Judge James Zagel said that will happen this afternoon.The jury
had returned to the federal courthouse in Chicago on Monday after
nine days of deliberations. They had been talking over the evidence
in the case over a three-week period.
Blagojevich, 54, has denied all wrongdoing, including allegations
that he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack
Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for a high-paying job
and schemed to shake down executives for campaign donations.
Blagojevich took the stand at the retrial and denied all the
charges.
Jurors at the first trial last year came back deadlocked after
deliberating for 14 days. They agreed on just one of 24 counts,
convicting Blagojevich of lying to the FBI.
Despite that, hung juries are rare. According to one federal
study, using data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts,
just 2.5 percent of federal trials from 1980 to 1997 ended hung -- a
lower rate than for juries in state courts.
When jurors do deadlock, it is often at trials where the charges
are complex and where the evidence appears ambiguous, a 2002
federally funded study by The National Center for State Courts
found.
"You have both in the Blagojevich case -- complexity and evidence
that's not straightforward," said Gal Pissetzky, a Chicago defense
attorney who tries cases in federal court.
Prosecutors almost certainly factored that in going into the
retrial.
They streamlined the case by dropping racketeering counts against
the ex-governor and dismissing all charges against his
then-co-defendant brother, Robert Blagojevich.
[to top of second column] |
And at the retrial, they presented just three weeks of evidence
-- half the time taken at the first trial. They called fewer
witnesses, asked fewer questions and played shorter excerpts of FBI
wiretaps that underpin most of the charges.
There was also a new variable at the retrial: the testimony from
Blagojevich himself. At the first trial, the defense rested without
calling any witnesses, and Blagojevich didn't testify despite vowing
that he would.
But retrial jurors saw a deferential Blagojevich look them in the
eyes and deny each and every allegation, telling them his talk on
the recordings was mere brainstorming. This time, jurors must decide
if they believe him.
[Associated Press;
By MICHAEL TARM]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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