On Friday morning, the jury in Rod Blagojevich‘s political corruption asked the judge for the totality of transcripts from the trial – indicating that deliberations might be going on for longer than expected.
Judge James Zagel said he plans to tell jurors that it will be possible to provide specific official transcripts with respect to certain witnesses, but that it will take time. The prosecution did not object, but defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky did, arguing that this could lead to a process where jurors would request one transcript after another, until they had the whole lot of them.
“The government will have benefit of presenting its case for the second time to the jury,” Sorosky said. Zagel acknowledged that possibility but said, “Let’s see what happens.”
In other trial housekeeping matters, Zagel denied two defense motions – one for a mistrial and another challenging the jury instructions.
Tags: Blago, Blagojevich Trial, James Zagel, Rod Blagojevich, Sheldon Sorosky
