Showing posts with label andrew abood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label andrew abood. Show all posts

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Peterson defense re: hearing (5-22)

Here it is TmP488zz:

May 22, 2009

Updated: Drew Peterson posts (5-26)

Peterson defense team comments after the hearing in which Judge refused to lower the bail. So it stays at $30M and Drew stays in jail. And his lawyers actually walked in there thinking they could get the bail reduced to somewhere between $100-500K. Out of touch with reality. What Peterson did to his children is evil. Especially making his sons go on TV to say what a great dad he is.

JOEL BRODSKY:

  • So much of these “new facts” supposedly come to light in the last 6 months people seem to have an amazing memory that things they haven’t thought about for the last five years have all of a sudden come back, Amazing how people are suddenly starting to remember these things in the last six weeks.
  • Obviously, someone came forward and we’re going to find out who it is–but in these high-profile cases, they often bring people out of the woodwork making allegations.
  • With each one of these statements — what were gonna do today is gonna get a transcript of what the States Attorney laid out today and he set himself a bar. He laid out facts that he says he is going to be able to prove. And each time he fails to prove it, we’re going to be right there with another motion to reduce bond.
  • [Glasgow] said a lot of new things, which he can’t substantiate, and every time he fails to do it – when put to the test – we’re gonna be right back.

Was the judge fair?

[Notice how neither one of them are respectful enough to call Judge Carla Alessio-Policandriotes anything other than "she". or "this judge". It matters - especially to professional woman who hyphenates.]

ANDREW ABOOD:

  • She’s fine. She’s gonna be fine. This is gonna be a long process. This is a big case. It’s difficult to be thrown into this case given everything that’s transpired over that last 18 months. Everything that we’ve heard about her is that she is an excellent judge, that she’s got a great intellect that in the moment she”l be able to rise to the occasion and make sound decisions.

Will you consider changing judges?

ANDREW ABOOD:

  • We’ve got the whole weekend. We’re going to look at all of our options.

JOEL BRODSKY:

  • We’ve got 9 more days to file a motion for substitutions. I won’t totally foreclose it – but as I said we’ve looked at this judge and talked to people about her and investigated her . She is someone with a very sharp legal mind – very bright – and is not afraid to make unpopular rulings. So that’s exactly the type of judge we want for this case.

Looking at her and appearing before her are two different things.

JOEL BRODSKY:

  • As Mr Abood said, this is her first time in the courtroom, and it ’s gonna be a big and probably highly contentious case…and perhaps what she wanted to do is put in a firm hand at the get go. That she kinda make a statement that this is going to be – that there is going to be no nonsense.

What does Drew think of the decision?

  • I think he was [he looks like he was going to cry], I think, a little bit taken aback. He felt like a lot of people did – he’s not alone in this – that $20M is exceptionally high.
  • Drew’s main concern is always his children. As long as his children are taken care of he’s ready for what life throws at him.
  • Unfortunately case is going to proceed faster since he’s incarcerated.
  • Additional burden on us the State and the courts.
  • Very little they laid out that was a surprise – most of it was based on hearsay.
  • That the new hearsay law would be applied to say that it’s both Constitutional and applied retroactively is impossible to believe.
  • Without the hearsay they don’t have much of a case.

Are you saying the hitman was not a surprise?

JOEL BRODSKY:

  • We’ve heard something about that in the past but nothing substantive. Obviously they’ve had someone come forward and we;ll do an investigation.
  • There always folks who interject themselves. Could very well be that case.

ANTHONY ABOOD:

  • Glasgow’s statement focused on motive, which is not an element in an indictment.
  • You can prove motive but it doesn’t establish a prima facie case.
  • What he didn’t say — because he doesn’t know or doesn’t want to say — is HOW DID STACY DIE.

[Mixed up or the truth?]

BRODSKY whispers “Kathy” and ABOOD corrects himself.

  • That is a problem of reasonable doubt
  • Prosecutor has to explain how the defendant took a life
  • If the jury is going to find him guilty he has to prove it and explain how it was done

JOEL BRODSKY:

  • No sign of forced entry
  • No sign of struggle
  • He’s arguing for the defense
  • These are major major holes in his theory and a major problem with his case.
  • Jury has to find that somebody got into that house, committed homicide without leaving one forensic trace and then exited the house without being seen. And was able to…

[Then he falters - mentioning the fact that "the murderer" aka Drew got away by fooling the prosecutors. Should never have said that because it presumes guilt and cover up after the fact. He caught himself but went on anyway. Keep this guy talking - he's just as bad as Drew. An innocent man's lawyer would never have taken the argument that far.]

  • And was able to convince investigators from the State’s attorney’s office and from the police that he was somewhere [almost says else and catches himself] that he had nothing to do with it and nowhere near the scene during the time periodof the death
  • Major problem in his thumbnail

Prosecutor said he should be treated differently with bail because he’s a police officer.

  • Should be treated the same
  • But sentencing for policemen is sometimes worse because they breached a public trust
  • But the guilt or innocence phase of the trial should be treated the same
  • If he testified he should not be held to a higher standard

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Brodsky: lower bail, Peterson not flight risk

Updated: Drew Peterson posts (5-18)

May 18, 2009

Drew Peterson attorneys Joel Brodsky and Andrew Abood discuss Drew’s $20M bail.

Brodsky thinks it should be between $100-500K.

As far as Peterson being a flight risk?

Brodsky says he didn’t take off when he had the chance.

Problem being he wasn’t indicted before and getting out on bail would provide him the chance.

barry delegate, Reem Odeh, Drew Peterson lawyer

Updated: Drew Peterson posts (5-18)

May 18, 2009

Drew Peterson’s law team was unveiled yesterday: Joel Brodsky, Reem Odeh, Andrew Abood and John Paul Carroll.

Here’s info on Ms Odeh from Peterson’s publicist.

If Brodsky was smart he would allow her to speak only. His face/voice is synonymous to Drew’s and Abood’s voice is off-putting.

Reem Odeh, one of Drew Peterson’s Chicago attorneys and a partner in the law firm of Brodsky & Odeh, will be installed Monday evening as a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab American Bar Association at a dinner in Chicago.

Ms. Odeh, who was born in Virginia to a Palestinian-American family, has been an interagal part of Drew Peterson’s defense team.

Ms. Odeh, who has been sometimes publicly critical of her law firm’s most famous client’s outragous antics, is a leader in the Arab-American community.

In addition to being on the board of the Arab American Bar Assoc., Ms. Odeh is also involved in politics as a member of the Arab American Democratic Club and an Obama delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Before being sworn in, Ms. Odeh will spend the day meeting with her partner Joel Brodsky and attorney Andrew Abood planning strategy for Drew Peterson’s defense.

The AADC is basically the dot that connects Arab American money and the Daley Machine.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Drew Peterson Defense Team

Updated: Drew Peterson posts (5-18)

May 18, 2009

Introducing Drew Peterson's defense team. [emphasis added]

Drew Peterson entered a plea of 'not guilty' at his arraignment hearing this morning at the Will County Courthouse. A hearing for a new judge and the amount of Drew's bond is scheduled for Thursday.

Lead defense counsel, Joel Brodsky of Brodsky & Odeh, says, "We are confident that when a jury examines the evidence, or should I say, lack of evidence, it will confirm what Drew Peterson has been saying all along - that he is not guilty."

Brodsky said that Drew, dressed in a blue jumpsuit this morning, was serious in his court appearance and that he understands the delays of the court process because of his own background as a law enforcement officer.
Peterson's defense team has more than 70 years of combined legal experience and his team says it will be employing top forensic experts and criminologists during the trial. One of the members of the team also has experience as a former Chicago police officer in the homicide unit and as a former prosecutor in Cook County.

The following is a list of Peterson's legal team members:

Joel Brodsky of Brodsky & Odeh – Lead Defense Counsel:
Joel A. Brodsky has more than 25 years of legal experience. He is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois, the Federal Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Brodsky is also a member of the Federal Trial Bar. He has been given a 'Very High' rating in the areas of reliability, diligence, ethics, conduct, and other areas relating to professional responsibility by the nationally recognized Martindale-Hubble lawyers rating service.

Reem Odeh of Brodsky & Odeh:
Reem Odeh is a graduate of Chicago's John Marshall Law School, where she was awarded a Juris Doctor degree in 2003. She also holds a B.A. in psychology and mass communications from St. Xavier University. She served as an intern on the murder task force of the Cook County Public Defender's Office in 2002. Odeh is fluent in spoken and written Arabic and is a member of the Arab-American Bar Association, American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Odeh's family has roots in Elbireh, Palestine.

Andrew Abood of the Abood Law Firm:
Andrew Abood is a graduate of Michigan State University and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He has been a law clerk to the Honorable Michael F. Cavanaugh of the Michigan Supreme Court

Also part of the legal team but not present in Joliet today is John Paul Carroll of the John Paul Carroll Law Firm:


John Paul Carroll received his Juris Doctor degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago while working as a detective in the Chicago Police Department in the elite homicide/sex crimes unit. He has also worked in the Cook County Assistant State's Attorney's Office. Carroll holds a private detective license in Illinois (#115-000883) and is a member of the Bar in Illinois and Connecticut. He has both U.S. and Irish citizenship, and is conversant in Spanish.