Posted by wlansden |
Filed under general, news, trials, witnesses
By Eileen Burkhalter Smith
I can’t get enough of this situation in Illinois. The legislature passed a law in 2008, to allow into evidence hearsay statements from witnesses who were murdered in the trials about the murders.
The law has been called the “Drew Peterson Law” because it is being immediately used by the prosecution in an attempt to introduce 15 hearsay statements that Kathleen Savio, Mr. Peterson’s third wife, allegedly made to people about her ex-husband, prior to her death in 2004. Currently, an Illinois court is determining the trustworthiness of these 15 statements and will make a decision about whether they are admissible in Mr. Peterson’s trial relating to Ms. Savio’s 2004 death. The Court has already kept out one of the statements (purportedly made to a pastor) and is considering the others.
The law creates a hearsay exception for statements “offered against a party that has killed the declarant . . . intending to procure the unavailability of the declarant as a witness in a criminal or civil proceeding.” 725 ILCS 5/115-10.6.
Obviously, this is creating heated debate on both sides, and is requiring the airing of much of the evidence before the trial itself. Many of the legal documents in this matter are available here.
Who knew hearsay could be such a hot topic?
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