Drew Peterson 'Dream Team' Nightmare Continues With Firing of Lawyer
Prison-bound Drew Peterson fired arguably the most effective attorney on his defense team.
JOLIET, IL -- Less than a week after going down for murder in one of the most sensational criminal cases in the state's history, Drew Peterson axed one of the top attorneys on his legal team.
"Apparently I've been fired," said defense attorney Steve Greenberg.
"I've been discharged," Greenberg said. "I've been terminated."
READ MORE:
Greenberg said he got a signed notice from Peterson Tuesday. He also said he received a letter from lead attorney Joel Brodsky warning him not to publicly comment about the case.
"I'm not going to comment on incompetence," Greenberg said.
Greenberg and co-counsel Joseph "Shark" Lopez appeared to have Peterson's case well in hand, as Judge Edward Burmila consistently thwarted prosecutors' attempts to get evidence and testimony before the jury.
Then, as the second-to-last witness in the defense case, Brodsky made the unfathomable decision to call Wheaton attorney Harry Smith to the stand.
Brodsky apparently called Smith in hopes of painting Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, as a gold-digging blackmailer plotting to use the murder of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, as the means to more money in a divorce.
Instead, Smith repeatedly drove home to the jury that Stacy told him Peterson killed Savio.
Jurors who were interviewed following the trial said it was Smith's testimony that pushed them to convict Peterson of murdering Savio.
Brodsky last week refused to say how responsible he feels for Peterson's conviction. On Tuesday he failed to return calls for comment on Greenberg's firing, on whether he instructed Peterson to sack him, or if he was jealous that Greenberg performed more ably at the trial.
A source said last week that Greenberg, Lopez and co-counsel Lisa Lopez, who is Shark Lopez's wife, argued against calling Smith to testify, but Brodsky insisted on doing so.
"They started calling him 'the captain' when he started sinking the ship," said Greenberg, who told of his hopes that Lopez might still save the case with his closing argument.
"Incredible closing," Greenberg said. "I think it could have gotten us a hung jury."
Greenberg also said the error in calling Smith to testify was compounded by the manner in which Brodsky questioned him.
"The problem is also how it was handled in court, which was ineptly," he said.
"Was it the biggest bonehead move in the history of jurisprudence?" Greenberg said. "I don't know. Was it up there?"
Lopez was staying out of the rift.
"Joel's the boss and he calls the shots, and whatever he says goes," he said. "I'm just sitting on the bench taking orders in that case."
Peterson, 58, faces up to 60 years in prison. Judge Burmila set sentencing for Nov. 26.
Greenberg won't be sitting at the defense table during the sentencing hearing. If he'd gotten his way, he said, there wouldn't even be a sentencing hearing.
"It would have been a not guilty bench trial," he said.
Read more on Patch
Watchful Eye
7:29 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Haha. What's there to say? It's quite fitting that the ship captain hit the big iceberg (or is that Greenberg), and is taking everyone down with his sinking ship. Peterson is getting what he deserves, including a defense team that is chewing on each other.
Freddie Kissell
8:26 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Great story, Joe. LOL
"Brodsky last week refused to say how responsible he feels for Peterson's conviction. On Tuesday he failed to return calls for comment on Greenberg's firing, on whether he instructed Peterson to sack him, or if he was jealous that Greenberg performed more ably at the trial."
LOL LOL I love it. Brodsky has just ensured Drew will remain in prison forever. Woohoo!
Dinkamoe
8:42 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
How did Joel Brodsky graduate law school and pass the bar exam? Thats Incredible!!!
Watchful Eye
8:57 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
It was hard, Dinkamoe. His big head kept getting in the way, but in the end, he passed the course on how to lose a murder case.
Red Sam Rackham
10:54 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Uhh, he went to the Algonquin Jay Calhoun Law School? ☺☺☺☺☺
Trina Youngblood
7:15 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Good for Greenburg for not going around name calling like his infantile co-council. Greenburg is the only after the fact that I have any respect for. He called it like he saw it. And he won't let his daughter date Drew that says what he can't say cause he's bound by law.
Anna Hultin
8:06 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Mr. Brodsky isn't taking comments on his F/B and is deleting the ones that were there....can't take criticism or failure...isn't that part of the game you play in front of the camera...Greenberg is better off...Brodsky's a clown....
StayingAlive11
9:15 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Brodsky is the one and ONLY lawyer that is responsible for Drew's conviction. This came from the jurors that were interviewed after the verdict. He will not take responsibility for puting Harry Smith on the stand that cost Peterson to be convicted. Now, Peterson will go for an appeal with Brodsky. Such loyalty for a man who will lose that, too. Maybe Drew is drinking too much prison water and is not responsible for his actions.
Hangtough
9:54 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Day late and a dollar short you sickening old man! Gotcha!!
Fl.
10:00 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Just a ploy to introduce this as ineffective counsel for appeals..
Flora Dora
10:08 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Brodsky was ridiculous from day one. Drew should fire HIM and keep Greenberg who is the best lawyer on that team.
Red Sam Rackham
10:42 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Nonsense. Brodsky gave Drew the best defense possible. He tried his darnest to discredit all "hearsay" and circumstantial evidence. However other things worked against Drew such as his failure to testify at his own trial in his own defense. Hey! If I were on trial for a crime I didn't commit, I'd insist on taking the stand to declare my innocence. That, his cocky attitude as well as the 2nd autopsy proving that Kathleen's death was not the "accident" that an earlier investigation said it was led to Drew's conviction and no lawyer could've convinced a jury otherwise. Sure, appeals may lead to the conviction being thrown out or a retrial, but I bet there'd be no jury ever who'd unanimously believe Drew to be innocent.
Flora Dora
10:10 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Drew has only proved what a fool he is. He likes a comedian for a lawyer instead of a serious one!
Red Sam Rackham
10:36 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Hey! As an ex-cop he already has some knowledge of the law and now he'll have access to the prison law library. Perhaps he can study hard and handle his own appeals as a "prison lawyer." ☺☺☺☺☺
Ken
11:08 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Drew made one of the biggest mistakes ever when he buried Kathleen. Had she been cremated, there never would have been a second autopsy.
Rachel Rogers
1:52 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Well, that's true, but Drew's biggest mistake was Stacy disappearing and thinking he could get away with murder twice. Two women, both married to the same man, just don't die/disappear. He's nothing but a bully and now it's time for him to pay.
Old One
11:10 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
In my opinion this is all a carefully planned effort to have a cause for appeal for inadequate defense. All through this trial these turkeys were strutting before the cameras and playing up to the gullible media; then there came a time when the trial wasn't going the way they had hoped, so let's do some stupid things in the courtroom so we appear inept and incapable of properly defending Peterson. I see on Brodsky's website that he says he and Greenberg didn't have an argument in the court hallway, but many news sources reported just that. Greenberg stops Brodsky in his examination of a witness and they argue in the courtroom. These guys hold themselves out as experienced defense attorneys but they appear as inept and not knowing what they are doing. THink about it: If Peterson is found not guilty, it's all over: if he gets a hung jury there might be a question as to whether there waould be a new trial. In either case Peterson and the funny boys succeed. If he's convicted then Peterson files an appeal for inadequate defense asking for a new trial. If he gets it, he wins again because he still has a chance for more hung juries. (He won't be found not guilty). Am I a defense attorney? Nope, but I have a friend who was for over 20 years, and he's the one who feels these attorneys are sly as a fox. We agree that Peterson will file an appeal by reason of inept and inadequate defense within 6 months, and possibly before the end of the year.
Watchful Eye
3:03 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
What prominent attorney (Greenberg), with his reputation and dignity at stake, would get involved in a peeing contest with another attorney on a case, calling each other incompetent over the public airways, to get a murder defendant a reversal or new trial? That is crazy. Greenberg claims to have tried a large number of murder cases, some he lost, some he won. Why would he go to this extreme and dirty up his own reputation for a lowlife like Peterson?
Uh no, I'm not buying that one. That's just too bizarre. Never heard of any lawyer taking a fall like that for a client.
Old One
3:53 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
replying to Watchful Eye: While I would normally totally agree with you in most cases, this case and these guys seem to me to be the types to do anything to get this dork off. Actually, Greenberg NOW may actually come out the best of the bunch after Brodsky's "complimentary" statements are compared to what he (Brodsky) did during the trial. I'll put up my tickets for the Cubs vs Sox world series in 2014 if Peterson doesn't try for the reversal based on their antics...... (I know, not much of a bet, but it's the thought, right?)
myfairshare
12:30 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Greenberg......put him on TruTV with Beth and the gang. Evidently, he is a better class lawyer than kooky Brodsky and cartoon Joe Lopez.
dcar65
2:03 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
guilty . not feeling so cleaver now are you
Red Sam Rackham
7:48 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Cleaver?!?!?!?!?!? As in Ward, June, Wally and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver? CLEVER indeed !!!☺☺☺☺
Bob
10:48 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
if anyone saw the television episode this last week with this jerk on it you can see why the jury convicted him. i hope he does not last a year inisde the joint. He is so guilty from his behavior it is not funny. If any killer deserved an incompetent lawyer it was him. Maybe he rot in hell and may the convicts inside send him there as quickly as possible. few poeple botehred me as much as this jerk did on television.
Dinkamoe
1:42 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
To clatify, I am glad Drew had an incompetent attorney. I just hope his conviction is not vacated and sent for a retrial based on incompetent council.
Mickey
1:25 pm on Friday, September 21, 2012
Joe Lopez reminds me of Ian Hawke in Alvin & the Chipmunks.