* As if the Democratic Party doesn’t have enough problems, Rod Blagojevich now wants his trial moved to September - the heart of the fall campaign season…
Lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich are seeking to delay the start of his trial next summer, court records show.
The attorneys want the the trial moved from June to September to give them time to review a ruling expected in the spring from the U.S. Supreme Court on the “honest services” provision of the federal mail fraud statute.
That statute criminalizes conduct in which public officials–and others–breach the “honest services” they owe to the public or under their contracts.
“While a subsequent filing will challenge the integration of ‘intangible rights-honest services,’ this court will judicially note that the U.S. Supreme Court has a trio of (such) cases on its docket,” the motion states.
The Supremes could strike down the honest services law, or at least part of its application, so Blagojevich does have a point.
But the political impact of a September trial would be even bigger than if it was held in June, as scheduled. The guy is just so unpredictable and hates Pat Quinn and the rest of the Democratic establishment so much that he’s liable to say or do anything during the election.
* Meanwhile…
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher and former Bear Terry “Tank” Johnson are among those who wrote letters late last year praising the character of former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak before he was sentenced to probation for fraud in a controversial decision by a federal judge.
Documents made public this week show Johnson and Urlacher wrote letters to U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur, who sentenced Vrodlyak to 5 years of probation in February. Vrdolyak had been captured on an undercover recording discussing a plan to collect a bogus finder’s fee in a corrupt real estate sale. […]
Johnson — now with the Cincinnati Bengals — wrote that he was friends with the former alderman while Johnson was in Chicago. Johnson was in court here last month testifying in the case of his childhood friend’s murder in a River North nightclub. He admitted lying to police because he feared further legal trouble could end his football career. […]
Urlacher wrote that he met Vrdolyak through Vrdolyak’s youngest son, Eddie. He wrote that he felt like part of the family.
…Adding… The photo used by NBC5 Chicago on their Blagojevich trial date story seems pretty appropriate…
