 The jury in the trial of the
former Illinois governor sent word to
Judge James Zagel on Thursday that after 11 days of deliberation
they had reached a consensus on only two of the 24 counts faced by
Blagojevich. They have yet to consider the 11 wire fraud charges,
which deal with the attempted sale of President Barack Obama's
former U.S. Senate seat, among other things. Zagel instructed the
jury to continue deliberations.State Sen. Dave Syverson,
R-Rockford, expressed disbelief that the jury is struggling to reach
a verdict.
"The information that we had going in to that trial -- clearly
these are things that any competent person looking at all the facts
would say, no questions, these laws have been broken," Syverson
said.
Syverson suggested that perhaps the holdout jurors were being
influenced by the media and the reality television circus that led
up to the trial. Blagojevich appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice" this
past spring.
"There's always that concern when you have that celebrity status
and jurors that sometimes make emotional decisions instead of
looking at the facts," Syverson said.
But state Rep. Jill Tracy, R-Quincy, said Thursday's news shows
that the jury members are taking their responsibility very
seriously.
"It's just a testament that when you have to prove somebody
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it's a daunting duty, and I don't
think any of us would want to trade places with them right now,"
Tracy said.
Many, including state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-Moline, are questioning
what should happen if the governor is found innocent of the charges
long after the court of public opinion has found him guilty.
"If in fact the governor proves to be innocent or not guilty,
then you know somebody's got some questions to answer," Jacobs said.
"The feds were running around saying the state's corrupt; everyone
in the state is corrupt. It puts everyone in a position to really
question the authority of the federal government and what the heck
they're really doing."
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The outcome of the trial holds a special interest for members of
the General Assembly, as their decision to impeach and convict
Blagojevich in January of last year -- throwing him out of office --
was predicated on the allegations made by the federal government.
But Syverson said that even if Blagojevich is found innocent,
impeaching him was still the right thing to do.
"The role of impeachment was the fact that he was not doing his
job as governor and he was a danger to the taxpayers of Illinois,"
Syverson said.
Tracy said that after hearing the evidence in the impeachment
trial, the General Assembly's only choice was to remove Blagojevich
as governor.
"Listening to those tapes and what we heard, no doubt," Tracy
said. "He did not have the state of Illinois' best interest at heart
for years, it looked like.
Jacobs agreed that impeachment was necessary because
Blagojevich's interaction with lawmakers and citizens had soured to
the point that he had lost the ability to govern.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By JENNIFER WESSNER]
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