JOLIET — Drew Peterson’s problems are piling up, as the appellate court shot down the dismissal of a felony gun charge a local judge dropped more than a year ago.
Three appellate judges unanimously agreed to reverse Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt’s decision to dismiss the unlawful use of a weapons charge Peterson was arrested on in May 2008.
Peterson’s attorneys had argued that their client was the victim of a vindictive and selective prosecution, and asked Schoenstedt to force the state’s attorney’s office to hand over confidential communications and files so they could prove it.
Schoenstedt bought into the idea and instructed prosecutors to surrender internal documents to Peterson’s defense team. Assistant State’s Attorney John Connor refused to do so, prompting Schoenstedt to dismiss the case in November 2008.
Two of Peterson’s attorneys, Joel Brodsky and Andrew Abood, went before the appellate court in Ottawa last month to argue that Schoenstedt’s dismissal was the right move.
They lost, and now Peterson, who is already in jail on murder charges in connection with the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, has the weapons charge hanging over his head again as well.
The weapons case stemmed from Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, allegedly possessing an assault rifle with a barrel shorter than the state-mandated 16 inches.
His attorneys claim he had a right to own and carry the weapon, as he toted it while working with the Bolingbrook Police Department’s SWAT team.
The weapon, along with other firearms, were seized by the state police when they executed a Nov. 1, 2007, search warrant on his house just days after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared.
About three months later, Peterson triumphed in court and won the return of his weapons. The state police responded by revoking Peterson’s firearm owner’s identification card.
Undaunted, Peterson’s lawyers asked that the weapons be turned over to his son, Oak Brook cop Stephen Peterson. The day before Schoenstedt was to rule on this request, the state police swooped in to pick up Peterson on the weapons charge.
While the appellate court sent the case back to Will County, it was not clear when it will make its way in front of a judge. A lengthy hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson’s murder trial was expected to wrap up Wednesday. The start of the murder trial itself remains unknown.
Also, prosecutors successfully maneuvered to have Schoenstedt, the judge who dropped the gun charge, removed from Peterson’s murder case.
The gun case apparently will return to Schoenstedt’s court call, but it remains to be seen if prosecutors will move to get it heard by another judge.
Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office, declined to comment on the status of the weapons case. Brodsky, the longest serving of Peterson’s four attorneys, failed to return calls for comment.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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