©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Day Five Deliberations Continue for Blagojevich Case |
(IRN)-Thursday marks day five of deliberations for the jury in the corruption retrial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Jurors have asked the judge only one question, which came late in the day Tuesday. Jurors were confused when some had more pages in their transcript binders than others. Judge James B. Zagel ordered the extra pages be taken out.
The pages were an extended transcript of a phone call between Blagojevich and his brother and neither side took issue with the mistaken addition to the binders.
As Blagojevich waits for a verdict, defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky says the former governor is spending time reading a book about President Truman and going for jogs. Former Blagojevich lawyer Sam Adam Jr. says waiting is "extremely frustrating and nerve-racking" for Blagojevich. Adam says he thinks this year's jury will either acquit Blagojevich or result in another hung jury.
Last year's jury convicted Blagojevich on one of the 24 counts against him, lying to the FBI. They deadlocked on the other 23 counts, which led to a mistrial. After the mistrial, Blagojevich was critical of the federal government's pursuit of a retrial, saying it was a waste of taxpayer money. It came out this week that the four defense attorneys on the former governor's team are getting $230,000, all taxpayer money, none paid by Blagojevich.
In the current trial, Blagojevich faces 20 counts including wire fraud, extortion and conspiracy for allegations ranging from selling a Senate seat to shaking down a Children's Hospital boss and others for campaign cash.
The jury, composed of 11 women and one man, is sifting through six weeks of testimony. And they have something last year's jury didn't: seven days of testimony from the former governor, four of which was cross examination.
Thursday will be the final day of deliberations this week. The jury's schedule has them meeting Monday through Thursday beginning at 9 a.m. They've been leaving consistently each day at 4 p.m. but have agreed to stay late if they are close to reaching a verdict.
(Source: Illinois Radio Network) |
|
| 06 16 11 by Newsroom |
Click here for the WGIL News Archive
Click here for national news
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.
