Blagojevich Judge Declared Lawyer's Motion: Harebrained
The lawyer's motion for Rod Blagojevich was declared harebrained on Monday by federal judge James Zagel. The judge who sentenced Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison for corruption denied the defense's motion with sharp criticism when he said: “I intend to deny this motion, which I regard as harebrained.”
Blagojevich's lawyers wanted the judge to toss out the 17 convictions from his retrial earlier this year because a juror allegedly gave public presentations about the case. The attorney responded to the judge's offbeat comment with a question, “Hairbrained?”
The judge retorted, “Yes, hairbrained.” Moreover, the judge said that “This motion was prepared without any adequate thought.”
The judge told the lawyer that he never ordered the jurors to keep their questionnaire confidential after the trial ended. The juror allegedly showed her high school students the questionnaire during a recent high school talk.
The judge also threatened to sanction the attorney, Lauren Kaeseberg, who signed the motion and filed it electronically Friday. The judge also suggested the attorney consider writing a letter of apology to the juror for suggesting that she committed a wrong act.
The attorney plead innocent to reporters by saying, “It was filed in 100 percent good faith.”
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