An attorney representing convicted wife killer Drew Peterson has filed a motion seeking to have recorded evidence in Peterson’s case thrown out.
The former suburban Chicago police officer is accused of trying to hatch a murder-for-hire plot against his former prosecutor, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.
In the filing, Peterson attorney Lucas Liefer questions why eavesdropping authorizations in the case, included an “Informant A” who was to make undercover recordings of a suspect named “Stephen Nardi.”
“The Defense is unaware of and unfamiliar with any individual by the name of Stephen Nardi,” Liefer writes. “Informant A did not consent to the use of an electronic eavesdropping device to record conversations between himself and the defendant.” Thus, he argued, the recording of Peterson was illegal because the court order authorizing recording was clearly intended for someone else.
Liefer further states that Glasgow has an inherent conflict of interest in the case, because he was the alleged target of the plot. And he further questions why the district judge traveled to Stateville Correctional Center and met with the informant, before an application for an eavesdropping device was ever presented.
“A judge cannot be asked to maintain the requisite neutrality with regard to an investigation in which he actively participated,” he wrote. “The orders signed by Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt are improper and lack impartiality.”
Peterson previously pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial was delayed last month until Nov. 13 to give both sides more time to prepare. He is also appealing his murder conviction.
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Prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion.
