ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { width: 285px; } .style8 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td height="2" class="style7"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Fed&#39;s Flimsy Case Against Blagojevich</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright August 27, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style8"> F</span>ound guilty Aug. 17 on only one count of making false statements to the FBI, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, narrowly escaped conviction by U.S. Atty. Patrick J. Fitzgerald on 23 other felonies, the most serious of which trying to sell President Barack Obama s former senate seat for personal gain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald, a tough federal prosecutor who won a conviction March 7, 2007 against former Vice President Dick Cheney s chief of staff I. Lewis  Scooter Libby also for lying to the FBI, couldn t pull off the same feat with the flamboyant and mouthy Blagojevich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald based much of his case on wiretapped tape recordings of the former governor shooting off his mouth, talking like a Chicago gangland thug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This guy Fitzgerald is a master at indicting for non-criminal activity, said Blago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This guy is nuts, showing the kind of mouth bound to destroy himself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald had very few comments following Blago s conviction of a single count of lying to the FBI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead of letting the dust settle, Blago s post-trial tirade could eventually cost him a conviction on other counts the next time around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald s decision at this point to retry the 53-year-old former Illinois governor rests purely on personal preference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling Fitzgerald names isn t too bright when you consider the costs of future retrial now slated for Jan. 4, 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Giving his defense attorney fits, Blago blasted federal prosecutors for retrying the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We have a prosecutor who has wasted and wanted to spend tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers money to take me away from my family and my home, Blago told reporters in the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Blasting Fitzgerald surely isn t the best way to vent his feelings and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> protest his innocence.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Whatever Blago s defense attorney Sam Adam Sr. expects to happen in a retrial, it doesn t help his client s cause to antagonize a federal prosecutor with a big ego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; Adam</span> apparently got through to one juror named JoAnn Chiakulas who didn t buy Fitzgerald s argument that Blago attempted to sell Obama s senate seat to the highest bidder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I could never live with myself if I went along with the rest of the jury, Chiakulas told the Chicago Tribune, trying to figure out what went wrong with Fitzgerald s case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Jurors indicated they deadlocked 11-1 on the question of whether Blago tried to sell or get an appointment in exchange for Barack s former senate seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Chiakulas, a 67-year-old retired state worker showed a fierce sense of autonomy, resisting formidable pressure to conform with jury s consensus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>She called Blago s actions  shenanigans, not criminality.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Pressure toward conformity in jurors, especially after difficult deliberations, often impacts the conventional standards of proof in criminal trials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Criminal trials require  beyond a reasonable doubt, a far tougher standard than applied to civil trials requiring  preponderance of evidence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Chiakulas told the Tribune she didn t think Blago was  innocent, just not meeting the prosecutors burden of proof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I thought he was narcissistic, Chiakulas told the Tribune.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I thought he was all over the place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I thought he was just rambling, referring to the numerous recordings of Blago apparently making deals for Obama s former senate seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Fitzgerald convinced 11 other jurors that Blago committed a federal crime, trying to peddle a senate seat in exchange for cash or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>political appointments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What Fitzgerald saw as black-and-white, Chiakulas saw as neurotic behavior.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald tried to tell jurors the meaning of  reasonable doubt, far from the absolute doubt rarely seen in any criminal convictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Some people in [the jury room] only saw black and white, said Chiakulas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I think I saw in the transcripts and in the testimony, shades of gray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>To me, that means reasonable doubt, not meeting the criminal standard of proof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judges and prosecutors put so much pressure on jurors to complete what amounts to an aversive process of jury deliberation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Long hours of exhaustion and pouring over tedious exhibits and trial transcripts assures that most jurors want the to end the pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Chiakula s fierce independence and ability to see things objectively warrants further consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few people under intense social pressure resist undue influence and pressure to conform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Chiakulas proved that the power of one still counts on juries.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Federal prosecutors should ignore Blago s incendiary post-trial remarks and think twice about wasting more time and money on a new trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the U.S. Attorneys office prides itself on convictions, trying Blago a second time defeats the purpose of the trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Putting his best evidence forward, Fitzgerald couldn t convince Chiakulas that Blago really tried to peddle off Obama s former senate seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald can t say with any certainty that Chiakulas didn t get it right, despite his best efforts at seeking a conviction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fitzgerald could get a more compliant juror the next time but it s questionable whether justice would be served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I can t explain how badly I felt, said Chiakulas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I didn t sleep at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I thought it on the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I wanted to make sure my reasonable doubt was reasonable, showing the kind of intense pressure to conform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Knowing that, Fitzgerald should think twice about another trial.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td height="1" class="style7"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>