JOLIET – An attorney who came under criticism for his handling of Drew Peterson’s murder trial said Tuesday that he is leaving the defense team as it prepares for the former Bolingbrook police officer’s sentencing.

Joel Brodsky said fighting within the defense team prompted him to decide to bow out of the case, a decision he said Peterson “was not happy with.” Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder last month in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

“The focus was not on the client and his issues ... and I had to do something to get the case back on track,” he said, as Peterson’s attorneys prepare for a sentencing hearing in January in which he faces up to 60 years in prison. “Now the case can focus on the issues and not the personalities.”