The LAW & LAWYERS Blog

Federal prosecuting lawyers urged a judge recently to unseal a government-made blueprint of evidence against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, despite his defense attorneys’ arguments.

Within a submitted court document, prosecutors defended what they described as a Santiago proffer that details evidence gathered against the former governor who was impeached in 2008. U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel said in a recent court hearing that he was considering unsealing at least part of the blueprint.

Blagojevich’s defense attorneys argued that unsealing the evidence and making it open to the public could lead to an unfair prejudice if jurors in the upcoming trial read details that are published, according to the Associated Press.

But prosecuting lawyers responded that Blagojevich’s several television appearances where he has pleaded innocence could have already undermined the bias of potential jurors.

“Notwithstanding the recent airing of a national television show in which he repeatedly claimed his innocence, Rod Blagojevich now argues that he would be unfairly prejudiced by the publication of the actual evidence that will be heard at his trial,” prosecutors said.

The former governor is charged with plotting to sell the Illinois U.S. Senate seat, left vacant after President Barack Obama was elected, in exchange for money or a high-paying federal position. He also is charged with trying to pressure campaign contributors through illegal means to avoid bad publicity, according to AP.

Robert Blagojevich, the former governor’s brother, is also charged with assisting him. Robert Blagojevich recently asked for a separate trial for his charges.

A Santiago proffer is described as a document filed in intricate legal cases where prosecutors are hoping the court will allow testimony from people who may be involved in what led to the charges, but who aren’t charged themselves. News publications regularly examine such documents for details about court cases that were not previously covered.

Multiple news organizations have also insisted that the court unseal the documents, while Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer Sheldon Sorosky.

Robert Blagojevich’s attorney Michael Ettinger said if part of the proffer was unsealed the whole thing should be released, or it all should be kept sealed. Ettinger said the proffer is inaccurate in its description of tapes made by FBI of phone conversation Rod Blagojevich made, as well as other witnesses’ testimonies, AP reported.

Prosecutors worked to reassure Zagel that any jurors with bias developed through publication of materials within the document could be weeded out during the selection process for jurors.

“In fact, the government has provided an accurate description of the evidence it expects to present at trial, and neither defendant substantiated any assertion to the contrary, calling into question their ability to do so,” they said.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 16th, 2010 at 2:09 pm and is filed under Criminal Defense Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.