Drew Peterson trial updates: Peterson's son takes name off wrongful death suit

Drew Peterson's son Kris Peterson has signed a release of his claims against his father, a move that effectively ends a pending wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kathleen Savio's family on behalf of her estate, said Drew Peterson's defense attorney Joel Brodsky.

Kris Peterson, who turned 18 on Wednesday, was in the courtroom speaking to his father this afternoon before testimony resumed after lunch.

The Savio family attorney, Martin Glink, said it's an "open question" whether the wrongful death case can proceed in civil court without Kris Peterson, who is Savio’s son.

"If that's true (that Kris wants out of the case), I guess the question is: Who's controlling him?" Glink said.

A status hearing in the case is set for September.

The Peterson murder trial has adjourned for today. Attorneys for both sides will now argue motions before Judge Edward Burmila regarding the next witness, Dr. Larry Blum, who performed the second autopsy on Savio after her body was exhumed in 2007.

...more at link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 3046.story

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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Peterson trial blog: Judge: Savio divorce attorney can't testify

August 9, 3:43 p.m. Judge Burmila says divorce attorney Harry Smith can not testify about previous divorce negotiations or what Kathleen Savio was expected to get in the divorce.

"I think to allow Harry Smith to testify to what issues were before the divorce court, is a complete distraction, and does not resolve if she was murdered," he said.

Drew and Kathleen Peterson were legally divorced but there was a pending court hearing scheduled for April 2004, to divide marital assets. Kathleen Savio was found dead just a few weeks before on March 1.

Updates at link
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-drew-pe ... .htmlstory

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

TRIAL DAY 8 (8-10-12)

STATE OF IL. VS. DREW PETERSON


Trial Day Starts in Joliet Il. - Friday, August 10, 2012 9:00AM CT

Days will be ....Tuesday Through Friday, every week until it goes to jury!!!

There will be no camera's in courtroom unfortunately so we will have to rely on twitter for information as to what is going on in courtroom & also Updates from several outlets.

TRIAL UPDATES: Chicago Tribune Breaking News
(Link to Daily Update Story)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... g&lpos=Sub

LIVESTREAMING FOR TRU TV
http://superusvox.com/index.php/specialty/trutv
or
http://livetvcafe.net/video/7Y78YR9H9DKB/Tru-TV

WGN TV - Drew Peterson trial (links to daily blogs)
http://www.wgntv.com/news/drewpeterson/




TWITTER LINKS:

IN SESSIONS.
http://twitter.com/InSession

Joseph Hosey (reporter)
Joseph Hosey@ShorewdILPatch
http://twitter.com/ShorewdILPatch

Tweets for Drew Peterson case
https://twitter.com/#!/search/drew%20...+peterson+case

Jon Seidel
Jon Seidel@SeidelContent
https://twitter.com/seidelcontent

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Drew Peterson trial updates:

Boyfriend talked to Peterson at death scene



10:45 a.m. 'She told me Kathy was dead'
Kathleen Savio's boyfriend Steve Maniaci said he and Savio had an argument on Saturday Feb. 28, 2004, because she was upset with him for not coming over to her home.
He did not speak to her the following day, and was unable to reach her on the phone Monday.

That Monday evening, he got a call from Savio's neighbor saying that Drew Peterson was at the home with a locksmith, and they were preparing to enter Savio's home.

Maniaci said he called the neighbor back a little while later.

"She told me Kathy was dead," he said.

Maniaci drove to Savio's home, where he saw Peterson standing near the street.

"(He) was underneath the streetlight, seemed to be writing a report," Maniaci said. " I went up to him and asked him what the hell happened. He said he didn't know. I said, 'Drew I hope you didn't have anything to do with this.' He said he did not. There was a little bit of small talk and then I said, 'Boy, this sure worked out well for you.' He said she would have lost anyway during the divorce."

Updates at link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 4628.story

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

WGN NEWS - Peterson Trial blog 8



August 10, 12:29 p.m. Maniaci is off the stand. Lunch break. August 10, 11:33 a.m. Defense attorney Joe Lopez is trying a friendlier approach with Kathleen Savio's boyfriend Steve Maniaci. At times he is joking and kidding with Maniaci as they go through the weekend timeline of the last weekend in February 2004.

Lopez at times seemed to be extremely harsh on Savio's friend Kristin Anderson who testified earlier this week. When asked about it later, Lopez said it wasn't personal - sometimes you have to "fight fire with fire."

Updates at link
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-peterso ... .htmlstory

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

WGN NEWS - Peterson trial blog:

'I wouldn't kill the mother of my children'

August 10, 2:20 p.m. With nearly every witness, there has been multiple interruptions in testimony so that arguments can be made by attorneys, particularly when it comes to admitting hearsay statements.

The jury has been removed from the courtroom at least four times today, clearly affecting the flow of the trial.

Jokes are being made by reporters and sheriff personnel that the jurors are wearing sneakers and will soon begin to complain about knee troubles.

August 10, 2:08 p.m. Anna Doman has told the jury that the day after her sister's death, she was sitting at Kathleen's kitchen table with her family and Drew began pounding on the door.

After a family member let Drew in, Doman said she asked him "Did you kill my sister?" Peterson replied, "I wouldn't kill the mother of my children."

August 10, 1:26 p.m. Susan Doman, Kathleen Savio's sister, has now taken the stand.

August 10, 12:29 p.m. Maniaci is off the stand. Lunch break.


Updates at link
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-peterso ... .htmlstory

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Drew Peterson trial updates:

Sister signed book, movie deal

2:55 p.m. Savio's sister signed book, movie deal

Kathleen Savio’s sister Susan Doman testified that she signed a book and movie deal that guaranteed her $30,000 if a film was made, specified that she be portrayed in a "positive" light and allowed the story to be "fictionalized" to make it more colorful.

Defense attorney Joseph Lopez asked if she now has a financial motive in seeing Drew Peterson convicted so her the book will be released.

"No," Doman replied. "This book is about domestic violence."

"This book is about you being paid," Lopez replied.

"No," Doman said.

updates at link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 4628.story

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Drew Peterson trial updates:

Peterson's former mistress testifies

4 p.m. Peterson mistress takes witness stand
Susan McCauley, who worked at a bar owned by Drew Peterson, testified about seeing Peterson at a Bolingbrook fundraiser after Kathleen Savio died.

McCauley said she gave Peterson a hug and asked how his boys were.

"Oh they’ll be fine, she was crazy," Peterson said of his ex-wife, according to McCauley.

"He said she was on antidepressants…and that she was drinking wine, that there was a wine glass found by the bathtub."

"I said to him, basically, ‘You must have a lucky horseshoe placed somewhere,’" she said. "Now you don’t have to pay child support — you get the house.

"He laughed it off and made a couple jokes."

McCauley is Peterson’s former mistress — a detail that jurors were not allowed to hear.

Updates at link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 4628.story

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

BBM

Yet, no trace of drugs or alcohol in her system at autopsy? Good staging, Drew, but I still think you missed a few things to make it more "real".......

I do think "Drew Did It" but......

IMO murder has not been proven... hinted at for sure... but hearsay and witnesses who are prejudiced against Drew... I don't see how the jury can conclude that it was murder beyond reasonable doubt

Then of course.. even if the jury accept that it was murder... who did it? I don't see clear evidence that Drew was there at the time of the death.

_________________
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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Well, Rumpole, I do agree, there's nothing concrete tying him to her death, especially since the exact time of death isn't established. It just seems everything added up together points to her death not being an accidental drowning. So if somebody did hit her on the head and put her in the bathtub to make it look like she slipped and accidentally drowned, who was it? Or is Drew just a victim of bad luck that his 4th wife mysteriously disappeared too? I do think the prosecution will tie it all together in the end. I hope!

The circumstantial evidence that Drew P. killed KS is there. But I think it might have been stronger and clearer if this trial was held 7 years ago. I have little faith in autopsies done on a very degraded body, by examiners (Baden especially) who had preconceived notions that Drew had killed KS.
Unfortunately, people do get away with crimes. Our system of justice is weighted such that we avoid convicting innocent people.. even if that means letting some guilty people go free. There is certainly reasonable doubt working for Drew at the moment.

_________________
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The autopsies bother me too, especially the first one, which would play to the defense's favor. On the other hand, do these jurors really not know that Stacy is missing, and maybe find him guilty based on the presumption he killed her (too)? That's another thing I'm thinking of. I agree, it would've been much better, and maybe more fair (we'll see when the verdict comes in) if the trial had been closer to Kathleen's death and before Stacy's disappearance.

I HOPE the jury do not convict based on missing (murdered) Stacy... that would be a travesty?

But Stacy missing (murdered) is a large part of why we all think Drew murdered Kathleen. It is certainly a good reason to look again at the Savio death... but having done that, there has to be evidence of what happened to Kathleen.... and I think they were 3 years too late to find that really.

The first autopsy was at least done with the body intact and I presume with no (few) preconceived notions. It carries FAR more weight than autopsies done on a decayed body. The body was only exhumed because people suspected Drew had murdered her.. hardly the basis for a detached and unbiased scientific examination. And Baden............... he was involved with the media hype from the outset.. he was paid by Fox news and Kathleen's family. I would not admit anything he found as unbiased evidence of anything.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

You are absolutely right. There wouldn't have been any further investigation of Kathleen's death had Stacy not disappeared and presumed murdered by Drew. You are also right about an autopsy on a decayed corpse as opposed to the initial autopsy at the time of death, and Baden ~ well, we all know he's a paid expert who is usually called by the defense and asked by the state how much he's paid to try to nullify his credibility. I wonder how it will play out this time?

I think if Baden is the answer.. then it was a contrived question.

For me I would take anything he says with a grain of salt.

The point is... the COD WAS drowning. All agree on that. The "manner of death" is not known with any sort of certainty. The injuries are consistent with the accident hypothesis according to first autopsy.. we have to accept that. The subsequent two autopsies preferred to opine that the injuries were consistent with some sort of physical attack. Really? That is their opinion, and I don't see how they can say for sure it was that. If pressed (and he will be) I think Blum would have to admit that accident is also a possibility at least. Even Baden would probably have to admit the same. Reasonable doubt abounds IMO.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

To me, it's the first autopsy that carries the most weight because it was done right after she died, and without any prejudice (such as after the body was exhumed after Stacy disappeared and Drew was being looked at as a suspect in both deaths). It is possible that the bruises on her body were caused by something other than being attacked, but to me the head laceration is suspicious being that there doesn't seem to be anything in the tub except the faucet that could've caused it. The position of her body in the tub doesn't seem to make sense if she'd hit her head on the faucet either. Now, could she have hit her head on something else in the house that would've caused a 1" laceration and not known it? And then there's the timeline ~ when did she die? So yes, I agree there's a lot of loose ends, and somebody has to put Drew at the house when she died!

Much has been said about the risks that the JURY may have been tainted by all the publicity over the past 4 years or so.

But what about the witnesses?

They too have been subject to all that has been said about the case.

Again... it seems to me that the trial should have been 7 years ago before Tracy's disappearance (murder) and the years of speculation that followed that.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light