Rod Blagojevich jury foreman says guilty verdict sent a "clear message"
(CBS/WBBM) CHICAGO - The woman who served as jury foreman in ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption retrial says the panel hopefully sends a message with its multiple guilty verdicts against him Monday.
"We know that there's a lot of bargaining that goes on behind the scenes - we do that in our everyday lives and business and everything. But I think in this instance, when it is someone representing the people, it crosses the line, and I think we sent a pretty clear message on that," the foreman of the jury said at a press conference, according to CBS station WBBM.
Jurors did not identify themselves by name, but rather by number. The foreman said she is a Naperville resident and a former director of music and liturgy for a church.
The 11-woman, one-man jury deliberated for 10 days on 20 charges against Blagojevich, including allegations that he tried to strong-arm campaign contributions in exchange for official actions and that he sought to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Obama .
"We felt that it was very clear he was trying to make a trade for the Senate seat," Juror 140 said.
Jurors said they were thorough as they went through the 20 counts, sometimes taking multiple votes, and were respectful of each other's opinions. They convicted Blagojevich of 17 counts, acquitted him of one count and deadlocked on two counts.
Many jurors said they found Blagojevich a likable person after he testified in his own defense, which was challenging when it came time to evaluate evidence.
"Because he was personable it made it hard to separate that from what we had to do as jurors," said a woman who identified herself as Juror 103.