Rod Blagojevich asks for third trial, cites judicial bias
(CBS/AP) CHICAGO - Rod Blagojevich is asking a federal judge to set aside his multiple convictions and grant him a new trial, after citing numerous alleged errors and biases at his most recent concluded corruption retrial.
In a fairly long 158-page motion, Blagojevich's lawyers criticized prosecutors and the presiding judge for a lack of fairness, which, they argue, led a jury last month to convict the impeached Illinois governor on 17 of 20 charges.
"It is a case of overwhelming bias against the defense in which the playing field was so unlevel that Blagojevich never stood a chance at a fair trial," according to the motion filed late Monday in federal court.
Jurors found Blagojevich, 54, guilty of on the majority of counts against him, including fraud and attempted extortion for trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for campaign donations or a high-paying job.
Post-trial motions by the defense are common as a way to lay down arguments attorneys can draw from when they appeal to a higher court. Blagojevich's lawyers had to ask for permission, though, for the longer-than-usual filing.
The motion argues that the trial began going awry from the start as Judge James Zagel allowed jurors with heavy biases to stay in the jury pool. When there were objections during testimony, it says, Zagel almost invariably sided with prosecutors.
No sentencing date for Blagojevich has been set. Most legal experts say Zagel is likely to sentence him to around ten years in prison on the recent convictions and his sole conviction at his first trial last year, for lying to the FBI. The initial trial ended in a deadlock, forcing the retrial.