"I stand by the motion -- the motion was absolutely filed in good faith," Kaeseberg said. "Frankly, I'm disappointed because I know we filed this motion in good faith ... I'm proud of the work I've done on this case ... I'm actually proud of the motion."
Kaeseberg has been practicing criminal law since she was sworn in as a lawyer in 2008, she said. As a defense lawyer, she would be negligent if she found out a juror may have committed a rule violation and she did not investigate.
"The issue is trying to resolve whether she has something in her possession that we don't think she should have," Kaeseberg said "We are not allowed to speak to the jurors ourselves. The only way we can really resolve it and find out is by going to Judge Zagel and asking him to have a hearing."
Co-counsel Aaron Goldstein added, "Quite frankly We would not be good attorneys if we didn't file this motion."
Asked if they were prepared to apologize to jury forewoman Connie Wilson , Goldstein said, "We in no way intended to hurt Ms. Wilson in any way."
Asked about the "hare-brained" comment, lead attorney Sheldon Sorosky quipped, "I don't know, I don't have a lot of hair."
Goldstein chimed in: "He doesn't have hair - I don't have a brain."
-Abdon M. Pallasch
U.S. District Judge James Zagel took a mere three minutes Monday morning to dismiss a motion by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorneys as "hare-brained."
Blagojevich's attorneys sought a new trial based on a report that the jury forewoman had displayed a juror questionnaire in a public talk she gave about the trial. Those questionnaires are not supposed to be taken from court, Blagojevich
Just beyond belief, attorney Lauren Kaeseberg argued.
It was unclear whether the forewoman displayed a filled-out or blank questionnaire.
"The motion was prepared without any adequate thought," Zagel scolded Kaeseberg. "You should seek outside counsel ... and send a letter of apology to the juror."
Zagel said he could hold Kaeseberg in contempt of court but was cutting her slack because she was a fairly new lawyer.
"By the absence of precedent, I assume you couldn't find precedent," Zagel said, calling the filing "beyond my imagination."
Zagel two weeks ago sentenced Blagojevich to 14 years in prison on charges of trying to use his office to enrich himself.
]]>Reporters are off the hook in the effort to secure a new trial for convicted power broker William Cellini.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel dropped efforts Wednesday to compel reporters for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune to produce notes of any interviews they conducted with a juror in Cellini's trial who concealed two felony convictions when she was filling out paperwork to serve on the jury.
Cellini still is on the hook for his conviction of trying to extort money from "Million Dollar Baby" Producer Tom Rosenberg so that Rosenberg's investment firm could get a share of the state Teacher Retirement System pension fund.
Juror Candy Chiles, who has convictions for drunk-driving and crack cocaine possession, was not in court Wednesday. Zagel said she had called his office Tuesday to say she was in the hospital and would not be able to attend.
Zagel suspended the hearing until she appears in court, possibly later this week.
Cellini attorney Dan Webb told Zagel he objected to even having a hearing. He said Zagel should skip the hearing and proceed directly to a new trial for Cellini.
"Under the law, you are not eligible to serve on a federal jury ... if you are convicted of a felony," Webb said. "Why would someone lie to get on a jury unless they have some type of bias? What I want to establish is that she knowingly and willingly lied on these questions."
Webb noted the irony that he and the government are now on the opposite sides of where they were in the trial of former Gov. George Ryan, who was also represented by Webb. In that case, prosecutors got a woman thrown off the jury because she concealed her arrest record.
After Cellini was found guilty, Tribune reporter Annie Sweeney wrote about her exchange with the juror in which Sweeney asked her about the felony convictions and the woman refused to discuss them. Sun-Times reporter Maudlyne Ihejirika also interviewed the juror but there was no discussion of the woman's arrest record.
Zagel ruled there would be no benefit in compelling either paper's reporters to appear in court or turn over notes.
"There's no reason to require them to appear," Zagel said, adding that any additional detail Webb might find in Sweeney's notebook about the interview, which she already wrote about, would be "trivial."
Zagel assured Webb that "having seen reporters' notebooks" there was likely little fodder to be found that would help Webb make a case.
Journalism watchdog groups expressed relief Wednesday that Zagel dropped, at least for now, efforts to compel reporters to turn over their notes.
"We are independent witnesses to the news and not arms of the court -- this is an action not only journalists should celebrate but anyone who cares about a free press," said Stephen Franklin, president of the Chicago Headline Club, the country's largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
]]>Scott Fawell, the former chief of staff of a different convicted governor, George Ryan, is offering a tip on how Rod Blagojevich can cut his lengthy 14-year sentence.
The former governor may be able to make a request with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to take part in a substance abuse program.
Fawell said that's what he did before going into prison.
"What you do is say that in between the time you're sentenced and the time you report, you just couldn't stop drinking," Fawell said.
It shaved time off of Fawell's 78-month sentence he received for corruption that happened while he worked for Ryan. He went through a nine-month program in prison, then got six months off in a halfway house plus one year of credit for doing the program. That's on top of time off for good behavior.
Read the rest of the story here: Start drinking
]]>Fitzgerald said that having two Illinois governors convicted of crimes in the same century would be too much.
"We've seen it happen twice in five years," Fitzgerald said, calling it "profoundly sad."
"The public has had enough and judges have had enough," Fitzgerald said. "This needs to stop. To put it very, very simply, we don't want to be back here again. .. the short answer is, this must stop."
Fitzgerald said he felt for the Blagojevich children but noted that it's often the family who pays when a criminal gets caught.
"What happened to the family is a very sad situation," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald famously said after Blagojevich's 2008 arrest that "Lincoln would be rolling over in his grave," if he knew of Blagojevich's conduct.
Asked what Lincoln would be doing today, Fitzgerald said:"I'm going to be dull today, I'm not going to comment."
]]>"Rudyard Kipling, among the things he wrote was, 'If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same: Patti and I - and especially me -- this is a time to be strong and this is a time fight through adversity. This is a time for me to be strong for my children. To be strong for Patti. This is also a time for Patti and me to go home so we can explain to our kids, to our babies, Amy and Annie, what happened, what all this means, and where we're going from here. We're going to keep fighting on, through this adversity. We'll see you soon."
Blagojevich and his wife and attorneys left without responding to any questions about any plans for an appeal.
-Abdon M. Pallasch
]]>Looking at Blagojevich, Zagel finished, "When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily or quickly repaired. You did that damage."
With that, Zagel sentenced Blagojevich to 168 months -- 14 years in prison. Presuming he serves 85 percent of that, his 15-year-old daughter will be at least 27 when he gets out.
-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki & Lauren Fitzpatrick
]]>"The harm here is not measured in the value of money and property," Judge Zagel tells Blagojevich.
"The harm is the erosion of the public trust in government; [people's] confidence in and trust in government," Zagel said.
• 'Sorry' Blagojevich gets 14-year prison sentence
• Political reaction: No joy, but he had it coming
• Amy Blagojevich's letter to Judge Zagel
• Key dates in Blagojevich case
That means less prison-time eligibility
He will also get mitigation credit for All Kids.
"I don't doubt his devotion to his children, bit this is not ... exceptional in my own experience," Zagel said. "I see case after case where good fathers are bad citizens. There is no question that the innocent children of felons suffer. This is tragic. But, as he admits, the fault of this lies with the defendant alone. Now it is too late."
-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki and Lauren Fitzpatrick
]]>"It goes to show that sentences have not been high enough so far," Schar said. "We should not throw in the towel. There is simply a need to increase punishment."
"A message must be sent to this defendant and others that the consequences are higher now than ever before," Schar said
"A sentence of between 15-20 years ins appropriate in this case," Schar said.
Zagel about to rule
Blagojevich is now standing with Patti and lawyers in noisy courtroom. He's rubbing her back as they wait.
Court is resuming
]]>"All I could think about was how soon Patti and I could be home with our kids," he said. "A lot of media surrounds our home during these periods. Patti made it into the house first. Both of my children were, of course, upset. My younger daughter, Annie, was crying. I didn't take us long to calm her down...
"Amy, my teenager, she's 15. She was 14 then. She's a heroine...
"She's number-2 in her class in high school...
"My daughter didn't want to accept it. She begged me to go outside and talk to the media, 'Tell them you didn't do it, that it was wrong.'
"I had to tell her I had my trials, not once but twice.
"I was, under the law, found guilty of these crimes. The fight was over. It was time to accept this -- I needed to accept this and that I couldn't go out and tell the press anything other than what had happened. I couldn't go out and pursue the fight.
"My life is in ruins.
"I'm in no position to earn a living for my children.
"I can't be a lawyer. We have to sell our home.
"I want to thank Patti. She has stood by me in the worst of times, not just the best of times.
"Now my kids have to go out there and know that their dad's a felon. Its not like their name's 'Smith.' They cant hide.
"I accept the people's verdict, Judge, they found me guilty."
-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki & Lauren Fitzpatrick
"I also want to apologize for challenging the prosecutors. I was very keen on your comments yesterday on how I saw it as a 'boxing match. 'I saw it actually that way. I studied Alexander Hamilton, back in the 18th Century... It was inappropriate. It was childish and not productive."
Blagojevich apologized for all his comments he said were "immature...petty...ugly...self-centered...self-absorbed."
"If this case was about being self-absorbed, I would have walked in and plead guilty immediately," Blagojevich said.
-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki & Lauren Fitzpatrick
]]>-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki & Lauren Fitzpatrick
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