Divided Jury Convicts Blagojevich of Single Count

[clearvision]

NY Times:

Rod R. Blagojevich, the ousted former governor of Illinois, was convicted on Tuesday of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but the jury in the corruption case against him also reported that it was hopelessly deadlocked on 23 out of 24 counts against him.

The jury’s findings, which came on the 14th day of deliberation, were seen as a victory for Mr. Blagojevich and his defense team and a significant setback for federal authorities, who arrested Mr. Blagojevich almost two years ago to stop what they described unambiguously as “a political corruption crime spree,” including attempts to sell the appointment to fill the Senate seat once held by President Obama.

“The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave,” Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said of Mr. Blagojevich at the time.

Judge James B. Zagel accepted the jury’s verdict on the false statements count on Tuesday and declared a mistrial on the remaining counts, the bulk of the case. Federal prosecutors said immediately that they will try Mr. Blagojevich once more.

[Al_Simmons]

Too bad. I hoped he'd "walk". Now they'll refile the charges, Blago will be OK, but his innocent brother will be financially ruined/ He shouldn't have listened to their mother and should have remained "estranged."

 

I don't think Blago is innocent, but until they indict Rahm and Obama, I think he's just playing the scapegoat.

 

And I hate, HATE Fitzgerald after the political hatchet job he did on Scooter Libby and Karl Rove.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

CHICAGO — Rod R. Blagojevich, the ousted former governor of Illinois, was convicted on Tuesday of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but the jury in the corruption case against him also reported that it was hopelessly deadlocked on the 23 other counts against him.

The jury’s findings, which came on the 14th day of deliberations, were seen as a victory for Mr. Blagojevich and his defense team and a significant setback for federal authorities, who arrested Mr. Blagojevich almost two years ago to stop what they described unambiguously as “a political corruption crime spree,” including attempts to sell the appointment to fill the Senate seat once held by Barack Obama.

“The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave,” Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said of Mr. Blagojevich at the time.

Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court accepted the jury’s verdict on the false-statements count on Tuesday and declared a mistrial on the remaining counts, the bulk of the case. Federal prosecutors said immediately that they would try Mr. Blagojevich once more.

After the verdict, Mr. Blagojevich proclaimed victory.

"This jury shows you that the government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me," he said later outside court. "They could not prove I did anything wrong -- except for one nebulous charge from five years ago."

Mr. Blagojevich’s trial, which began in June, featured prosecution testimony from several of Mr. Blagojevich’s former chiefs of staff as well as numerous secretly recorded telephone calls in which Mr. Blagojevich or his aides seemed to seek financial benefits for official state actions. But the trial also exposed two notions that favored the defense: Mr. Blagojevich rarely managed to actually succeed in getting such financial benefits, and much of what he did might also be viewed by some as common, if especially ugly, political deal-making.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on any of the four counts against Mr. Blagojevich’s older brother, Robert, who had briefly served as a fund-raiser for the former governor.

It was uncertain when the former governor would face sentencing on the false-statements charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
________

His hair had no comment...

[Geee]

Fitzgerald seemed to be able to convict Libby of nothing and then has hours worth of tapes on Blago and this is the result?

[Casino67]

BLAGOJEVICH JUROR: There was one hold out. We were 11-1 for conviction

By

Natasha Korecki

on August 17, 2010 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

 

The Associated Press is reporting that juror Erik Sarnello says there was one female hold out juror.

 

CHICAGO (AP) ‹ A juror in the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich says the

panel was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting the former Illinois

governor of trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former Senate

seat.

Juror Erik Sarnello of Itasca, Ill said a female holdout "just didn't see

what we all saw." The 21-year-old Sarnello said the counts around the Senate

seat were "the most obvious."

The jury convicted Blagojevich Tuesday of a lesser charge, lying to federal

agents, but could not reach an agreement on the remaining 23 charges.

Prosecutors have pledged to retry the case as soon as possible.

[clearvision]

It would be interesting to see her family tree and their employment...

[Casino67]

It would be interesting to see her family tree and their employment...

 

I was thinking the same thing. Can't find her name anywhere yet. I am sure Fitz is thinking the same thing.

[ErnstBlofeld]

Chicago corruption at work in the jury room.

[Chickadee]

I saw him one time on Celebrity Apprentice. He was nauseating! That said, I still believe he was totally USED by the current administration and I think it would have been a slight slam if he had totally gotten off. I realize that is not what he deserves. Just sayin' . . .

[Argyle58]

They must have had Marcia Clark consulting for the prosecution. No one else could have engineered such a loss with a slam dunk case like this.

[AceRimmer]

BLAGOJEVICH JUROR: There was one hold out. We were 11-1 for conviction

By

Natasha Korecki

on August 17, 2010 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

 

The Associated Press is reporting that juror Erik Sarnello says there was one female hold out juror.

 

CHICAGO (AP) ‹ A juror in the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich says the

panel was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting the former Illinois

governor of trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former Senate

seat.

Juror Erik Sarnello of Itasca, Ill said a female holdout "just didn't see

what we all saw." The 21-year-old Sarnello said the counts around the Senate

seat were "the most obvious."

The jury convicted Blagojevich Tuesday of a lesser charge, lying to federal

agents, but could not reach an agreement on the remaining 23 charges.

Prosecutors have pledged to retry the case as soon as possible.

 

Check her finances, this reeks of jury tampering...

[cudjo]

It would be interesting to see her family tree and their employment...

 

I"d bet there is no one employed in her family, probably second or third generation welfare

[Al_Simmons]

11 - 1 for conviction?

 

This does not bode well for the former Guv.....