Peterson trial pushed back again

<span>Already twice delayed, the Drew Peterson murder-for-hire trial is getting pushed back again.</span>

<span>During a motions hearing on Tuesday at the Randolph County Courthouse, counsel for both the defense and prosecution announced a new start date of Feb. 29, with jury selection to begin on Feb. 26.</span>

<span>"Mr. Peterson is not going anywhere anytime soon," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker, who is co-prosecuting Peterson's case with the Illinois Attorney General's Office, in the post-hearing media interview.</span>

<span>Circuit Judge Richard A. Brown heard arguments on two motions, one to suppress eight pages of evidence as it relates to audio evidence in the case and the other to reconsider a previous ruling by Brown as it related to criminal discovery.</span>

<span>Defense Attorney Lucas Liefer said he had requested information on the device used to obtain the recordings of conversations between Peterson and "Individual A," whose identity remains under seal, at the heart of the case.</span>

<span>Those conversations allegedly involved Peterson requesting Individual A to find someone to kill Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow, who prosecuted Peterson's original 2012 murder conviction, in exchange for payment.</span>

<span>Information Liefer sought included the make, model, serial number, policy guidelines, file format of the recordings and also the methods used to upload them into evidence.</span>

<span>But access to that information was denied based upon "law enforcement investigatory privilege."</span>

<span>"How am I supposed to do my job to prepare my defense?" Liefer asked Brown. "That's the whole point of criminal discovery."</span>

<span>Brown later said that methods used for investigations must be kept confidential and the ruling stood.</span>

<span>For the remainder of the hour-and-a-half hearing, both sides argued over suppression of evidence, with Liefer dominating a significant portion of the debate.</span>

<span>Liefer said he had four issues with the evidence - consent, authorization of the eavesdropping device, due process and improper filing of documents related to the case.</span>

<span>In regard to consent, Liefer said the wiretap application listed the wrong defendant's name - Stephen Nardi, who is a former Grant Park police lieutenant charged with criminal sexual assault of his 15-year-old niece last year.</span>

<span>According to media reports, Nardi has been out on bond since August 2014 and has never been imprisoned.</span>

<span>"I don't know who Stephen Nardi is," Liefer said. "I've never heard of him and he doesn't appear in any other discovery."</span>

<span>The core of Liefer's arguments focused on an apparent October 3, 2014 visit to Stateville Correctional Center by Will County Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt, prosecutors who work in the Will County State's Attorney's Office and law enforcement.</span>

<span>That visit occurred 20 days before judicial use of the eavesdropping device was approved to record conversations between Individual A and Peterson.</span>

<span>Liefer cited Federal Bureau of Investigation reports in how he knew the meeting took place.</span>

<span>"He stepped outside of his judicial office and became part of a law enforcement investigation," he said of Schoenstedt.</span>

<span>Liefer later argued that taking a judge to Stateville to talk to an informant was abuse of power.</span>

<span>"We're not in Will County," he told Brown. "You don't have to allow what these guys did because this smells."</span>

<span>Arguing for the prosecution, Assistant Attorney General Steve Nate said Schoenstedt was trying to protect Peterson's rights in assessing Individual A's credibility and reliability for himself.</span>

<span>"There's no conflict of interest here," Nate said.</span>

<span>Liefer claimed that Glasgow is obsessed with Peterson and finding evidence against him.</span>

<span>"Why is the Will County state's attorney, the alleged target of the murder case, authorizing recordings?" he asked.</span>

<span>Liefer said the situation has an appearance of impropriety.</span>

<span>"You can't be a witness and a state's attorney in the same case," he said.</span>

<span>Brown did not immediately rule on the evidence suppression motion, telling the counsels that he would review their cases and consider their arguments.</span>

<span>A case management conference has been scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 9 a.m.</span>