Dec 26, 2007 7:58 pm US/Eastern
Disbarred Lawyer Wants Murder Charges Dropped
Expert: Why Would Perez-Olivo Want To Go Before Grand Jury?
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Carlos Perez-Olivo mug shot, taken after he was charged in his wife's 2006 murder.
CBS
The Chappaqua man accused of murdering his wife and then shooting himself as part of a cover-up is calling for the charges against him to be dropped. It's a somewhat unusual legal strategy being pursued by disbarred attorney Carlos Perez-Olivo.
In a jailhouse interview, the 60-year-old Perez-Olivo, whose wife, Peggy, died following the mysterious shooting on dark, suburban road on Nov. 18, 2006, told CBS 2's Tony Aiello that he was denied his right to go before the grand jury that indicted him six days ago.
"Ask me whatever questions they wanted to ask me, and it would not be a one-sided situation," he said.
It's a question of timing -- just when on "indictment day" did Perez-Olivo make his request.
In his motion to dismiss, the defense claims the indictment was filed after Perez-Olivo requested to appear before the grand jury. The defense insists it notified District Attorney Janet DiFiore just before 1 p.m. by telephone, and 40 minutes later by fax, that Perez-Olivo wanted to testify.
But DiFiore said the request was received a few minutes after the indictment was a done deal.
Pace Law professor Bennett Gershman believes the judge will side with DiFiore and wonders why Perez-Olivo would pursue the risky course of going before the grand jury.
"The defendant has to waive immunity if he wants to testify. Anything he says can be used against him," Gershman said.
Perez-Olivo claims his wife was shot in the head and he was shot in the abdomen by men who ambushed them as they drove home in November last year.
"From the very beginning I did the best I could to cooperate with police so they would not waste their time on me," Perez-Olivo said.
Perez-Olivo added that he's anxious to learn more about the forensic evidence that links him to a gun found in a lake near the site of the shooting. In the meantime, he remains behind bars, unable to raise the down payment needed to make bail, set at $1 million.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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