Unable to reach a unanimous decision on several counts in the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, the ousted former governor of Illinois, jurors sent a note late on Wednesday to the presiding judge asking for advice.
It was the 11th day of deliberations and Judge James Zagel told lawyers for the defense and prosecutors that he would advise the jury to keep working to reach at least some consensus.
According to the note the judge read to the court, the jurors said: “We must now ask for guidance” because we are “in a situation where jurors cannot agree on a unanimous decision.”
“What should the next step be?” they asked.
Zagel said that he would ask the jurors for clarification on the points of contention, but that his advice would be for the jurors to decide whether they could reach a verdict on any or all charges.
Blagojevich, 53, is charged with 24 criminal counts, including racketeering and bribery. He listened to the judge on Wednesday with a somber face and pursed lips after bounding into the courtroom in his typically upbeat fashion, telling members of the media: “I missed you guys.”
Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty on all charges, including charges of trying to sell or barter US President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.
The jury had not communicated with Zagel for more than a week and speculation about whether it was deadlocked had been swirling around the federal courthouse all afternoon.
The note, which provided only a tiny, unclear glimpse into the jurors’ deliberations, seemed to suggest that the discord was not heated.
“Without rancor” is how the jury described its discussions in the note.
“The jury room has always been quiet and the jury is, at least from my point of view, exceptionally disciplined,” Zagel said.
A lawyer for Blagojevich’s older brother and codefendant, Robert Blagojevich, who briefly served as a fund-raiser for the former governor and is charged with five criminal counts, said he did not understand the jury’s note.
“My guess is they’re hung,” attorney Michael Ettinger said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS