After the dust-up yesterday between Sam Adam, Jr. and the Judge in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, in which Adam was warned not to reference the witnesses not called by the Government in his closing argument, which resulted in Blago's closing being postponed until today, a new lawyer entered an appearance for Blago. He's Marc Martin, and his entry says his appearance is limited to jury instruction issues.

Martin also worked on the R.J. Kelly case and Conrad Black cases. His website says he was responsible for most of the pleadings in the Kelly case. Team Blago filed jury instructions on Saturday, July 24 (available on PACER). This is the instruction the Judge refused to give and won't let Adam raise: [More...]

Bump and Update: Sam Adams, Jr. didn't get to deliver his closing today. He got threatened with contempt instead, because he intended to refer to the witnesses the government didn't call, like Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, President Obama, Rahm Emmanuel and more. Now the closings are in doubt. What a wasted opportunity. Why didn't he just start so the jury would not be left with the Government's words when they went home tonight?

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Blagojevich Closing Arguments to Continue Tuesday

Rod and Patti Blagojevich brought their daughters to court to hear closing arguments today.

Did former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just catch a break? Closing arguments are running long, so the Judge has said Rod's lawyer can give half his closing today and finish tomorrow. [More...]

When we left off Friday, the Judge instructed the lawyers in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his brother Rob to e-mail him and each other any requested changes to the jury instructions over the weekend.

Sunday, Team Blago filed a motion for reconsideration and objection to the jury instructions and four in particular. (Available on PACER.) They say the Court is not following the 7th Circuit Pattern instructions or the law in refusing their tendered instructions. Which means, the Court has accepted the Government's versions or ones close to it. And they make a big difference.

The instructions Blago wants are his (filed Saturday) numbered 14, 15, 22 and 5. [More...]

As the Judge and attorneys put the final touches on jury instructions this weekend, I thought a summary of the charges against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his brother Robert might be helpful for reference during closing arguments and jury deliberations. All of what follows comes from the Government's 123 page proposed jury instructions to the Court, filed July 21 (Rod Blagojevich didn't file written instructions this week, and Robert's lawyer only filed five pages of instructions, which I'll discuss later or in another post. First, the charges:

Rod Blagojevich:

• Racketeering (Count 1),
• Conspiracy to commit racketeering (Count 2),
• Wire fraud (Counts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
  9, 10, 11, 12, and 13),
• Attempted Extortion (Counts 14, 15, 19, and 22),
• Conspiracy to commit extortion (Counts 17 and 21),
• Bribery (Counts 16 and 20),
• Conspiracy to commit bribery (Counts 18 and 23),
• Making false statements to the government (Count 24).

As to Robert Blagojevich: [More...]

Closing arguments in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his brother Rob Blagojevich will begin Monday morning. Both sides said they need 2 1/2 hours, with the Government taking another hour for its rebuttal closing. (Since it has the burden of proof, it gets two bites at the apple.)

Sam Adam, Jr. will do Blago's closing. (Good choice, he's not only a terrific orator, but it's wise to have the same lawyer do both the opening and closing.) Rob Blagojevich's lawyer will take an hour. Assistant U. S. Atty. Christopher Niewoehner will close first for the Government, with the rebuttal by Assistant U. S. Atty. Reid Schar. (A different AUSA gave the opening.) [More...]

I think Rod Blagojevich made the right call in taking his lead counsel's advice and deciding not to testify in his own defense.

"Sam Adam Sr.'s most compelling argument and ultimately the one that swayed me was that the government in their case proved my innocence," he said. "They proved I did nothing illegal and that there was nothing further for us to add."

"In the tapes that the government played, they proved as I said all along that I did nothing illegal,” the former governor continued. “In fact they proved that I sought the advice of my lawyers and my advisers. They proved that I was on the phone talking to them, brainstorming about ideas. Yes, they proved some of those ideas were stupid, but they also proved some of the ideas were good."

I discussed the pros and cons as I saw them here. [More...]

Lawyers for former Illiniois Governor Rod Blagojevich told the judge today they planned on resting without calling any witnesses, including Rod. The judge told them to think about it overnight.

The reason, according to Sam Adam, Jr,:

"The government hasn't proven anything and by getting up there and answering questions it gives them credence to what they've put on so far," Blagojevich's attorney Sam Adam Jr. told reporters.

Sam Adam, Sr. told the jury in opening Blago would testify. That's usually a problem when you don't keep your promise to the jury. But the prosecution can't mention a defendant's decision not to testify and the jury will be told not to either discuss or consider it. [More...]

CNN reports former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will testify today.

Rod's brother and co-defendant, Rob Blagojevich, testified Monday.

In his testimony, he came off as the protective older brother, refusing to blame his sibling for any wrongdoing. The former governor watched with a look of admiration on his face....

...Confronted by his and his brother's recorded words, Robert Blagojevich pleaded ignorance on some issues and claimed his brother was misunderstood on others.

[More...]

The trial of former Illiniois Governor Rod Blagojoveich continues. Tuesday, his former Chief of Staff, initially indicted along with Blago, takes the stand. He's expected to testify for a few days.

Here's a copy of his plea agreement. His guidelines call for 70 - 87 months. If his cooperation against Blago goes according to plan, the Government has agreed to ask for 35 months, a fifty percent reduction off the bottom of the guideline range.

Harris will insist his only job is to tell the truth. But it's the Government's version of the truth. If he insisted the truth was that Blago didn't commit any crimes, the Government would say that's not the truth, and he wouldn't get the reduction.

It's testimony purchased with promises of leniency. Freedom is a commodity far more precious than money. It's a practice that renders our system morally bankrupt.

Jack Abramoff has been released from prison to finish serving his 70 month sentence in a half-way house.

He started his sentence in November, 2006. He's served 3 years and 7 months. He'll be discharged from the halfway house December 4.

On the day he was sentenced, I wrote:

I don't think Abramoff will do more than three to four years. But, with a $21 million restitution order hanging over his head, he may never be a fat cat again.

Jury selection went faster today in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. A pool of 30 potential jurors have passed the challenges for cause stage. The Judge says they need 40 and he thinks opening arguments could come Tuesday.

The judge also said he's unlikely to let Blago attend his daughter's graduation set for late Tuesday afternoon -- unless, it sounds like, they hurry up the jury selection process to finish early.

Zagel said taking an afternoon off here and there would send the wrong message to jurors, who were asked to take off so much time out of their own lives to serve on the jury. He did say he would consider ending the day early if opening statements in the case could begin earlier.

Maybe it's just me, but I would think it's more important to conduct a thorough vetting of potential juror biases in a such a high profile trial than to worry about taking a few hours off from a trial that's expected to last four months. Plus, only those chosen will be getting any "message" by a delay of opening arguments. [More...]

Jury selection got off to a slow start in the trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. More here. Above, Patti Blagojevich asserts her husband's innocence at court today.