Peterson Defense Calls First Witness

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Updated 4:35 p.m. 

The first witness called by the defense was Kathleen Savio's best friend
and next-door neighbor Mary Pontarelli.

Pontarelli was already called by prosecutors to testify. When she testified, Pontarelli insisted Savio's death scene was altered after her body was discovered. Specifically she said a towel was placed on the edge of the tub. She said there were no towels when she first saw the body.

Prosecutors wanted Pontarelli to recount the time Peterson threw Savio to the ground and had her arrested for allegedly attacking Drew Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.blocked her testimony.

During her testimony for the defense, Pontarelli told how she never saw Peterson get angry or violent, and also how amusing she found him to be.

"He joked a lot, yes," Pontarelli said.

"He's the funny guy, always telling jokes about things," she said. "Not in
a mean way, in a fun way."

Updated 1:15 p.m.

The jury has taken their practice of wearing similar clothing a step further.

Previously, the jury has been wearing the same color shirt each day.

Today, they all wore shirts bearing the logos of Chicago area sports teams.

Naperville attorney Kathleen Zellner, who has been observing the trial, said the jury is just looking for attention.

"The jury wants the focus on them," Zellner said. "They don't want the focus on the attorneys. They're the decision makers."

Defense attorney Joseph "Shark" Lopez said he heard some grumbling in the courthouse corridor about the jurors' attire.

"I did hear somebody in the hallway say, 'This is a murder trial not a fashion show,'" Lopez said. "I'm not sure what that means."

Zellner saw nothing wrong with the jury's shirts.

"If the families are not offended by it, I think it's fine," she said.

Lopez also said Peterson is "scared to death."

"Like any other defendant, he's scared to death he's going to be convicted of something he didn't do," Lopez said.

Updated 12:23 p.m. 

The defense plans to take two days to argue its case and call 10 witnesses to the stand, according to CBS. 

Updated 11:44 a.m. 

denied the defense motion to find Drew Peterson not guilty without presenting a case of his own.

Burmila said if he was to "distill down" the evidence against Peterson, it was potentially sufficient to convict him.

"The jury could find on these facts that the defendant is guilty of this offense." 

Peterson attorney Steve Greenberg argued at length that prosecutors utterly failed to prove Peterson was even in the home of his third wife,

Kathleen Savio died, much less that he killed her. 

"They didn't do it because they can't do it," Greenberg said. "It's like they were trying to nail a clump of Jello to a tree and make it stick there," he said.

The prosecution has rested its case. 

Original story 

Prosecutors say they will call no witnesses today. They are arguing with  attorneys over stipulations and what information will be read to the jury and what paperwork they will be allowed to take back with them during deliberations.

After these arguments conclude, the prosecution will rest its case.