Crime & Safety
Drew Peterson Breaks Up With Brodsky
Wife-killer Drew Peterson's longest serving lawyer is serving him no longer.
A teary-eyed Joel Brodsky denied he had been crying, then repeatedly insisted he was not fired from wife-killer Drew Peterson's defense team.
"I'm doing what's in my client's best interest," Brodsky said of quitting Peterson's case after sticking by the disgraced Bolingbrook cop for nearly five years.
Brodsky tried to "temporarily" withdraw from Peterson's case during a Tuesday morning hearing in front of Judge Edward Burmila, but the judge cut him off and told him "there's no such thing" as a temporary withdrawal.
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With that, Brodsky was gone from the case for good.
And as he departed, two other lawyers joined up. New attorney John Heiderscheidt declined to comment on the case after the hearing. The other Peterson lawyer to come on board, David Peilet, said he is "going to explore every possible remedy available to Mr. Peterson" in hopes of getting the convicted murderer a new trial.
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During the hearing, Peilet explained to Judge Burmila there was a "fracture" among the half-dozen lawyers who represented Peterson, 58, during his murder trial. Specifically, Brodsky and attorney Steve Greenberg carried on a very public feud, firing off harsh letters and Facebook posts at each other.
At one point, Greenberg tried to quit the case himself, but Judge Burmila did not accept his motion to withdrawal.
Peilet said the days of Peterson's lawyers squabbling and bickering are over.
"There's going to be no more public fingerpointing," the new lawyer said.
Greenberg and three other attorneys from Peterson's murder trial are still on the case. But one of the surviving lawyers, Joseph "Shark" Lopez, said they might have to go too.
"Maybe in the future we may have to withdraw," he said.
Allegations that Brodsky managed to lose Peterson's murder trial made his exit necessary, according to lawyers still on the case. It will be up to Peilet to determine whether the allegations have merit.
"By removing Mr. Brodsky there's no obstacles we have to go through," Lopez said.
In September, a jury found Peterson guilty of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He faces up to 60 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.
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