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| Prosectution Could Rest in Blagojevich Case Thursday |
(IRN)-The judge at the corruption retrial of ousted Governor Rod Blagojevich says he expects the prosecution to rest its case Thursday.
Prosecutors told Judge James B. Zagel they'll be able to get through their four remaining witnesses within a few hours. Zagel said Wednesday that defense attorneys would have their chance to start calling witnesses Monday, although it's unclear if they will put on a defense and whether Blagojevich will take the stand in his own defense. The judge also said that he thought closing arguments would happen at the very end of May.
Prosecutors have called only a dozen witnesses over 2½ weeks in a streamlined case. Sin the first trial, 30 witnesses testified over six weeks.
During cross examination of Blagojevich's former friend and chief of staff Lon Monk, prosecutors told the judge of their concern that defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky was using his question to influence the jury. "Judge, we've been paying attention," said federal prosecutor Reid Schar. "There are certain jurors who are actually writing down his questions."
Zagel had been blocking Monk's answers because they were out of bounds. "What you're doing is, you're making this argument in the form of questions, and you've done it persistently and you did it in the last trial," Zagel said. "This is an abusive cross-examination." Zagel said he would remind jurors that attorney questions are not evidence.
Blagojevich faces 20 corruption charges, including that he tried to sell or trade appointment to a U.S. Senate seat for campaign contributions.
(Source: Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 05 19 11 by Newsroom |
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