Continual coverage of the trial of Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
6:55 a.m. Decision on mistrial expected todayThe third day of Drew Peterson's murder trial is expected to open today with a renewed call for a mistrial from his defense team, as the highly publicized case again faces a possible derailment over statements by prosecutors.
Defense attorneys called for a mistrial on Wednesday after prosecutors questioned Peterson neighbor Thomas Pontarelli about a 2004 incident in which he found a .38-caliber bullet on his driveway. Peterson attorney Steven Greenberg argued that the testimony was meant to imply the shell had been left as a threat from the former Bolingbrook police sergeant, on trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Pontarelli said he discovered the bullet after Peterson, in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from Savio, had told Pontarelli not to help Savio.
"We had a conversation where he was accusing me of changing the locks. I said I didn't, but I got his message yesterday," Pontarelli testified. "He asked what was that. I said I found a .38-caliber bullet on my driveway."
The defense immediately objected and, after a recess, asked the judge for a mistrial.
It was the second mistrial motion from Peterson's attorneys in the first two days of testimony in a trial that has seen numerous — and mostly successful -- defense objections over evidence, despite years of evidentiary hearings that preceded the start of the trial.
An animated Judge Edward Burmila glared at the prosecution table as he agreed with the defense that the statements would bias jurors, but he offered an alternative to a mistrial: Instructing jurors to ignore all of Pontarelli's testimony.
Peterson's lawyers requested that court adjourn until this morning to allow them to research their options. The trial is to resume today at 9 a.m.
If the trial continues, prosecutors have said they intend to call two locksmiths who let Pontarelli and his wife, Mary, their son Nick and Peterson into Savio's house the evening her body was discovered in her bathtub. A Bolingbrook paramedic who responded to the house also is set to testify.
6:55 a.m. Decision on mistrial expected todayThe third day of Drew Peterson's murder trial is expected to open today with a renewed call for a mistrial from his defense team, as the highly publicized case again faces a possible derailment over statements by prosecutors.
Defense attorneys called for a mistrial on Wednesday after prosecutors questioned Peterson neighbor Thomas Pontarelli about a 2004 incident in which he found a .38-caliber bullet on his driveway. Peterson attorney Steven Greenberg argued that the testimony was meant to imply the shell had been left as a threat from the former Bolingbrook police sergeant, on trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Pontarelli said he discovered the bullet after Peterson, in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from Savio, had told Pontarelli not to help Savio.
"We had a conversation where he was accusing me of changing the locks. I said I didn't, but I got his message yesterday," Pontarelli testified. "He asked what was that. I said I found a .38-caliber bullet on my driveway."
The defense immediately objected and, after a recess, asked the judge for a mistrial.
It was the second mistrial motion from Peterson's attorneys in the first two days of testimony in a trial that has seen numerous — and mostly successful -- defense objections over evidence, despite years of evidentiary hearings that preceded the start of the trial.
An animated Judge Edward Burmila glared at the prosecution table as he agreed with the defense that the statements would bias jurors, but he offered an alternative to a mistrial: Instructing jurors to ignore all of Pontarelli's testimony.
Peterson's lawyers requested that court adjourn until this morning to allow them to research their options. The trial is to resume today at 9 a.m.
If the trial continues, prosecutors have said they intend to call two locksmiths who let Pontarelli and his wife, Mary, their son Nick and Peterson into Savio's house the evening her body was discovered in her bathtub. A Bolingbrook paramedic who responded to the house also is set to testify.