Professor: Peterson can't get fair trial

JOLIET, Ill., Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A Chicago law professor says pre-trial proceedings for Drew Peterson make it impossible for the former Bolingbrook, Ill., policeman to get a fair trial.

Leonard Cavise of DePaul University calls the hearsay hearing to decide what testimony will be allowed at Peterson's homicide trial "a miscarriage of justice," the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

"There's no way ever that they'll find a fair jury," Cavise said. "By the time the pretrial hearing is over, Drew Peterson won't be able to find two people who don't know all of this."

Peterson, whose fourth wife Stacy disappeared in 2007, is charged in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio in March 2004.

Judge Stephen White is presiding over a hearing to decide whether hearsay statements condemning Peterson are trustworthy enough to be admitted into trial.

Illinois State Police have said they believed Savio's bathtub drowning was accidental so they collected no evidence.