Feds hit back at Rezko as case goes to jury
CORRUPTION TRIAL | Say recordings can't be faulted like Levine
Standing just inches from the jury box, his voice raised, an emphatic prosecutor on Tuesday pointed across a federal courtroom to remind jurors why they were there.
The reason "is the person at this table," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner said of the defendant. "Tony Rezko."
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
Rezko, a political insider and prolific fund-raiser, glared back at the prosecutor, slightly squinting his dark eyes as he sucked on a piece of hard candy.
The reminder came as the case went to the jury, which will return Thursday to begin deliberations. Prosecutors worked to overcome a full-frontal assault over two days against star prosecution witness Stuart Levine. Defense lawyer Joseph Duffy Tuesday blasted the government's use of Levine, who pleaded guilty to corruption, calling him a pathological liar, con man, drug addict and thief.
"He conned them, he got the better of them, and he got his deal," Duffy said of Levine's plea bargain calling for a 67-month sentence. He had faced up to life in prison.
Niewoehner called it a smokescreen, saying "No matter how much Mr. Duffy wants to make this trial about the secret life of Stuart Levine, that's not what this trial is about."
Niewoehner said Rezko showed his guilt in how he tried to cover his tracks, allegedly telling potential witnesses: "there's going to be a new U.S. attorney to come in. The cooperators will be dealt with."
Mocking Duffy's attempts to discredit the testimony of nine different witnesses, Niewoehner pointed to recordings played at the trial, saying the tape recorder: "doesn't get drunk, it doesn't get confused, it doesn't have Alzheimer's, it doesn't have a plea deal. It records what's said."