Spring Break
Ousted Illinois governor's next fight is in court
Miek Robinson - The Associated Press
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: News
CHICAGO - Now that he's been ousted from the governor's office, Rod Blagojevich is pinning his hopes of staying out of prison on a father-and-son duo of defense attorneys, one of whom grabbed the limelight at R&B superstar R. Kelly's sex tape trial.
"These are two of the most flamboyant attorneys in town," DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise says of the team of Sam Adam and his son, Samuel E. Adam.
Cavise predicts fireworks if Blagojevich goes to trial on federal corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
Federal prosecutors are expected to obtain an indictment by April. Blagojevich was arrested by FBI agents in December and was booted from office Thursday when a state Senate impeachment trial ended with a 59-0 vote against him.
Some are already questioning the Adams' legal strategy - including their decision to let Blagojevich go on a whirlwind New York media tour before his impeachment trial ended, fielding questions about the criminal case from Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Larry King and more.
Blagojevich also gave an impassioned closing argument to senators before they removed him from office, although he didn't testify under oath.
His unwillingness to stay quiet cost him the help of his former lead attorney, Edward M. Genson, who announced he was withdrawing from the case before the media blitz.
Lawyers say Blagojevich tipped his hand about a possible defense when he said in his Senate plea that he had no intent to commit any crime.
"There will be an instruction - the jury will be told that for them to find him guilty he has to have intended to commit fraud," says defense attorney John M. Beal.
The ousted governor also gave a peek at another defense strategy during his media interviews, saying secretly recorded conversations that were cited in the criminal complaint - including one of him calling the Senate seat a valuable thing not to be given away for free - were taken out of context.
"These are two of the most flamboyant attorneys in town," DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise says of the team of Sam Adam and his son, Samuel E. Adam.
Cavise predicts fireworks if Blagojevich goes to trial on federal corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
Federal prosecutors are expected to obtain an indictment by April. Blagojevich was arrested by FBI agents in December and was booted from office Thursday when a state Senate impeachment trial ended with a 59-0 vote against him.
Some are already questioning the Adams' legal strategy - including their decision to let Blagojevich go on a whirlwind New York media tour before his impeachment trial ended, fielding questions about the criminal case from Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Larry King and more.
Blagojevich also gave an impassioned closing argument to senators before they removed him from office, although he didn't testify under oath.
His unwillingness to stay quiet cost him the help of his former lead attorney, Edward M. Genson, who announced he was withdrawing from the case before the media blitz.
Lawyers say Blagojevich tipped his hand about a possible defense when he said in his Senate plea that he had no intent to commit any crime.
"There will be an instruction - the jury will be told that for them to find him guilty he has to have intended to commit fraud," says defense attorney John M. Beal.
The ousted governor also gave a peek at another defense strategy during his media interviews, saying secretly recorded conversations that were cited in the criminal complaint - including one of him calling the Senate seat a valuable thing not to be given away for free - were taken out of context.
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