Defense: Lift seal on Blagojevich evidence

CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are continuing their barrage of pretrial motions with a new one asking a judge to lift a court-ordered seal on all evidence, including FBI wiretap recordings.

The seven-page motion filed early today argues the order barring the public release of evidence impairs Blagojevich more than prosecutors and creates what it calls “a fundamentally unfair playing field.”

The filing also accuses the government of releasing out-of-context tape excerpts before the first trial that “poisoned the jury pool.”

Blagojevich’s initial trial ended in August with the jury deadlocked on 23 of 24 charges. A retrial is set to start April 20.

Only a small percentage of the wiretap recordings were played at the first trial. The rest are barred from release by the seal order.