Blagojevich’s lawyers face crucial final decisions on jury before real drama begins
By Mike Robinson, APMonday, June 7, 2010
Blagojevich lawyers face decision time on jury
CHICAGO — The federal judge presiding over the racketeering and fraud trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appeared eager Monday to complete jury selection and quickly progress to opening statements in the long-anticipated proceedings.
As of Monday morning, just the third day of the trial, Judge James B. Zagel had questioned more than 60 people to gauge their fitness to hear evidence against Blagojevich, usually taking no more than 10 minutes per person.
Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to scheming to profit from his power as governor to fill the Senate seat President Barack Obama left to move to the White House. He also denies plotting to pressure campaign donors illegally and launching a scheme to divide the hefty dividends with advisers after he left office.
Some 20 jurors have already been rejected over objections from both sides. The final panel will be whittled down to 12 jurors plus alternates. Zagel said Friday he would like seated jurors to hear opening arguments Tuesday.
Zagel agreed with defense attorneys Monday morning to send a tollway worker home, but he denied a defense request to strike an airport security employee off the list of potential jurors on grounds he has contact with the FBI through work. Another, a former corporate banker who worked on political campaigns for Barack Obama, told Zagel she tends to rely on gut feelings in judging people.
Zagel let a Polish-born woman go because she has some difficulty understanding English.
On his way into the courtroom, an ever-upbeat and defiant Blagojevich likened the corruption case to a “locked box” with the truth hidden inside. He said trial is the key that will open it and prove his innocence.
Blagojevich, who has made scores of public appearances since his 2008 arrest, again proclaimed his innocence during a Monday morning interview on WLS Radio’s “The Don and Roma Morning Show,” hours before he arrived at the court.
He said he hoped the proceedings would be over in time on Tuesday so he could attend his eighth grade daughter’s evening graduation ceremony.
Throughout proceedings, the former governor has displayed his usual campaign trail charm.
“I’m getting to like this building,” he quipped Friday as he left the courthouse.
Some of the potential jurors questioned so far included two former Marines, a Polish-born housekeeping supervisor, a hospital administrator, a retired videotape librarian, a bank manager, a woman who does community volunteer work and a federal Homeland Security supervisor at O’Hare International Airport.
One cited Blagojevich’s television appearances, saying she viewed it as self-promotion. Blagojevich appeared on NBC’s reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” and on several talk shows.
No jurors were expected to be seated until after the lawyers make their final challenges. Then come the openings from prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Making the opening statement for Blagojevich will be Sam Adam Jr., the fiery courtroom orator whose shouting, whispering, table-pounding closing argument preceded the acquittal of R&B singer R. Kelly on child pornography charges two years ago.
Prosecutors have 500 hours of secretly made FBI tapes on which Blagojevich and his brother are heard. They are also guaranteed to call as witnesses both of the former governor’s chiefs of staff, Alonzo Monk and John Harris, to give jurors an inside view of the alleged schemes.
The former governor’s brother, 54-year-old Robert Blagojevich of Nashville, Tenn., has pleaded not guilty to taking part in the alleged plan to sell the Senate seat and plotting to pressure a racetrack owner for campaign money using the governor’s power over racetrack legislation.
It’s only the latest episode in the federal government’s war on the decades-old corruption that has sent dozens of state and local officials to prison. Blagojevich’s predecessor in the governor’s office, Republican George Ryan, is serving a 6½-year racketeering and fraud sentence in federal prison.
The trial threatens to be a major embarrassment for Democrats, playing out for months before November elections. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn — Blagojevich’s former lieutenant governor — is trying to hang onto the state’s top office and Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias is campaigning for the same Senate seat that is the focus of the corruption trial.
Tags: Arts And Entertainment, Barack Obama, Campaigns, Chicago, Fraud And False Statements, Music, North America, Political Corruption, Political Issues, Racketeering, United States
