Rod Blagojevich 'silly,' but not a criminal, defense says
| Chicago
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich may talk a lot and possess 鈥渉orrible judgment in people鈥� but he鈥檚 no criminal. That鈥檚 the gist of the case made by Mr. Blagojevich鈥檚 defense attorney, Sam Adam Jr., in his bombastic closing argument Tuesday.
Mr. Adam waved his arms, shouted, and worked up a sweat as he tried to convince jurors that his client is not guilty of the 24 counts against him, including extortion, fraud, and perjury, and the allegation that he attempted to sell the US Senate seat vacated by President Obama. In the process, he elicited a nonstop stream of objections 鈥� nearly all sustained 鈥� from the federal prosecutors.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beginning to look more like a show,鈥� said Judge James Zagel after one objection.
The contrast between the defense and the prosecution 鈥� one loud, theatrical, and filled with emotion; the other careful and precise as prosecutor Chris Niewoehner walked jurors through the government鈥檚 complex case on Monday 鈥� is a dramatic one, and Adam鈥檚 style is one more often seen in state court than in a federal courthouse, say observers.
鈥淲henever the government has a strong case, it鈥檚 boring and methodical, and when the defense doesn鈥檛 have anything else to do it kicks all four walls and screams about the abuse of governmental power,鈥� says Albert Alschuler, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. 鈥淎nd you suspect that the defense is not looking for an acquittal, [but] is looking for a hung jury.鈥�
When jurors begin deliberations, they鈥檒l need to consider whether, as Mr. Niewoehner claims, Blagojevich was clearly shown to have conspired to pressure people for campaign contributions and to sell the Senate seat 鈥� 鈥渢he culmination of years of dirty schemes,鈥� according to Niewoehner. Or whether, as his attorneys claim, he鈥檚 simply an insecure man who talks too much, was an ineffective governor, and was constantly in debt, but never took money illegally and committed no crime.
"Did they bring one state contract based on fundraising? Just one?鈥� Adam asked jurors. 鈥淣o."
When Adam arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning, observers were wondering whether he鈥檇 even deliver the closing argument, after a confrontation with Judge Zagel the night before that was the latest in the bizarre twists that have come to characterize the Blagojevich story since he was arrested a year and a half ago.
Zagel told him he would be held in contempt of court if he insisted on mentioning witnesses that the prosecution did not call, telling jurors they should infer that the witnesses would have hurt the case against Blagojevich.
鈥淚鈥檓 willing to go to jail over this,鈥� Adam retorted. Zagel gave him the night to rework his closing statement, given his 鈥減rofound misunderstanding of legal rules.鈥�
Since the defense also could have called those witnesses 鈥� including people like convicted fundraiser Antoin 鈥�Tony鈥� Rezko and Obama鈥檚 Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel 鈥� the judge had ruled it inadmissible for Adam to refer to them, making what is known as a 鈥渕issing witness鈥� argument. [Editor's note: The original version misspelled the chief of staff's name.]
鈥淭hat was grandstanding, it had nothing to do with his client,鈥� says Douglas Godfrey, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a former criminal defense lawyer, of the confrontation with the judge. The judge is correct, he added, that the closing arguments are supposed to be based on evidence.
When Adam eventually did give his closing argument, he began by pointing out the most conspicuous missing witness of all: Blagojevich himself, who he had repeatedly promised would take the stand, before deciding against it last week.
He called the governor鈥檚 absence from the stand 鈥渢he pink elephant in the room,鈥� and said he didn鈥檛 appear because the government had failed to prove its case.
"I had no idea that in two and a half months of trial that they'd prove nothing," he told jurors.
As expected, Adam harped on the fact that the evidence, including many hours of wiretapping tapes with expletive-laced comments from the former governor talking about kickbacks he鈥檇 like to have 鈥� was largely circumstantial, and he portrayed his client as a buffoon and an ineffective governor, at one point calling him 鈥渟illy鈥� given the scenarios he imagined.
鈥淭his is a man who considered appointing Oprah Winfrey鈥� to the US Senate, Adam said. 鈥淣o one鈥檚 going to say he鈥檚 the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he鈥檚 not corrupt.鈥�
He pleaded with the jury to find Blagojevich not guilty, telling them, 鈥渢his is serious stuff.鈥�
In its rebuttal, the prosecution took strong issue with Adam's arguments.
Blagojevich 鈥渋s not stupid, he鈥檚 very smart,鈥� prosecutor Reid Schar told the jury. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 get elected twice ... by accident.鈥�
Mr. Schar stressed that the governor was someone who knew 鈥渉ow to communicate鈥� his shakedown attempts without being explicit.
Schar criticized Adam鈥檚 defense as saying, essentially, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 do it, and if I did it, I didn鈥檛 mean to do it,鈥� and told jurors they needed to hold Blagojevich accountable for his actions.
When jurors return Wednesday to begin deliberations, they鈥檒l be read a long list of instructions. They鈥檒l have to decide whether the evidence shows that Blagojevich was, in fact, the conspiracy ringleader the prosecution says he is. Defendants in federal court rarely get acquitted, and many observers say that the case against the former governor is a strong one.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an uphill battle for the defense,鈥� says Professor Alschuler of Northwestern. Still, he adds, 鈥渋t鈥檚 very hard to predict juries.鈥�
鈥� AP material was used in this report.
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