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Judge: Blago Motion to Cancel Trial to "Vanish"
CHICAGO (AP) -- A federal judge in Chicago says he doesn't think a motion by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to cancel his upcoming retrial is serious and so he declined to formally rule on it.

Judge James Zagel told attorneys at a status hearing Monday that he doesn't have the authority to simply call off a trial. He added he expects the motion ``to go away by itself'' and ``vanish into thin air.''

The impeached governor's attorneys filed the motion this month asking the judge to forgo a second corruption trial and proceed straight to sentencing on his lone conviction from his first trial.

The impeached governor faces a maximum five-year prison sentence on the conviction of lying to the FBI. His retrial on 20 counts is scheduled to begin April 20.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
03 21 11 by Newsroom
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