Drew Peterson legal team stays same

October 12, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Drew Peterson told the judge Friday that he's sticking with the lawyer who saw him through his murder trial -- Joel Brodsky.

At least for now.

In a court appearance before Judge Edward Burmila, Peterson said Brodsky is still his lead counsel.

Earlier this week, two other attorneys -- John Carroll and Michelle Gonzalez -- had filed a motion for a new trial for Peterson, calling Brodsky "ineffective counsel" and said they would represent the former Bolingbrook police officer as he appealed his conviction in the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. That motion was withdrawn on Friday after Peterson, who had asked them to file it, told Judge Burmila he needed more time to think about it.

"Mr. Peterson has a loyalty to Mr. Brodsky and he is concerned about Mr. Brodsky's reputation if we moved forward on this motion," Gonzalez said.

Brodsky had filed a motion to strike the retrial motion, which he said was full of "blatant lies." He accused Carroll and Gonzalez of doing it for publicity.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow also thinks the move to garner more publicity- for Peterson.

"It did open up a can of worms because it alleged a number of issues with regards to errors in trial," Glasgow said.

The re-trial motion follows upon the heels of rumblings of infighting between Brodsky and Steve Greenberg, who also represented Peterson. Greenberg reportedly wanted off the case because he and Brodsky don't see eye-to-eye.

"Nobody knows the facts better than Mr. Brodsky and nobody knows the law in this case better than Mr. Greenberg, whatever personal issues they had amongst each other have been settled, have been resolved. We have to move forward. This is about Drew. It's not about anybody's ego, not about anybody calling each other names," Joe Lopez, a third defense attorney who represented Peterson in the trial, said.

Peterson will appear in court next on October 30 at 10:30 a.m. during a status hearing. His sentencing date is set for January 10, 2013. He was found guilty in the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, earlier this year.

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local, diane pathieu

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