Judge refuses to acquit Blago on lying to FBI

A federal judge denied former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's bid to be acquitted on the one count a federal jury convicted him on last summer.

In a decision made public today, U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he found no reversible error and rejected the defense contention that prosecutors unfairly targeted Blagojevich, brought an overly complicated case to the jury and then "stomped upon" Blagojevich's right to defend himself. Lawyers for Blagojevich had claimed a "plethora of errors" in his trial had led to his conviction on the lone count of lying to the FBI.

The jury was unable to reach a decision on 23 other counts, and Blagojevich now is set to be tried again on those charges in April.

"Defendant's motion is founded in substantial part on the well-known principle that if a lawyer cannot attack the law or the facts in a criminal prosecution, the only recourse is to attack the prosecutor," Zagel wrote. "One aspect of the case that makes it clear that the defense had no attack on the law or the facts ... is that defense counsel did not, and correctly so, choose to attack the evidence of defendant's culpability of the offense for which he was found guilty."

Blagojevich was convicted of lying to the FBI during a 2005 interview when he said he did not track or want to know who contributed to his campaign. Zagel said that statement was shown to be false at trial.

-- Jeff Coen

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