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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Delay in Blagojevich trial opposed by prosecutors |
| 2010-03-16 |
| Federal prosecutors oppose a bid by lawyers for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to delay his corruption trial until November. Blagojevich is charged with conspiring to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and other misuses of his office. I think early October is a fine time to open the trial ... Blagojevich's lawyers last week asked to postpone the trial from June 3 because the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to limit or throw out the "honest services" fraud law. They also cited a voluminous amount of evidence turned over by prosecutors in recent days. In their filing Monday, prosecutors contended that neither argument by the defense is persuasive, "particularly in light of the strong public interest in resolving this case as expeditiously as possible." Blagojevich's repeated public statements against the case have heightened that interest, the government contended. "The charges in this case allege that the defendant engaged in a longstanding and pervasive abuse of his power as the governor of the state of Illinois," the prosecution said. "The defendant has repeatedly and publicly challenged the legitimacy of the charges against him. As a result, the public has a strong interest in the expeditious resolution of the charges." Prosecutors argued that no matter how the Supreme Court rules on the "honest services" law, the underlying evidence against the former governor would remain the same at trial. Blagojevich is charged with conspiring to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and other misuses of his office. Part of the indictment depends on the controversial fraud statute that requires elected officials perform their duties honestly. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the statute early in the summer. Prosecutors also dismissed the defense claim that it has been overwhelmed with evidence from the prosecution. By the time the trial would begin in early June, the defense would have had months to review all the material, they said. The issue will be before U.S. District Judge James Zagel on Wednesday. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 He's got a tv show to star pr in now. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-03-16 12:12 |
| #1 UK slang - To blag, To convince by rhetoric; to gain acceptance or approval through persuasive banter or conversation; trickery; keenly persuasive; to scrounge by means of conversation. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-03-16 07:49 |