HEARSAY OVERRULED IN DREW PETERSON CASE

SAVIO

"BIG WIN"

DREW Peterson's lawyers have won round the opening rounds of his murder trial, when judges barred certain witnesses from taking the stand.
The former cop, who stands accused of killing his third wife Kathleen Savio, who's drowning death was originally ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after his fourth wife Stacy Peterson vanished in 2007.
But the prosecutions case has been severely harmed after justices at the 3rd District Appellate Court,  ruled out a number of witnesses that may have helped their case.
They had hoped to call his second wife and eldest son, who alleged domestic violence, during there marriage, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Expert testimony predicting how a judge would have ruled in Peterson's divorce from Savio and how the couple's assets would have been split was also properly thrown out, the appeals court ruled.
The appellate decision prevents prosecutors from introducing several key statements, including testimony from Savio's divorce attorney, who says Savio told him that Peterson threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident.
Peterson's attorney Steve Greenberg called the decision "a big win" for his client.
He said: "It keeps out evidence that was unreliable. It reduces the chance of the trial being based on rumor and innuendo."
Peterson remains in jail in lieu of $20 million bond.