Second Blago trial won’t be a rerun of first
Second Blago trial won’t be a rerun of first
CHICAGO (AP) — The same defendant. The same judge. The same courthouse. Even the same carefully coiffed hair.
Rod Blagojevich’s second corruption trial begins Wednesday, starring many of the same figures as the first. But this retrial won’t be just a rerun.
Prosecutors have streamlined their case against the former Illinois governor, dropping some of the most complex charges to address complaints by the previous jury that the evidence was too hard to follow.
Blagojevich, now 54, returns with a scaled-down, more bookish defense team that no longer includes lead lawyer Sam Adam Jr., whose courtroom theatrics in round one often drew the judge’s ire. And this time, Blagojevich will be the lone defendant after authorities dropped all charges against his brother.
Like a second-night Broadway performance, the actors presumably come in with many missteps and miscues corrected.
“Everyone improves,” said Blagojevich attorney Aaron Goldstein.
Surprises are also possible.
For prosecutors, it could be seeking testimony from Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel. For the defense, it could be putting their client on the stand. In the last trial, Blagojevich repeatedly promised to testify, then didn’t.
Speaking at his Chicago home over the weekend, Blagojevich told The Associated Press that he both looked forward to the retrial and dreaded it.
“To have to sit through that and hear all that again ... it’s brutal, brutal,” he said with the family dog, Skittles, resting on his lap. Listening to former aides, confidants and once-close friends testify against him was particularly painful, he added. All of them are expected to take the stand again in the weeks ahead.
But Blagojevich, who says he ruled out accepting a plea bargain, said he was also eager for another chance to clear his name. He knows he has a lot to lose.
He could get up to five years in prison for lying to the FBI, the sole count on which he was convicted last year. He faces 20 more counts in the retrial, including bribery and fraud. And the stakes are as high as ever: A conviction on just one offense could mean a decade or more behind bars.