05/29/2008 (www.foxnews.com) Megyn Kelly (American Newsroom)
“Guests: Joel Brodsky talks with Megyn Kelly and Geraldo”
http://www.acandyrose.com/2008-05-29-FoxNews-Brodsky.htm
Megyn Kelly with co-anchor Bill Hemmer
http://www.foxnews.com/americasnewsroom/
Sent to www.acandyrose.com in e-mail from “Snicker”
(Transcribed from video 05/29/08)
Transcript of JB interview on FoxNews on 5/29/08:
Hollywood Help?
Megyn Kelly : . . .involving a major Hollywood connection in the Drew Peterson case. In a just released picture of the ex-police officer, Drew Peterson is standing with actor John Travolta. Why on earth is this relevant? Well Drew Peterson is evidently on duty here, dressed in his uniform and carrying an assault rifle. Why again is that significant? Because Peterson's attorney says this photo could help clear Peterson of a felony weapons violation. His attorney Joel Brodsky is here with us tonight. Joel, thanks for being here.
Joel Brodsky: My pleasure.
Megyn Kelly: Appreciate it. Alright, so for those who have not been paying, you know, that close of attention to this Peterson case, he was arrested on, ah, a gun charge. They're saying he had an unlawful gun, an illegal gun, ah, it was too long. Ah, and . . .
Joel Brodsky: Too short.
Megyn Kelly: And he's out on bail as a result of that. How does this picture exonerate your client?
Joel Brodsky: Under Illinois law, if it's a gun which is used in the performance of the officer's duty, then it is exempt from the barrel length restrictions. So you could have a gun with too short of ah, a rifle with too short of a barrel, but if you're a sworn officer and you use that weapon in the course of your duty as a police officer and that's what's going on here in this picture. Ah, Drew has that AR-15 over his shoulder, he's ah providing security for John Travolta, ah and he's using it obviously in the course of the performance of his duty, so it shows that this weapon was exempted weapon under Illinois law and therefore Drew is not, ah is exempt from the charge he's been charged with and he's not guilty.
Megyn Kelly: Is it the case that just because he had it on him once, according to you, in his job as a cop, that he was allowed to use it thereafter in his home?
Joel Brodsky: Well, we have multiple pictures of him, we have videotape of him going on training exercises, group photographs of him with other SWAT members and the ah chiefs of police of Bolingbrook holding this very assault rifle, so we have plenty, but we released this one because we knew it would make, grab some attention. His arrest was so public that we wanted his defense to be public too.
Megyn Kelly: Didn't they say, wasn't the problem that even on the job the barrel was too long? Ah, too short?
Joel Brodsky: Too short. Well, they're wrong. Ahhhh, it doesn't matter. The law is very clear. If it's used in the performance of the duty the barrel can be short - it's called an "entry weapon" - they used these short barreled weapons to make entry into rooms. A long barrel is kind of cumbersome. Specifically, short barrels are specifically for SWAT teams and ah, it's specifically allowed by law for that reason. Also, fully automatic guns are . . .
Megyn Kelly: Alright, Joel . . .
Joel Brodsky: . . . are also exempt.
Megyn Kelly: . . . do me a favor and please stand by, we're going to bring in Geraldo Rivera, who has also been covering this case . . .
Joel Brodsky: (facial expresssion changes and he makes an "oh brother!" sort of face and then smiles) Sure.
Megyn Kelly: . . . and then we're going to give you a chance to weigh back in, so stand by with us.
Joel Brodsky: (smile disappears) Sure.
Bill Hemmer: As you mention, Geraldo Rivera, host of "At Large" is jumping in on this. Good evening. What's the significance of this weapon as it relates to the potential . . .
Geraldo Rivera: First of all, let me just explain to the audience so they know . . .
Bill Hemmer: . . . or possible murder.
Geraldo Rivera: . . . that a sawed off barrel makes a weapon far more lethal. You know, it doesn't have time to, you know, it spreads and you make a big hole in someone, sort of shotgun effect and so they are specifically prohibited by law because they are so wicked in their effect. Now Brodsky again, and he has a very clever point of view here, says that there was at least tacit recognition of the fact that he had this illegal weapon by his superiors. I maintain how do we know that by this photo? We don't know when Peterson sawed off the barrel. I mean it's enough that he had a protective order against him from Kathleen Savio, the woman many believe he drowned and then staged to look like an accident. And a protective order prohibits people from having weapons, though he's a law enforcement officer, so he gets that pass. But the people in charge of the Bolingbrook police station say that he was issued two weapons to be on the SWAT team - one is a pistol, another is an MR-5 I think it's called. He was not issued this weapon. When did he saw it off? Even if he . . .
Bill Hemmer: Why don't we go to Joel on that?
Geraldo Rivera: When did he saw it off, Joel, when did Drew alter that barrel?
Joel Brodsky: He altered it about a year ago, but you're allowed to do that. That's the whole point.
Gerald Rivera: What a second, you're saying that . . .
Joel Brodsky: The barrel length is irrelevant.
Gerald Rivera: . . . the barrel was legal in the picture with Travolta in 2000, but you say that a year ago he sawed off the barrel of that weapon, therefore making it illegal but for the exemption for law enforcement . . .
Joel Brodsky: That's not so.
Gerald Rivera: . . . is that what you're saying Mr. Brodsky?
Joel Brodsky: Exactly. The barrel length if it is a duty weapon is irrelevant. It's irrelevant.
Gerald Rivera: Why did Drew choose to make a legal weapon an illegal weapon a year ago?
Joel Brodsky: But it's not an illegal weapon if you're an officer.
Gerald Rivera: Why did your client perform that . . . but you admit first of all . . .
Joel Brodsky: Because it makes it a better SWAT weapon.
Gerald Rivera: You said he sawed off the barrel a year ago, correct?
Joel Brodsky: No, it's not a sawed off barrel, it's a replacement, it's a shorter barrel that's put into the gun.
Gerald Rivera: It's an illegal barrel, is it not?
Joel Brodsky: No, it's not. You can say it is, but it's not.
Gerald Rivera: Why is he charged with a felony if it's not an illegal length, Joel?
Joel Brodsky: Well, because he's gonna be found, he's not guilty of it because he was a police officer . . .
Gerald Rivera: Your defense is that he's not guilty because he's a law enforcement officer, I want to state again for the audience to make note of, Drew Peterson sawed off that barrel in 2006 . . .
Joel Brodsky: It's not a sawed off barrel, it's a replacement barrel.
Gerald Rivera: . . . while you are promoting to everyone the preposterous notion you're gonna subpoena John Travolta to testify on your client's behalf when that photo is from 2000 - six years before he sawed off the barrel by your own admission, right Counselor?
Joel Brodsky: It's not even a . . . you don't even know what a barrel is . . . it's not a sawed off barrel, it's a replacement barrel. You exchange the barrel. You exchange the sixteen inch barrel with a shorter barrel. And they sell the short barrels for SWAT officers.
Gerald Rivera: And did he notify his superiors that he was altering the weapon, Joel? Did he notify the Chief of Police?
Joel Brodsky: Yes. Absolutely, because he qualified with that weapon with a shorter barrel twice.
Gerald Rivera: He sawed off that barrel in 2006 and . . .
Joel Brodsky: It's not a sawed off barrel! Why do you keep saying that when it's not true?
Gerald Rivera: . . . so when he altered the barrel, he notified his police chief that he was altering a weapon that was not issued to him in the first place, right?
Bill Hemmer: Hold on one second.
Joel Brodsky: (with a big smile) He qualified with it.
Bill Hemmer: We can cut through this. A week ago you sat here and said a grand jury will indict Drew Peterson by the end of July . . .
Gerald Rivera: By August first.
Bill Hemmer: . . . by the first part of August for the murder of his third wife. You stand my that?
Gerald Rivera: The consensus is . . . I stand by that. The consensus among law enforcement in the Chicago area, the Bolingbrook area in town and just out of town is that this man will be indicted.
Bill Hemmer: You hang on.
Joel Brodsky: What will you do when you're wrong? What will you do when you're wrong?
Bill Hemmer: Now you hang on. Joel, you hang on there too. We have breaking news after the commercial break. There is breaking news out of Texas . . .
Gerald Rivera: If I'm wrong you'll call me.