I am not a fan of Rods, but it wasn’t as open and shut as people are making out. I could see where people would have doubt. And he was a popular governor. As for sentencing, yes he does deserve time. People always complain about rich people getting fair trials, but it swings both ways.
Whether or not anyone likes it, criminals have rights and it warders and such have to cope with these people. It makes a lot more sense to allow someone like G-Rod the opportunity to get his affairs and rights in order now, rather than have him work through the system and clog it up later.
It’s like when Paris Hilton went to jail and people cried about her getting special treatment. Yeah she did, but the warders have an obligation to her as well. It’s a lot more work for them to keep her safe so it makes sense to give the one person special rights than to release her into a general population and spend the next few weeks working overtime.
In fact, he wasn’t given permission before his trial a couple years ago to go to Costa Rica for that reality show (“I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!”), so his wife went in his stead.
They mentioned on the news this morning that there are three nearby prisons (within 400 miles of home, IIRC) being considered, and one (in Indiana) is the same location where George Ryan is imprisoned.
Actually, there was less evidence involved in the second trial. The prosecutors apparently determined that the case they laid out in the first trial was overly complicated, and contained a lot of extraneous information, such as the Blagojeviches’ extravagent clothing budget, and going after Blago’s brother Robert on one charge. They pared the case down to the core issues (shaking down Children’s Memorial Hospital and the racetrack, trying to sell the Senate seat), and dropped the charge against Robert, and it looks like that helped make the difference.
And, in fact, it’s up to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to determine where Blago will serve his time (which may, in part, factor into why he’s not in custody today).
His defense team asked for assignment to a prison camp, rather than a medium (or higher) security prison, and Judge Zagel agreed to that recommendation. However, in the end, while the judge can recommend it, it’s up to the BOP to decide – commentators I’ve heard on the radio mentioned that, even with Zagel’s recommendation, Blago may still wind up in a full-scale prison, because convicts serving such a long sentence aren’t usually allowed to do so at a prison camp.
I’m pretty sure “the prosecution has such a weak case, we don’t need witnesses” is a very spun way of saying, “any witnesses we call would likely do more harm than good.”
Throughout the whole proceedings, it’s been obvious that both Rod and his legal team are very, very, very good at spin.
Is the delay in order to allow time for an appeal to be lodged? The US system seems to attach a great deal of significance to the theoretical possibility of being let off on appeal thereby making time spent in prison before that was established ünjust".
Commonwealth countries typically work on the basis that the sentencing happens almost immediately after the conviction. The parties are supposed to prepare to be ready in case the worst happens; an argument by a lawyer that runs ‘But I didn’t prepare for sentence because I didn’t expect to lose’ is going to get little sympathy from a judge. The premise is that the trial has primacy and is where guilt is determined. It is not to be treated as just a step in the appeal process.
As to the hung jury - lawyers have to believe that micromanaging details of presentation makes a difference, but in reality hung juries are usually just a function of the characteristics of individual jurors, the social dynamics of the jury room, etc. Those factors typically overwhelm the relatively modest contribution to the process by fine-tuning differences in detail of presentation, IME.
I contend that the case couldn’t have been more open and shut. Fer Chrissakes, he’s heard on the telephone saying “it’s a fucking valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing” cite.
Also, I’m not sure if the idea that he was a popular governor holds true. Downstate at least, he was basically considered the devil. Was he actually popular upstate?
In Federal court there is a window of 42 days in which the sentenced person must report to the place of incarceration. If there is a flight risk or at the discretion of the presiding judge it can be immediate. It may differ depending on their particular guidelines. Blagojevich was sentenced December 7 and must surrender on February 15, 2012. That was agreed upon by Judge Zagel and Rod’s attorneys.
Blagojevich was a Democrat and his base was the Chicago area. He was very popular in Chicago at one time. In fact he still has his supporters here.
I think it’s unlikely that that’s the reason. Blagojevich will undoubtedly be filing an appeal, but such an appeal will take many months (if not years) to work its way through the system.
I think he was fairly popular here in Chicago when he was first elected governor. By the time he ran for his second term, his act was already starting to wear thin, it was clear that his promises of being a “reformer” were hollow, and his approval rating had dropped. But. the blow-back from the George Ryan trial made it virtually impossible for the GOP to get much traction, and he won re-election handily.
Yes, by the time of his arrest, he still had some supporters, but they were a distinct minority.
Also, the judge is recommending a low-security federal prison in Colorado. Blago’s lawyers had originally asked for a prison camp, but it looks like they got realistic about not being able to get that.