The long-awaited opinion by the Illinois Appellate Court not only condemned convicted wife murderer and former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson to spend the rest of his life behind bars, but also found that the allegations hurled against Drew Peterson’s lead trial attorney, Joel A. Brodsky, were absolutely unfounded.
In fact the Appellate Court went so far as to say it could not find even one single error committed by Drew Peterson’s defense team, led by Brodsky.
Appellate attorney Steve Greenberg made the allegations of mistakes made by trial attorney Joel A. Brodsky the basis for Peterson’s appeal. However, Brodsky had assembled and led a ‘team dream’ of attorneys to defend Peterson, of which Greenberg was a last minute addition.
“I am extremely gratified that after a complete and through examination of the trial record the Appellate Court recognized that all the allegations that I failed to provide Drew Peterson with a top notch defense were completely false,” Brodsky said.
After a six week trial, where the prosecution put on over 80 witnesses, Drew Peterson was convicted of murdering his third wife Kathleen Savio.
The Appellate Court said “during the post-trial proceedings that a rift had developed in the defense team between attorney Brodsky and attorney Greenberg” and Brodsky withdrew from the case. Co-counsel Greenberg ascended to the lead role.
“Greenberg used Mr. Peterson in a vendetta against me. Greenberg did not care about the best interest of Mr. Peterson, but only sought publicity for himself and to put the blame for the conviction on someone other than himself because he was a part of the team that had defended Mr. Peterson,” Brodsky said. “What Greenberg said about me were lies and I am grateful the Appellate Court recognized that.”
In ruling on the allegations that Attorney Joel A. Brodsky provided Drew Peterson with ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial, the Appellate Court specifically stated; “(A)fter reviewing defense counsel’s performance in the instant case, we find that defendant was not denied effective assistance of trial counsel.”
Further, in considering the allegation that Attorney Brodsky had a conflict of interest in representing Mr. Peterson, the Appellate Court found; “(A)fter having reviewed the record in the present case, we find that attorney Brodsky did not labor under a per se conflict of interest.”
Brodsky said that “during the Drew Peterson trial Steve Greenberg spent more time in the press room than he did in the courtroom. This Appellate decision is a vindication. It says that everything Greenberg said about me was simply false.”
Most importantly, Brodsky says, is that there were substantial Appellate issues for Mr. Peterson that Greenberg overlooked.
“Steve Greenberg was so determined to try to hurt me, that he missed the legitimate Appellate issues involving hearsay evidence that never should have been admitted,” said Brodsky. “Greenberg was so hell bent on trying to get me that he failed to address the hearsay evidence that was the core of the State’s case. If anything was ineffective, it was Greenberg’s appellate representation.”
The Peterson appeal was the third recent high profile loss for attorney Steve Greenberg. He was defeated in the Brian Dugan death penalty case, the last death penalty case in Illinois history. And he lost a civil rights case for a client who he alleged was wrongfully convicted, when the jury sided with the police officers who had arrested his client.
Since the Drew Peterson case, Attorney Joel A. Brodsky has had a string of victories, including a recent win before the Appellate Court in a case that combined criminal and probate law; the exoneration of a client in a decision by the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission; and several not guilty verdicts in criminal trials.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Joel A. Brodsky
Attorney at Law
(312) 541-7000
SOURCE: Joel A. Brodsky, esq.
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