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Blagojevich Convicted on Single Count, Jury Hangs on 23

By Joe Palazzolo

Patrick Fitzgerald (DOJ)

A federal jury found Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich guilty of one count of making false statements to federal agents, a bittersweet — likely more bitter than sweet — outcome for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who loomed unusually large as the public face of the prosecution.

Jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked on the other 23 counts against the former governor, and on all four counts against his brother, The Chicago Tribune reported. The verdict was announced Tuesday afternoon after 14 days of deliberations.

Fitzgerald, a well-known prosecutor who is often mentioned as a contender for high-profile assignments in law enforcement, said the government will retry the Blagojevich case “as quickly as possible.”

For his part, Blagojevich declared victory. ‘This jury shows you that the government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me,” he was quoted by The New York Times as saying after the verdict. “They could not prove I did anything wrong — except for one nebulous charge from five years ago.”

While Fitzgerald kept a low profile throughout the trial, the prosecutor placed his imprimatur on the case early on, declaring in a December 2008 news conference that the pre-dawn arrest of a sitting governor was necessary to stop an “apalling” dereliction of duty by a politician engaged in “a political corruption crime spree.”

Blagojevich was charged with misusing his powers as governor to extort campaign contributions from those seeking legislation, appointments or other favors.

Former prosecutors said the verdict was a harsh blow to DOJ because it was the government’s case against Blagojevich that drove him out of office.

“If ever there was a case the government needed to win this was it,” said Baker & McKenzie LLP partner Paul McNulty, a Deputy Attorney General in the Bush administration. “I’m sure they’re incredibly disappointed.”

Another former senior Justice Department official agreed: “I’m sure this doesn’t feel comfortable on the prosecution side, but this a waypoint in the case.”

The former official added that Fitzgerald’s office could face tougher odds in a second trial.

“The retrial if often harder than the trial itself,” the former official said. “You have witnesses who have testified and are locked in by transcripts from the first trial. All that becomes admissible to impeach them.”

McNulty said it cut both ways. “The government can re-evaluate its strategy,” he said. “The defense is stuck using its same defense again.”

The case against Blagojevich had skeptics among defense lawyers even after the release of transcripts of his crass and sometimes profanity laced conversations with aides, contributors and appointment seekers.

Fitzgerald had said the 500 hours of taped conversations, which had been secretly recorded by FBI agents, were clear evidence of criminality, and seemed to fuel Fitzgerald’s expressions of outrage about the former Governor.

But the jury?s inability to agree on the most serious counts indicated that some jurors, at least, rejected Fitzgerald’s assertions about Blagojevich’s alleged misdeeds.

Some defense lawyers have said that in political corruption cases like Blagojevich’s, the line is ill-defined between between speech that is offensive and actions that are illegal.

Indeed, the most sensational part of the case, Blagojevich’s efforts to appoint a someone to fill President Barack Obama’s senate seat, were cut short with his arrest, before any appointment was made and, for that matter, before any money or favors were exchanged.

Fitzgerald had said after Blagojevich?s arrest that he, for one, had no doubts that the former Governor had committed a crime.

?We?re not trying to criminalize people making political horse trades on policies or that sort of thing,? Fitzgerald had said after Blagojevich’s arrest. ?But it is criminal when people are doing it for their personal enrichment. And they?re doing it in a way that is, in this case, clearly criminal.?

Lawyers pointed out, however, that guilt or innocence could be hard to prove in cases like Blagojevich’s. Politicians often accept large political donations in return for their official decisions on appointments or legislative action. Lawmakers vote for bills and help donors win government contracts usually without fear of prosecution.

Fitzgerald has become one of the country’s best-known federal prosecutors after his cases against high profile figures like I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, ‘ who was former Vice President Dick Cheney’s national security adviser.

Fitzgerald won a conviction in the case involving the disclosure of a CIA’s officers identity, but former President George Bush later commuted Libby’s sentence.

Fitzgerald has been often mentioned as a possible successor to FBI Director Robert Mueller, whose 10-year term expires next year, though it is not clear whether Fitzgerald, if asked,  would make such a move.

Full post as published by Main Justice on August 17, 2010 (boomark / email).