Peterson trial blog: Peterson attorney on Savio death: 'It's an accident'

September 4, 1:32 p.m. Joe Lopez going thru a list of possibilities that could have contributed to her passing out. Lopez speculated she could have had a seizure, heart problems and told the jurors there were times where Kathleen Savio self medicated. Toxicology results came back negative for Kathleen Savio.

September 4, 1:30 p.m. Defense now on Dr. Mary Case. She is just one of 15 forensic neuro- pathologists in the country. Lopez says although she examines brains, she didn't examine this one and questioned why the state hired her. Lopez said she is not more qualified than the other experts and said that case played down the head injury when she said it couldn't have knocked Savio unconscious. "Look at the gash in the back of her head, it is the size of the grand canyon. You could stick your fist in there." That comment drew a few gasps in the overflow room. Dozens of times, Lopez has told this jury it was an accident and nothing but an accident. He then told the jurors, "who cares what Neil Schori says, who cares what Anna Doman says, who cares what Harry Smith says, "It doesn’t matter." According to the instructions, the jury has to first conclude this was a homicide before they consider if Drew Peterson is responsible.

September 4, 1:10 p.m. Here are a few examples of the defenses response to the state's case - Forensic expert testimony: "Autopsies gone wild." That is what Lopez called the autopsy done by Dr. Michael Baden. Baden had testified last week that there was a Fox News producer videotaping the third autopsy. Today, Lopez referred to Baden as the "showbiz doctor," Regarding the rare number of bathtub deaths: Joe Lopez said, “It’s a weird accident, people win the lottery with higher odds that that. It happens." Lopez told the jury the statistics that every 1.6 people die per one million from a bathtub fall. "She was the one." Alleged threats made by Drew: Lopez told jury that Savio's sisters "never told the coroners inquest he threatened to kill my sister."

September 4, 12:53 p.m. Joe Lopez is attempting to tear the state's case apart piece by piece. Reminding the jury that when Savio was found in the tub, one of the first things Peterson said was, "What am I gonna tell my kids?" Lopez also said he didn’t agree with the state's theory that items around the tub would have been knocked around or disturbed if Kathleen Savio slipped and fell. "He would have had to consult forensic experts to make it look like an accident. That¿s ridiculous." "They are trying to nail jello to a wall," Lopez said."It's an accident, pure and simple.

September 4, 12:45 p.m.The judge sustained the objection, jurors are back in the courtroom. Lopez picked up his closing by telling the jurors why Drew Peterson didn't immediately go into the house on March 1st 2004. "He had a court order, not to go in the house," Lopez said. He said Kathy was given possession of the house during the divorce.

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

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The sidebar ends. “If there’s 300 million people in the United States, then about 300 people a year die in the bath tub, in the United States. Blum and Mitchell, according to Dr. Baden, missed the diaphragm . . . three of the State’s witnesses disagreeing among themselves . . . the State’s own witnesses contradict themselves. That’s not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. [Dr.] Mary Case, who doesn’t believe with anything unless she wrote it. You think she’s biased? She’s an expert in shaken baby syndrome . . . what’s her specialty? She examines brains. She didn’t even examine the brain here; why’d you hire her? . . . she didn’t do an examination of the brain, so that particular specialty she didn’t use in this case . . . she presumed Kathy was conscious when she fell, and then said the head injury wasn’t enough to cause a loss of consciousness . . . this book is in her library, but it’s wrong, because it wasn’t written by Dr. Mary Case? She disagrees with the book, because she didn’t write it. We got to her admit, though she didn’t want to, about a paper she wrote, in which she said there can be a head injury even from a padded surface . . . Dr. Jentzen explained it to you in step-by-step detail . . . look at this book, this is a real book! Written by Dr. [Jan] Leetsma, right here . . . look at the gash on the back of her head! It’s as big as the Grand Canyon! You could stick your fist in there! Don’t you think that knocked her out? Look at the photos! They’re confusing an accident with a homicide, just like this book says . . . the book that sits in the Mary Case library. Why does she have this book? Because it’s an authoritative treatise on the subject. Her opinion is not anymore authoritative than the opinion of any of the other forensic pathologists . . . she’s just as qualified as the others. If they can’t prove it’s a homicide, who cares what Schori says, what Anna Doman says, what Harry Smith says? If it’s an accident, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s got to be a homicide. And they can’t prove that . . . all they’ve shown you is an accident.”

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In Session “Dr. DiMaio . . . he don’t [sic] work for FOX; he don’t {sic] use Steph Watts to film autopsies, for Girls Gone Wild.” Objection/Sustained. “He [DiMaio] goes to the U.N. . . . they chose him to look at victims of war crimes. They chose him! . . .you don’t need that much water to drown. She slipped down into the tub, which the water made even slicker.”

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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It must be proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest level of proof in a court in the United States of America . . . who were her two best friends? It was Mary [Pontarelli] and Steve {Maniaci] . . . not one word about threats. Basically, Kathy made it up after she got the summons . . . if Drew went into that house without her permission, all she had to do was call up Harry Smith and get Drew held in contempt of court for violation of a court order. That would be enough right there for the court to take action. Never happened. Because she made it up! That raises a reasonable doubt right there . . . Steve Maniaci, not one word; you saw Maniaci, you think he’d stand for that? Isn’t the person you tell you’re terrified the person you’re with all the time? He never said she kept a knife under the mattress; he was the person ON the mattress. . . . Steve loved her, he adored her. And she never told Steve once about this stuff? That’s ridiculous. She made it up . . . don’t you think if it happened she’d get on the phone to Mary and say, ‘That SOB just came over here, and you know what he did to me?’” Objection. The State asks for a sidebar.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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The sidebar ends. “Again, these are the people in the circle of trust. The hearsay instruction; basically it says the statement rests upon the credibility of the person who said it. The two most trusted people in the world you would have expected her to tell, she didn’t do it . . . that raises credibility right there . . . it’s an accident. This bath tub’s a hard surface; it’s not a marshmallow. Anna Doman says, ‘My sister told me a hundred and fifty million times her husband was going to kill her.’ So what does she do? She invites him over to the luncheon after the funeral. Does that make any sense? . . . isn’t that ridiculous? Preposterous? Does that make any sense to anyone? . . . she didn’t say one word, not one word . . . not one word! . . . not one word about any of this. She didn’t even know the specifics of the divorce. ‘Promise to take care of my boys’ . . . she didn’t do anything for those boys. Remember the brief case? According to her, Kathy said it would tell the world what happened to her. What does she do with it? She puts it in the garage, where it collects dust . . . you didn’t see one document out of that briefcase. It was empty! Susan Doman, she got the movie contract. She has a movie and a book in the works, pending the end of the trial . . . she gets to have the final say in this movie, and she gives the producers the right to make it more colorful. Well, you know what? It’s not going to be colorful, because the darn briefcase is empty! It’s got to be a juicy story. And an accident is not a juicy story. The only movies they make about accidents are airplane movies, or train movies . . . not about someone who slips and falls in a bath tub.”

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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They are speculating about what happened . . . because it’s an accident, not a homicide! . . . if you’re going to fall like that, something’s going to get compressed, and it’s her toes; she’s longer than the tub. That’s what DiMaio told you; that’s what Jentzen told you. And more importantly, Jentzen and DiMaio know what to look for. And they said these are not defensive bruises . . . all we know at the end of the day is that it’s an accident.”

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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“If it was a Sunday, it would make sense that she was found with her cross on; maybe she wanted to go to church . . . the State can’t tell you whether she had a seizure or not . . . while we’re throwing out speculation, like the State does, how do we know she didn’t have a seizure when she stood up? We know she would change her medication without their [her personal physicians] advice . . . remember Dr. Neri said he treated her for cervical vertigo? That was a State’s witness who told us that. She took aspirin, which could have continued to her passing out. Steve Maniaci said she bruised easily . . . and we talked about the orthostatic hypotension; your body is hot, and it’s trying to cool itself by dilating your blood vessels. So when you stand up, you feel dizzy or weak . . . that could be a contributing factor, along with a slick surface, which is the surface of the bath tub. A the end of the day, all we know is it’s an accident . . . Jentzen, DiMaio, and Spitz all said that it was an accident.”

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

The sidebar ends. “Again, these are the people in the circle of trust. The hearsay instruction; basically it says the statement rests upon the credibility of the person who said it. The two most trusted people in the world you would have expected her to tell, she didn’t do it . . . that raises credibility right there . . . it’s an accident. This bath tub’s a hard surface; it’s not a marshmallow. Anna Doman says, ‘My sister told me a hundred and fifty million times her husband was going to kill her.’ So what does she do? She invites him over to the luncheon after the funeral. Does that make any sense? . . . isn’t that ridiculous? Preposterous? Does that make any sense to anyone? . . . she didn’t say one word, not one word . . . not one word! . . . not one word about any of this. She didn’t even know the specifics of the divorce. ‘Promise to take care of my boys’ . . . she didn’t do anything for those boys. Remember the brief case? According to her, Kathy said it would tell the world what happened to her. What does she do with it? She puts it in the garage, where it collects dust . . . you didn’t see one document out of that briefcase. It was empty! Susan Doman, she got the movie contract. She has a movie and a book in the works, pending the end of the trial . . . she gets to have the final say in this movie, and she gives the producers the right to make it more colorful. Well, you know what? It’s not going to be colorful, because the darn briefcase is empty! It’s got to be a juicy story. And an accident is not a juicy story. The only movies they make about accidents are airplane movies, or train movies . . . not about someone who slips and falls in a bath tub.”

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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“Drew said he wouldn’t kill the mother of his children. He loves his children more than he hates his ex-wife. Kristin Anderson, she was just dying to testify, wasn’t she? She couldn’t wait to get on that stand . . . she never saw Drew in the house. She was so close to Kathy she didn’t’ even go to her funeral, because she was too busy. She was so close to Kathy she didn’t even know that Kathy got divorced when she was living with Kathy, in October of 2002. She didn’t even know that Kathy was divorced.”

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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“All the ISP [Illinois State Police] reports are inaccurate? It’s all a big conspiracy to help Sgt. Peterson? When something like this happens, all the rats come out of the wood pile and start spewing vermin.”
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“All the ISP [Illinois State Police] reports are inaccurate? It’s all a big conspiracy to help Sgt. Peterson? When something like this happens, all the rats come out of the wood pile and start spewing vermin.”

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

Judge White on InSession TruCrime TV... is predicting the Jury will reach a verdict TODAY... he was specific... they will deliberate into the evening and reach a verdict at 9:30 PM CT

(If they don't then they will be sequestered)

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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In Session The sidebar ends. “She [Stacy] started a rumor campaign . . . she knew it was an accident, she knew it was investigated. What does she want to do with this information? She told him [Schori] that he [Drew] killed his own men in the Army. Really? Does Oliver North know that? He killed his own men in the Army! That’s ridiculous. That’s as ridiculous as saying that Drew killed Kathy, because it’s an accident. She’s lying, and he [Schori] knows that. And Harry Smith, remember him testifying? He thought it was a joke, because he knows it was an accident, and he can’t believe the State is prosecuting it! Objection/Sustained. “He’s laughing, laughing . . . laughing at the State’s case. Just laughing.”

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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Mr. Lopez now ridicules the testimony of police officer James Coughlin. “We know in February this case was up only one time. This case was continued to 4/6/03, which is April. Coughlin says he remembers it because he looked at his calendar . . . well, you know what? It never happened. Here’s a court order that shows it. And Susan McCauley, at the bowling alley . . . who knows what was really said over there? And what different does it make? It’s an accident. Jeffrey Pachter, the sex fiend, deadbeat gambler . . . his story is nonsense, and he knows it. Nothing backs him up. It’s ridiculous to think that a police officer would recruit this guy to kill his wife when he sees him every day at work when nobody’s around? He can’t even pay his taxes, like the rest of us! He cheats his bookie, too, cheats Uncle Sam, cheats the urine test, cheats the employer. Nothing backs up his story, not one thing . . . [he] made it up. Is that the kind of testimony you can rely on beyond a reasonable doubt? We say no. Neil Schori, at Starbucks, brings a chaperone with him . . . something’s going on that nobody’s telling us about.” Objection/Sustained. “He didn’t take any notes; Stacy started a rumor campaign hoping something would happen. And when Schori wouldn’t do anything about it, she went to Smith. And he didn’t do anything. Nobody did anything about it, because they knew she was lying, because she wanted a divorce.” Objection. The State asks for a sidebar.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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“Stacy wanted to squeeze money out of Drew by spreading a rumor, or a campaign of rumors . . . when that all failed, she came up with, ‘Oh, I’ve got something on the Bolingbrook Police Department.’ Campaign of rumors, campaign of lies. Let’s twist it to make it a homicide. We don’t do that in America . . . put someone in a target and do everything they can to get him. You don’t have to like him. You can hate him. You have to like America . . . the Framers of the Constitution would barf at this evidence! There’s nothing but doubt in this case. Mary Parks completely contradicts Kristin Anderson . . . people get on the TV and lie, just like they do in this courtroom . . . people lie when it’s for their own agenda . . . it doesn’t matter what was said to poor Rev. Schori, who had to bring a chaperone . . . because if it’s not a homicide, it doesn’t matter . . .we suggest to you that it’s not credible.”

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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In Session “The State gets the last word, if they want. They don’t have to have a rebuttal, if they think their case is so great . . . they go last because they have the burden of proof . . . I just ask you to do one thing: growing up as a kid, I never got the last word in with my mother, never! But think what our response would be to their rebuttal . . . what would Lopez and the others say? That’s deliberations. You’re going to go back, and then you can start your deliberations. You don’t have to come back at 5:00. You can come back whenever you want to . . . but when you go back there, I want you to think of that, how that lawyer [Harry Smith] laughed in this courtroom. Think about that!”

That ends the defense summation.

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

Drew Peterson trial updates: 'You don't have to like (Peterson) ... you have to like America'

2:05 p.m. 'You can hate him'

As Joe Lopez wrapped up, he reminded jurors that they need remember they have the responsibility to judge Peterson based on the evidence, not their personal feelings about him.

“You don't have to like him. You can hate him. You have to like America more than anything.

“I said it before and I'll say it again: the framers of the constitution would barf on this evidence.

“Presidents have gone on TV and lied to the public, pastors have done it,” Lopez said. “People lie. That's why you have to look at the physical evidence.”

Lopez is now finished. The judge is giving jurors a short break before the prosecution rebuttal.

Updates at link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 3423.story

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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Trial on a short break, rebuttal to begin after. The judge has extended time for both sides; a little over two hours.

So we COULD have another hour of Glasgow on rebuttal

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
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If I was on the jury.... I would organise a quick vote on whether it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that it wasn't an accident.

I would expect unanimous "no" and so a quick deliberation.

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

States Rebuttal - Steven Glasgow

The jurors are now in the courtroom, and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow begins his rebuttal closing. “I want to remind everybody that this trial is about the murder of Kathleen Savio . . . young, vibrant, and murdered within the prime of her life.

“You were just told that the laceration on Kathleen Savio’s head was the size of the Grand Canyon . . . there were no injuries to the brain whatsoever. Dr. Case has found a marker, a very thin layer of blood. You’d see why that could happen . . . they were implying that she said you could not be knocked unconscious without some sign of visible injury to the brain That’s not what she told you. But in this case, Kathleen Savio probably wouldn’t even have suffered a concussion in a fall of this type. It didn’t happen . . . all you heard during the defense closing was that this was a slip and fall accident. But you know much better than that,.”

“If this piece of paper [Savio’s death certificate] stood for what the defense says it does . . .”

Objection. The parties go to a sidebar.

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