There Was One Big Blago Fan On The Jury

The big question on all the counts where the Blagojevich jury couldn't reach a verdict was what was the breakdown of the convict/acquit votes? Well, looks like it was a lone holdout.

But one juror said the panel was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting Blagojevich of trying to auction off the Senate seat.

Juror Erik Sarnello of Itasca, Ill., said one woman on the jury "just didn't see what we all saw." The 21-year-old Sarnello said the counts involving the Senate seat were "the most obvious."

Other jurors tried to persuade the holdout to reconsider, but "at a certain point, there was no changing," he said.

That so many jurors were convinced of Blagojevich's guilt bodes well for prosecutors, said Joel Levin, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago who won a conviction of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan on corruption charges.

"At the end of the day it signals very strongly they will get a conviction next time," Levin said. "It sounds like the case was lost in jury selection."

I think the only question is whether or not he pleads this out before the retrial (he's apparently out of money for lawyers). Of course, we can only hope that he realizes he's going down and decides to go out in a blaze of glory and calls all sorts of Democratic officials next time. Keep hope alive!

Added: I demand that the Taiwan animation people CGI Blago's hair and the jury deliberations.

Rehash [ace]: Yeah, I don't know if you saw my updates but I became increasingly convinced it was 11-1, with the request for the oath by the 11 to convince the 1 to do her frickin' duty.

I also guessed (not confirmed yet) that she might be a big tv watcher:

Patty Blagojevich appeared on last summer's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. She wasn't there to win. She was only there to influence the jury pool, to convince people how gosh-darn all-American and sweet she was.

I have to admit: I watched this a bit, and did in fact buy into her act. A little.

Then Rod Blagojevich went on The Celebrity Apprentice. He too didn't care if he won or not; his job was to appear human.

He did less of a job than Patty. Pretty much he appeared like an ineffectual jerkoff who, understandably, cursed at his lawyers a lot on the phone. But in the "boardroom," he was all "Mr. Trump this" and "I have the utmost respect for my competitors that."

It was a sales job, two people seizing upon a sad fact of American life: Celebrities are permitted to murder people. If they're allowed to kill other human beings, what's a little graft?

All they had to do was gain some kind of shady, sketchy, bottom-feeding what's-below-the-D-list celebrity status, and some shut-ins and social retards whose only friendship and comfort comes from a glowing box would imprint upon them and deem them "good people."

Is this what happened? Or is it just a political thing, someone either defending sugar-daddy ward-heeler Blago, or defending him because they see past him and worry that if this domino falls then Jesse Jackson Junior or -- God forbid -- the New God Obama could be damaged?

I don't know. Seemed pretty solid to me. Guy was asking for money for a Senate seat. Even in Chicago, that strikes me as over-the-line.

posted by DrewM. at 10:31 PM

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