Before lunch Monday, Judge James Zagel heard a status report from lawyers for a group of media organizations that have requested that the names of the Blagojevich jurors be released.
Zagel had previously denied the request from the Tribune Co., New York Times Company, Illinois Press Association and Illinois Broadcasters Association. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered hearings to determine the matter.
“I think this is going to take a little time,” Zagel said Monday. He called for a hearing on July 23.
“You face the issue of what effect it will have on jury to tell them your names will remain sealed until verdict is reached and in that context what effect this has not only on jury selection,” Zagel said. He added that a reverse of his decision “implicates the authority of the court” and that “it might diminish the effect of judicial command.”
Zagel suggested he was confident that the schedule of the trial would allow his ruling to be made before the trial was completed.
“From what I’ve been told by consult from the defense and from what I suspect form the prosecution,” Zagel said, “I do not think this case will be mooted under any schedule I set. In fact, not only do I think it will not be mooted, but if for example any further appeals are required, I am sure the appeals could be decided within time I expect this trial to last.”
The judge then detailed for the court the emails and communications he received before the trial started. These included three emails begging Zagel not to allow Rod Blagojevich to travel to Costa Rica for a reality television show and two emails about Blagojevich’s appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.
Another email was from somebody who “could not see how somebody who appeared to have as few skills as he had could actually commit such a crime.”
Zagel continued: “And I was once stopped on the street by somebody who knew my name, and I have to tell you someday if any of you become judges, if you are walking down the street, and somebody says, ‘hey judge,’ this is not necessarily a good thing. Somebody recognized me, a non-lawyer, who cited a theme in one of the emails about the guilt of the lawyers. That is what I got. I have to say the one closest to the time of trial was probably three months ago. I have not received anything recently.”