As the Sun Times reports, the illegal gun possession case against Drew Peterson will now proceed. Drew Peterson, who is suspected in the disappearance of his wife Stacy, was charged with possessing a rifle whose barrel was a fraction of an inch too short. Allow me to explain the injustice here:
I don’t know whether Drew Peterson, a Bolingbrook Police Sgt., murdered his 4th wife Stacy Peterson. I don’t know whether he killed in 3rd wife, Kathleen Savio, either. Indeed, none of us truly know, since we can only go by what the media tells us, and there have been many cases where the media vilifies a man, only to have him later proven innocent. This is why innocent until proven guilty is a longstanding principle of our legal system.
What I do know is that it is ridiculous and wrong to use a technical weapons law violation just to charge Drew Peterson with some crime. If there is evidence that he is responsible for murder(s) then he should certainly be charged for those crimes. However if there is no such evidence, then it is a perversion of justice for the police to seize his guns in connection with his wife’s disappearance, then months later, to measure the barrels and charge him for having one rifle barrel that is 0.375 inches too short.