A Naperville attorney filed documents in Will County court Tuesday asserting he is now representing Drew Peterson and he hopes to overturn Peterson's conviction based on mistakes made by the defense team.
John Paul Carroll accuses lead Peterson defense attorney Joel Brodsky of lying about his courtroom experience, forcing Peterson into pre-trial publicity and threatening to leak information about Peterson if he was fired, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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“Attorney Brodsky had lied to Mr. Peterson on a number of occasions and when Mr. Peterson discovered the lies and talked about possibly discharging attorney Brodsky and retaining other counsel, attorney Brodsky indicated that in the event he was discharged, he would be ethically bound to publicly reveal some things that were discussed between him and Mr. Peterson,” the motion states, according to the Chicago Tribune.
To overturn the conviction based on a claim of "ineffective counsel," "Peterson must show that Brodsky’s representation fell below acceptable standards and that the outcome might have been different because of it," the Tribune reported.
Brodsky and fellow Peterson defense team member Steve Greenberg have been embroiled in a month-long, bitter battle of words since Peterson was found guilty of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Peterson first sent a letter to Greenberg telling him he was fired. Brodsky then took to Facebook and penned a bizarre attack on Greenberg. In his 404-word rant, Brodsky blamed Greenberg for losing the case.
Greenberg responded with a 15-page, footnoted letter to Brodsky in which he claimed the guilty verdict was essentially based on evidence presented by a witness Brodsky chose to call and question himself.
The move backfired, as the witness, Wheaton attorney Harry Smith, recalled the time Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, told him how Peterson killed Savio. After the trial ended, jurors said the guilty verdict hinged on Smith's testimony.
Editor's note: Editor Joe Hosey contributed to this report.
