Prosecutors working on Blagojevich jury questions

[December 03, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Prosecutors say they're working on a questionnaire for potential jurors in the retrial of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Prosecutor Reid Schar said during a brief status hearing Thursday at federal court in Chicago that the government could have a draft questionnaire ready for approval by early February. The retrial is set for April.

Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat, among other charges.

Questionnaires help weed out potential jurors with biases. A key question for would-be jurors will be how closely they followed the first trial and whether that could affect how they view the second trial.

Jurors in August convicted Blagojevich on just one of 24 counts -- lying to the FBI. He'll be retried on 23 charges.

[Associated Press]

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