guys and would not hesitate to work a beat car in 007 with any of them.
/s/ 28-year CPD guy
They're going to lose this case because of changing the law to allow third-party hearsay and because of the bond issue. Just shows how drastic they are.
Fat guys will probably be protected in the new hate crimes bill.
Click on link to see the benefits of being lean.
This skinny black cop does a smooth use of force on this not 'yet' fat white guy.
LAPD chief Daryl F. Gates was a strong leader who make it very clear that
1 fat cops were unacceptable.
2.Male cops do not wear earrings to work unless your under cover.
3.You know a mans attitude by the spin shine on his shoe.
Under Gates command officers had to do PFQ exams every Friday at roll call.
Gates speech above
Deputy /Correctional Officers in Will County actually go through the same hiring process as a Deputy / Police Officer. The only diffrence is that you only need a high School education to be a C.O.The training is 18 weeks long for a C.O. , it is 23 weeks for a cop. They are paid around $40,000.00 annually (to start).About 300 people apply each time there is a test for C.Os in Will County and on average only about 10 percent actually make it.So not anyone can or will be hired for this thankless job. The weight issue is a national problem....there are overweight people everywhere and in all professions.Why are we not concentrating on the real issue at hand.....the guy in the middle Drew Peterson.
Well I Myself Think That There Is NOT Enough Evidence & His Bond Is Way To High Im Not Saying He Didnt Do It But My God 2 Million Bond For Wat Evidence Do They Really Have I Think He Should Be OUT WITH HIS KIDS. Oh And All Of A Sudden They Come With A Murder Warrent Come On Now OMG hE wILL bE oUT!!!!!!!!
The Peterson case has been a full-blown circus since the moment Drew stepped out with that flag bandana on his face and then went on the Today show saying such horrible things about his missing wife instead of showing an ounce of concern for her. Heck - he enjoyed being a "celebrity' so much he actually autographed a cap that first visit before money to support his family was an issue. (I still don't think that is an issue as his pension alone is more than most families earn although his court costs are going to hurt his wallet for sure.)
I have no pity for him having a high bail and the way the police took him in. There were conflicting reports out there about him going peacefully (as his lawyer said) and him wanting to fake a hostage situation (as his former friend said). They were obviously not ready to take that risk. Drew would have gladly helped do the same to any other suspect.
I think it is wrong that the media was tipped off though. I'd like to know who the tipster was - a police officer? a grand juror? who?
I do hope they have evidence and witnesses that we are not aware of that won't be subject to the controversy of what we know about from the media.
One thing we can say for sure is that it seems as though the time is upon us that Drew will get his day in court. He has a right to defend himself to the best of his ability. I just hope he improves his ability as so far he's just dug his hole deeper and deeper every time he opens his mouth.
why is everyone worried about the weight of the police men there just doing there jobs, as for drew who knows if he is guilty or not i havent heard enough evidence to say one way or another. and yes i dont think he is gonna get a fair trial most people you hear talk about him already found him guilty just because his other wife is missing
it would be crazy if she really is out there somewhere and waiting for him to get convicted of murder then come back
if something really did happen to her im so sorry, but i dont know theres no evidence to prove anything that i have seen yet.
maybe it will all come out in the court room
The condition of the guards is as pathetic as the case against Drew Peterson.
If we can’t hold fair trials without changing the rules to make getting convictions easier why bother to hold trials at all?
“Drews Law” was passed for prosecutors to make unlawful hearsay evidence lawful. Just because prosecutors have pushed this kind of garbage in other states does not cease to make it offensive.
That’s like laws prosecutors have pushed declaring alleged victims of certain people so they are not excluded from the courtrooms during testimony from their friend’s testimony. The problem is they tailor their bogus stories together to frame the defendants.
Putting the label of victim on people is the job of a jury through a just verdict. In many cases the so-called victims turn out to in fact be the criminals. An example would be a burglar shot by a homeowner. Burglars are often called victims when they are shot.
You’ve declared Peterson guilty before he was tried. How about the clowns who have declared him guilty long before he was even charged?
I guess many people hate our Bill of Rights. Maybe you should move to North Korea where the government never loses a case.
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