Everyone is over analyzing the case. The Feds have him nailed on most of these counts so thoroughly the press is primarily trying to create a story by talking about different potential weaknesses in the case. There simply aren’t any weaknesses for most of the charges. The guilt is so clearly established by both tape and testimony that I just don’t have much to say.
One of my favorites is when he told the FBI that he had a firewall between government and fund raising. The only defense to that is that it was such a completely absurd statement no one would believe him. Unfortunately for Blagojevich and fortunately for the citizens of Illinois, that’s not a real defense.
The rest of the defense boils down to Blagojevich was too incompetent to pull off most of his schemes. Again, not a real defense though it is accurate. He’s going to prison for a long, long time. Just as I said in 2006.
Arch:
You are correct. The media is treating this trial as thought it were the first in the history of the world. I firmly believe he will be convicted but a wise friend of mine once remarked, “two things in life that are never certain, who a widow will marry and what a jury will do.”
Blago turned out to be a despicable human being, exemplified by his bringing his children to the courthouse to hear closing arguments.
That’s true–I was selected for a jury a few years ago. It was pretty shocked given my level of education and such, but what was more shocking was the absolute lack of logic by the jury.
The guy was watched breaking into a house by the police and caught inside with no real defense of any of this. I figured we’d be in and out of the jury room in 10 minutes. Elect a foreman, take a vote, laugh and go.
But no…we had to discuss whether the police were doing something wrong by watching him break in and then a whole host of issues that simply weren’t relevant to the instructions of the judge. I had figured going in I’d be the one most skeptical of the police and I was just sitting there wondering what planet I was on.
As a young prosecutor, I had a case like that once. The jury was out 15 minutes and found the defendant not guilty. That is why nothing a jury does ever surprises me.
Having said that, if Blago is acquitted I am giving serious consideration to moving to Canada!
I dated a prosecutor once. It seemed like a pretty frustrating job. She’d put in weeks of work on a case, only to have it fall apart because some witness would change her story on the stand, or some goofball juror would hold out for acquittal despite overwhelming evidence.
But she and her colleagues actually were pretty easygoing. I asked about it once at her office party, and they told me they don’t take setbacks too seriously because there’s always the next case. When you work for the people, business is always good.