Peterson trial still anticipated to begin in May

<span>On the day he was previously anticipated to stand trial on murder-for-hire charges, Drew Peterson was back in Randolph County Court on Monday for a case management conference.</span>

<span>Peterson's trial was supposed to start with jury selection on Feb. 26, with proceedings to begin Monday at 9 a.m., but the oft-delayed trial was pushed back again during a case management conference on Feb. 8.</span>

<span>"From the state's perspective, things seem to be going quite well and we are anticipating to begin jury selection on May 20," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker, flanked by Assistant Attorney Generals Bill Elward and Steve Nate, who are co-prosecuting the case with Walker.</span>

<span>Walker asked the judge to return on April 1 at 9 a.m. for another case management hearing, as he is seeking clarification on a motion the Court has not yet ruled on.</span>

<span>"We will be preparing opening statements and need to know what to include and what not to include," Walker said.</span>

<span>A people's motion to admit relevant evidence in the case was filed on April 24, 2015. Brown filed his response on Oct. 23.</span>

<span>"While the Court finds that much of the evidence which the state desires may be relevant to prove motive, the Court will not rule on the admissibility of the evidence until it is offered at trial," Brown said in his ruling. "The prejudicial effect of this evidence to defendant must be determined in light of other evidence which has been introduced at trial by state. It is premature for the Court to rule at this time."</span>

<span>It was one of four court orders filed in October. The court denied a motion by the defense to suppress evidence related to the use of an eavesdropping device and denied a motion by the State to admit evidence that Peterson attempted to hire an individual to kill Kathleen Savio.</span>

<span>In the latter ruling, Brown said the Savio murder - which Peterson is serving a 38-year sentence at Menard Correctional Center in Chester for - "does not tend to prove intent or motive to have James Glasgow killed."</span>

<span>Glasgow, the Will County state's attorney, prosecuted Peterson's murder case and was allegedly the target in Peterson's murder-for-hire case in Randolph County.</span>

<span>The Court did uphold a motion to permit impeachment (challenging the truthfulness of an individual testifying at trial) of Peterson's conviction if the former Bolingbrook Police sergeant chooses to testify at the trial.</span>