Search on for unbiased jurors in Blagojevich case
CHICAGO (AP) — The judge and attorneys in Rod Blagojevich’s corruption retrial Monday were set to resume the daunting task of selecting jurors who can put aside what they’ve heard about the high-profile case and give the former Illinois governor a fair trial.
Judge James Zagel was expected to individually question up to 40 more people out of a pool of more than 100 potential jurors to assess their suitability. Each filled out a 38-page jury questionnaire as the retrial started last week.
The impeached governor’s first trial ended last year with jurors deadlocked on all but one count of lying to the FBI. At the retrial, the 54-year-old still faces 20 charges, including accusations he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat for campaign cash or a top job.
The first day of individual questioning of would-be jurors on Thursday revealed most either held unfavorable views of politicians in general or of Blagojevich in particular. All had heard at least something about last year’s trial.
Zagel spoke to 22 potential jurors Thursday and, by day’s end, dismissed 11 on various grounds, including that weeks of jury duty would hit their families hard financially.
But he refused defense requests to send home several people who seemed biased against Blagojevich, including a retired auto shop owner who wrote that, “Based on news accounts, my personal bias is — he is guilty.” Zagel said he accepted the man’s assurances in court that he could set aside his preconceptions and focus solely on the evidence.