Judge sets Blagojevich trial date
With his wife fresh out of the jungle, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich learned today exactly when he’s set to go in to a jungle of a different sort: his public-corruption trial.
U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel set Blagojevich’s trial for June 3, 2010.
(AP)
Two of the Blagojevich’s former chiefs of staff and co-defendants — Lon Monk and John Harris — plan to testify against him, but the ex-governor’s lawyers remain confident he’ll be acquitted.
“We have the finest jurors in Illinois,” Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Jr. said after a status hearing in the case this morning. “Once they hear the evidence, it will not be a long time before they realize an innocent man is being prosecuted.”
Blagojevich did not attend the court hearing, which comes on the same day his wife, Patti, is expected to return home from her appearance on the NBC-TV reality show “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me out of Here,” filmed in the Costa Rican jungle.
Mrs. Blagojevich is part of — but not criminally charged in — her husband’s case because of real estate dealings she had with convicted Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko and because of four-letter words she was overheard spewing about the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board on a wiretap.
Mrs. Blagojevich, however, became a fan-favorite on the NBC series, staying in the jungle until the second-to-last day as other celebrities were voted off.
The ex-governor “is ecstatic to see her come home,” Adam said.
“She was wonderful” on the reality series, Adam added. “I called in 17 times” to vote for her.
Blagojevich’s lawyers say they plan to be ready for trial despite having to go through about 1 million documents totaling some 3.5 million pages. A team of assistants will aid them. The entire legal team is to be paid from proceeds of the ex-governor’s campaign fund.