Secret Blog of Secrets

Billionaire’s Secret | Lone Juror ‘refused To Find Blagojevich Guilty’

A single juror prevented former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich being convicted of selling Barack Obama’s Senate seat, the jury foreman has said.

The juror, a female retiree, believed there wasn’t sufficient evidence – “a smoking gun” – to warrant a conviction for corruption, James Matsumoto said.

“She saw it as, no crime was being committed. It was just talk – political talk,” Mr Matsumoto told reporters.

The Chicago federal jury convicted Blagojevich of lying to FBI agents.

That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

The jury was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on 23 other corruption charges. On several charges, the same juror held out.

The verdict came on the jury’s 14th day of deliberations. Mr Matsumoto said the jury room was often tense.

Another juror, Erik Sarnello, told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper that some jurors found the government’s case – which involved several different instances of alleged corruption over many years – to be confusing.

The jury was split different ways on each charge, sometimes 6-6, other times 9-3. But in the end, the most explosive charge – seeking to sell Mr Obama’s senate seat – came down to one person.

“Say it was a murder trial – she wanted the video,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports Mr Sarnello as saying.

“She wanted to hear [Blagojevich] say, ‘I’ll give you this

Click here to view rest of article from original site

Tags: Billionaire's secret