Inappropriate Behavior Continues for Drew Peterson
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a facedown in court. Drew Peterson uncharacteristically silent as his attorney enters a "not guilty" plea that he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Meantime, a new controversy erupts as prosecutors try to get the judge thrown off the case, claiming he may be biased in favor of Peterson. Then, Casey Anthony`s parents, Cindy and George, join in an emotional rally over the weekend for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Is this part of their public relations blitz? Meantime, could the Zanny the nanny civil suit get thrown out? The judge is expected to rule on that controversy tomorrow. I`ll have a preview. And a miracle in Mexico. Adorable 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez, who was snatched from his California home by two gunmen leaving his mother distraught is found alive, wandering the streets of Mexico. Cops hot on the trail of the gunmen. I`ll tell you if they made an arrest today. Then, sentencing day in the MySpace suicide. Lori Drew, the mother accused of driving a teenage girl to suicide by posing as a boy on the Web site learns her fate. Should she face hard time for her cyber crime? Plus, the death toll reaches six in America`s swine flu outbreak, as a school principal in New York dies over the weekend. I`ll tell you why Americans must address the harsh conditions for pigs at factory farms. For the sake of our health, it`s the real story you`ll only get here. ISSUES starts now.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news tonight in the Briant Rodriguez case. Cops have now named two suspects and one person of interest in the kidnapping of that adorable 3-year-old boy found alive wandering the streets of Mexico over the weekend. I will have the very latest on this crucial, critical development, coming right up. But first, outrageous. I mean, really outrageous behavior, scandalous accusations in the Drew Peterson case as he pleads not guilty to murder charges in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. The shackled Peterson did not say one single word during his arraignment this morning. Instead, he let his lawyer do all the talking and enter the plea of "not guilty" for him. But just because the clowning ex-cop was quiet in the courtroom does not mean he behaved appropriately. Peterson still managed to infuriate members of the victim`s family.</s>MICHAEL LISAK, KATHLEEN SAVIO`S NEPHEW: He was waving to my mom, just continuously looking at my mother and our family, the Savio family, almost in a mocking way. He was rocking back and forth in his chair the whole time like he was waiting to, you know, go see a movie or something.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Waving? Dodgy Drew apparently can not help himself. His own lawyer says humor is how he handles the stress of being charged with murder. As for Drew, listen to what he tells Matt Lauer during a phone interview from jail on NBC`s "Today Show."</s>MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`S "THE TODAY SHOW": You said in the past that this kind of sense of humor of yours is the way you react to stress. But do you understand how it can tend to make you a very unsympathetic character in the eyes of the public?</s>DREW PETERSON, ACCUSED OF MURDER: Well, there`s no book written on how you`re supposed to act, you know. I mean, would it be better if I hid my head down and tried to hide my face and hunched over and had tears in my eyes? I mean, no, that`s just not me.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Drew, yes, it would be better, actually. Meantime, turmoil erupts over the judge. In a very shocking move, prosecutors try to get the judge thrown off the case. Apparently, there is bad blood there. Prosecutors say the judge is biased in favor of Drew Peterson. Well, that move didn`t sit well with the defense. They lashed back.</s>JOEL BRODSKY, DREW PETERSON`S ATTORNEY: It`s nothing but gamesmanship. I think it shows that the state does not want to try this case on the merits.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Could the state`s bid for a new judge put the entire trial on rewind? The defense couldn`t even ask for a bail reduction today, because of the whole judge mess. I want to hear what you think about all this. Straight out to my incredible and distinguished panel. We are delighted to have tonight Andrew Abood, one of Drew Peterson`s defense attorneys, along with Mark Eiglarsh, criminal defense attorney; Mike Gaynor, former NYPD detective; Dr. Gail Saltz, psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital; and Lisa Bloom, anchor on the legal network In Session and CNN legal analyst. Lisa, this is pretty wild. The defense says it`s extraordinary, almost unheard of for prosecutors to try to change the judge. It sounds like something the defense would try to do normally. What is behind all this?</s>LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, IN SESSION: Well, the prosecution says that in a previous case, this judge has shown a bias towards Drew Peterson by making an outlandish ruling. And P.S., the defense clearly likes this judge. That`s why they`re fighting this, and that`s why they let Drew Peterson sit in jail for ten days, rather than try to get another judge ten days ago when he was arrested. The defense likes this judge, the prosecution does not like this judge and wants him out of there.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Prosecutors say the judge, as you just heard, biased in favor of Drew, and they want him off the case. Drew`s lawyer, Joel Brodsky, says it`s nothing more than gamesmanship and that signals a weak case. Listen to what else he has to say about the prosecution.</s>BRODSKY: It wants to try to do this on technicalities. A motion by the state for a substitution of judges is almost unheard of, extremely rare. And I think it just indicates to us the weakness of the state`s factual position.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Panel, and those at home, here`s the back story. Cops arrested Drew Peterson for allegedly owning an assault rifle with a barrel shorter than allowed by law, and that`s not good, because you can easily conceal that kind of gun. In November, this very judge, Richard Schoenfeld [SIC], threw out the felony gun charge against Drew, because prosecutors refused to hand over internal documents that led up to Drew`s arrest on that gun charge. Now, Mark Eiglarsh, my original thought was, oh, they might be afraid to release those documents if they refer to, "Hey, let`s try to get Peterson on something. If we can`t get him on a murder rap, then let`s get him on a gun charge." Am I wildly off base?</s>MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, I think that...</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: I am wildly off base?</s>EIGLARSH: Well, your theory is what now, Jane? Let me -- before I disagree with you. I want to make sure I understand.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: My theory is that there was a reason, obviously, the prosecution didn`t want to release those documents, those internal documents with Illinois State Police and the prosecutors over the gun charge. And the first thing I thought of was, well, they were probably discussing -- it`s like the Al Capone thing. If you can`t get somebody on a murder rap, you get them on something else, in this case, a gun charge.</s>EIGLARSH: Well, an interesting theory. And maybe Brodsky will argue that in closing arguments. Possibly. But what they`ve done is very, very risky. If this judge doesn`t get off this case, they`re stuck with him. That`s No. 1. And No. 2, the attorney for Peterson has a very valid argument. The motion that the prosecutors put forth simply alleges that this judge can`t be fair, essentially. Why? You need to specifically list those reasons. And they failed to do so.</s>MIKE GAYNOR, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: I agree.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, we have Andrew Abood, co-counsel for Drew Peterson. You say -- this is the mark, or your team says this is the mark of a weak case. Expound on that. Why is it the mark of a weak case? Maybe they just feel this judge isn`t fair.</s>ANDREW ABOOD, CO-COUNSEL FOR DREW PETERSON: The fact ob the matter is, this was a strategic move on their part. And you would think that if they had a strong case, that any judge sitting on the case, any judge in that county, would ultimately get the same result. And they don`t feel that they can get the same result with this judge. And I think that suggests that their case is not as strong as it should be, or could be.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Gail Saltz, as a psychiatrist, it also occurred to me that this poisons it from the get-go. Because if he remains on the case, every time he issues a ruling, let`s say favorable to Drew Peterson, people are going to say, well, he`s biased in favor of Drew Peterson. And if he does the reverse, he`s going to say he`s trying to prove that he`s not biased.</s>DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST: Unfortunately, at the end of the day, lawyers, judges, you know, victims, perpetrators, they`re all human beings. So you know, yes, when you`ve been told, "Hey, we don`t think you`re fair and we want to kick you off," and "we want to do this and that," you know, it is going to move people. But the question as to whether he will side with one side or the other has a lot to do probably with his character. You know, is he going to feel more guilty, and therefore he should move in one direction? Or is he going to feel more defensive, and then he`s going to be in the other direction?</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: It really does poison the environment there, and I think it`s almost inevitable that they`d have to get another judge. I know that the defense doesn`t want to hear that, but...</s>EIGLARSH: Jane, you can`t. You can`t. Let me tell you why.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.</s>EIGLARSH: If it was so easy just to get a judge off, everyone would be filing motions in front of the judges that are more conservative. You can`t forum shop. Cases are randomly assigned, and you get what you get and you don`t get upset.</s>BLOOM: Judges are used to being asked to recuse themselves. It`s not all that uncommon. So even if this judge stays on the case, I`m sure he`ll be fair and impartial.</s>ABOOD: In Illinois the judges are not randomly assigned. They`re assigned by the chief judge. In this case the chief judge of the criminal division is Judge Schoenstedt, and he`s been on the case since November. And if you look at any of his decisions that he`s made in this case, then he`s been very, very even-handed. And even when he dismissed the case, it was only as a result of the government saying to the judge, "We`re not going to follow your order." And under those circumstances, the judge was left with no other remedy.</s>BLOOM: That`s right. That was the right ruling. I agree. I`m no fan of Drew Peterson, but if the state didn`t turn over the documents it was supposed to turn over, the charges had to be dismissed. That`s the law.</s>ABOOD: The prosecution wants to have it both ways. They want to be able to hold on to the right judge, and they want to use the materials available to them.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark Eiglarsh, is this going to hold up the whole case?</s>EIGLARSH: Yes.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense couldn`t even get bail reduced today because of this mishegoss, as they say. I mean, is it going to just draw it all out now?</s>EIGLARSH: Temporarily. I think the judge will make a quick ruling. Maybe he said something during the last hearing where the prosecutors can say, "Judge, you said these words. These words mean that the appellate court would find that you`re not being fair to us. So you need to get off." Or the judge will just say, "Listen, don`t cry. I`m staying on the case. Let`s move on."</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We have much more to debate on the Peterson murder case in a moment. Be sure to tune in to "NANCY GRACE" tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. She will have the very latest twists in this outrageous case. And much more analysis here on ISSUES. Also, do you think we`ll see a big shakeup in this case and a new judge? Give me a holler: 1-877-JVM- SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. Let me know. Then, breaking news, just in, in the Briant Rodriguez kidnapping case. Cops have just named two suspects. We will talk about them. They have criminal histories. I will have the very latest in just moments. And there`s also a female person of interest. It`s wild. But first, Drew Peterson`s attorneys working frantically to get him out of jail. Here`s what one of Kathleen Savio`s family had to say about that.</s>NICHOLAS SAVIO, KATHLEEN SAVIO`S HALF-BROTHER: I do not believe he should be able to get out of jail. He should sit there. You went on the media and you made a fool of himself. So if you ask for a change of venue, everybody knows who you are. No one told you to go on the media and address the way -- things the way you do. We`ve been through five years of suffering. We don`t want any more suffering. So he should sit in jail, as far as I`m concerned.