Hat tip to Ace of Spades.
http://minx.cc/?post=304818
Guilty on one count (lying to Feds); deadlocked on other 23.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/17/blago-jury-deadlocks-charge-governor-prosecutors-plan-retrial/
The holdout juror who created the deadlock has an interesting history.
Jurors who have been interviewed so far will not identify the juror, other than to say the juror was a female.
FOX Chicago News reported that it is likely to be juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying since early July that she would find Blagojevich not guilty.
Other jurors are reacting to the result of the case and supporting a retrial.
……Chiakulas is a retired director from the Illinois Department of Public Health. She was juror 106, college educated, is active in the Urban League and other politics, and listens to NPR. She reportedly did not see smoking gun in the case and that’s why she didn’t vote to convict.
Contacted Tuesday night, she told FOX Chicago News she would call on Wednesday if she wished to talk about the case.
On one count at least, Chiakulas voted with her fellow jurors, agreeing to convict Blagojevich of lying to federal agents.
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/rod-blagojevich-guilty-juror-holdout-jo-ann-chiakulas-corruption-trial-20100818
More: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/gallery?section=news&id=7603107&photo=3
Let’s see, her favorite hobbies are liberal talk radio, the Chicago Urban League (“community organizer”), and NPR. By all accounts, this woman is thoroughly steeped in leftwing Chicago politics and probably had no business being anywhere near this jury.
The vetting process failed. What a windfall for Blagojevich.
As Ace points out:
The media is quick to stereotype conservative-tilting Americans and attribute to them bad motives.
Think they’ll do the same here?
Don’t bet on it.