The prosecution rests
July 14, 2010 at 12:42 am
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The prosecution’s case came to a quick end, from both the long and short term perspectives. The defense has been doling out some drivel to the media and the court that they expected a much longer case since the prosecution had so many witnesses or because they promised otherwise. In the shorter term, the prosecution’s case ended when Reid Shar swiveled his head to look backward in the general direction of Judge Zagel, and casually said, “We rest.”
I’ve seen this done with much more aplomb and fan faire for the jury, as in “Your honor, at this time the United States of American rests.” But there has been little resemblance to the usual in this courtroom.
After the day was over, and I was riding the train back to wherever home is this week, I read some things about the trial in the Chicago Sun-Times, and I was reminded why I never pay much attention to the attorneys in a case, while the trial is still going on. As reported in the Sun-Times and elsewhere in the electronic media, Sam Adam Sr. said, “A fair trial is destroyed,” and he later explained, “All of a sudden the government cuts their case short…they misled us. They misled the court.” There is a small group who have watched the trial with me here, and I hope they know by now that I’ll let you know when something as dramatic as being denied a fair trial happens. This wasn’t it. Sam Adam Sr. with his 49 years in the Bar knows it, but it sounded pretty good.
The Blagojevich gathering
I was eating breakfast in the courthouse cafeteria and watching the news on the big screen TV. They have two of them, one for news and one for sports. The news was talking about the Barefoot Bandit, the kid who went on a years-long crime spree, breaking into places as well as stealing luxury cars, planes and boats. His old school Bonnie and Clyde motif garnered him over 80,000 Facebook fans. Some guy’s already writing a book about him, which apparently draws heavily on new age sensibilities. He’s not bad, he had a tragic up-bringing, his doctor’s didn’t prescribe him the right medications, he took drugs, he didn’t take drugs, he got lost in The System. It’s the usual suspects. The TV went on about it for awhile and then flitted to another hot topic. And then I refocused, looked around this courthouse: Lawyers, judges, the public, defendants; all milling around. And I wonder what are the new age elements of the Blagojevich trial? What gives this the Barefoot Bandit treatment?
Political corruption is a replenishing resource and there is certainly no shortage of this commodity, but what makes this particular trial so interesting on a national scale? I’ve sat through high profile trials of government and corporate officials, and they never had nearly as much attention—either locally or nationally—as this gathering in Chicago. So what is it about this one?
The problem with the Blagojevich situation is there is an inability to confidently put a thumb on what this thing means or why people care as much as they do. Is it the Obama connection? Is it the drama of the powerful and politically connected father-in-law and the falling out with his daughter and her husband before they spent their days sitting through a trial? But that’s a local thing. There has to be more. What about the Barefoot Bandit qualities: The son of a poor immigrant’s rise and fall in American politics, the meteoric rise and inevitable crash-landing of a populist politician. How about the man who wanted to be all things to all people and the people who loved him for at least a little while? But I look at the people who come to trial—more and more every day—and the swarming media coverage and there’s a Waiting for Godot quality to it all. We don’t really know what this means. None of us do. But we come anyway1. Is it the fact that we can create this thing that makes it The Sacred—makes this daily gathering happen—that makes Blagojevich the Barefoot Bandit of Illinois?
The defense
Before testimony began, in the pre-court juryless sessions with the attorneys, Judge Zagel made an interesting comment, making an assessment of the defense’s case. With the government’s case concluded, it is something worth thinking about over this long weekend. He said: “Absent his [Blagojevich’s] testimony, there is no willfulness.” He meant that if the defense will argue that Rod Blagojevich never willfully broke the law, the only way to get there is through his testimony. But this statement might hint at something else. If the defense uses the theory that the Governor did not willfully or intentionally break the law, and if Zagel’s assessment is correct, his testimony might be the only thing the defense should depend upon. I could be wrong about what I am seeing, and I’ve learned to never put a lot of stock on playing guessing games with courtrooms, but for those who are dazzled by revelations of the Secret Service details that will have to accompany star players like Rahm Emanuel or Valerie Jarrett or even Jesse Jackson Jr. I wouldn’t put much stock on these guys actually being called to appear at this trial.
Before John Wyma took the stand, Sorosky wanted to confer with Zagel and the attorney said, “Open court or at the side?”
Zagel said: “Is it something scandalous?”
A non-cooperating witness who cooperated
Wyma told about how he went from being Chief-of-Staff for several politicians, including Congressman Rod Blagojevich, to being a lobbyist where he made over a million dollars in his first year. It was a good time to be a lobbyist in the state of Illinois because he got to meet some of the governor’s friends, people like Tony Rezko, Chris Kelly and Stuart Levine.
Wyma was portrayed as the voice of reason in the middle of all of the schemes swirling around the Blagojevich administration. Besides learning from his new friends Tony and Chris that the going rate for getting state business was $50,000, he heard from an old friend, Rahm Emanuel, who told him that he believed an appropriation for a school in his district was being held up because the Governor wouldn’t release it until Emanuel’s brother held a fundraiser. He was also in meetings where hitting up Patrick Magoon, the CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital, for $25,000, was discussed. The money was to be raised at a fundraiser that Magoon would host. Wyma enumerated why he didn’t think this was a good idea and presumably didn’t think any of the plans were that good. If all of these schemes, which were going on nearly simultaneously, weren’t enough, he got a call from Doug Scofield, who put some strange question to him about setting up a non-profit for Rod Blagojevich to run. And this non-profit would somehow be a pay-off for appointing a senator. Out of breath yet? Wyma might be the Forest Gump of the trial, wandering through all of the various plans and schemes. And not only that, things couldn’t be better when it comes to Wyma and the prosecution’s case, because, he wasn’t charged in any crime and he was the only one in the cast of characters who went into the FBI on his own, to tell stories about Rod Blagojevich.
But before Blagojevich trades in his expensive suits for a prison uniform, and before we size up his cell, there are some problems with the Wyma testimony.
The objections came fast and furious for the rest of the day, often yelled with a pointed barb by Carrie Hamilton, accompanied by some body language-hands-on-hips-cold-stare attitude. However, even though most prosecution objections were sustained and there were even some admonitions from Zagel, the defense managed to get a couple of good points in.
This time the witness, Wyma in this case, went to the cops, sort of. Finally. Finally someone who said that his consciousness was sending out alarms went to the cops. But wait a minute. The defense raised an issue that casts doubts on Wyma’s whistleblower status, on the he’s-the-one-guy-that-went-to-the-cops thing. Near the time that these calls were taking place, John Wyma was subpoenaed about a situation involving a CON (Certificate of Need, state issued certifications necessary for building or improving medical facilities—these things tend to follow me around, as I have sat through an entire trial where CONs were the centerpiece). It turns out Wyma may have—willingly or unwillingly—been involved in a scheme to sell a CON, and this is why his records were subpoenaed. He was scared. There could be charges and one of them might have his name on it, so he ran to the FBI to cooperate as much as he possibly could. Although Wyma may not be charged with any crimes related to the state’s case against Blagojevich, his going to the feds may not have been entirely motivated by his consciousness and his sense of right and wrong. Did you follow that? Will the jury?
Zagel as the prosecutions case comes to an end
In one exchange, Sorosky argued that Wyma was just giving his opinion on someone else’s opinion. Zagel said: “I don’t think it’s a rule that one witness can’t contradict another. We do it all the time in here.”
Later Sorosky characterized Wyma’s cooperation with the government as spying on Blagojevich. Zagel said: “Why don’t you not use the word spy.”
Governor Blagojevich
After lunch, Blagojevich stood facing the gallery with his arm around Sheldon Sorosky. “He’s the next lawyer up,” Rod Blagojevich said to his audience, “Anybody want to ask him questions?”
Someone in the fourth row shouted, “Where’s our popcorn?”
The former Governor of Illinois, a populist governor, replied: “I’m not governor anymore.”
The man next to me said, “If he was still governor, we’d get popcorn?” Maybe so. While I write these notes, he’s up there autographing the tickets that gets the public into the trial. Really. I’m not kidding.
The last government witness
The anchor witness, for the prosecution, was Patrick Magoon, CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital. Presumably, his slot as the last government witness was probably to leave the jury with an emotionally charged image. The underpinnings of the CMH situation, from the government’s perspective, is that the Blagojevich administration, especially Rod and Rob Blagojevich, were so callous that they would put their fundraising goals above the needs of sick children. (They didn’t ask, but I think a better ending would have been with the showing of Blagojevich taking the oath office, which they played in the morning, during Daniel Cain’s testimony.)
Magoon related how after years of hard work, he finally got the state to approve reimbursements of physicians which would result in more sick kids being treated. And while he was still celebrating, he received some messages saying that Blagojevich would like him to host a fundraiser and that they were counting on him for $25.000. Rob called to make the request, and an offended Magoon refused to take further calls, but got voice messages.
Adam Jr.’s cross-examination was choppy and broken up by objections and admonitions from Zagel, but his message got through. Neither Rob nor Rod Blagojevich ever told Magoon that a fundraiser was expected in order to get the money. The money was committed. There was never any information or even a suggestion to Magoon that it had been recommitted, or was being held up until a contribution was received.
At one time, Zagel was so annoyed that he told Adam that, “If you continue to violate my order, I’ll give you a time limit.” And it appeared that Adam Jr. didn’t understand what he meant. The day before, Zagel had explained that if the attorneys ask questions that contain a fact not in evidence, he will always sustain objections. The reason why Adam Jr. didn’t get this very well, and continued to do it, is that this kind of questioning is very much a part of his style. The defense will have to choose wisely as they embark on their defense. Toward the end of the cross, Zagel seemed almost at the end of his rope. He said: “Objection sustained. Would you wrap this up please.” He did and the prosecution rested.
See ya
In the near empty courtroom, I was the last one out of my row. Rod Blagojevich said cheerfully, “See you next week.” Stop by the site and we’ll watch it together.
The witness list has been updated—in the link on the right, and various additions will be made while the court is out of session until the defense begins its case next Monday. So check back frequently because there’ll be lots of updates…]
I’ve seen this done with much more aplomb and fan faire for the jury, as in “Your honor, at this time the United States of American rests.” But there has been little resemblance to the usual in this courtroom.
After the day was over, and I was riding the train back to wherever home is this week, I read some things about the trial in the Chicago Sun-Times, and I was reminded why I never pay much attention to the attorneys in a case, while the trial is still going on. As reported in the Sun-Times and elsewhere in the electronic media, Sam Adam Sr. said, “A fair trial is destroyed,” and he later explained, “All of a sudden the government cuts their case short…they misled us. They misled the court.” There is a small group who have watched the trial with me here, and I hope they know by now that I’ll let you know when something as dramatic as being denied a fair trial happens. This wasn’t it. Sam Adam Sr. with his 49 years in the Bar knows it, but it sounded pretty good.
The Blagojevich gathering
I was eating breakfast in the courthouse cafeteria and watching the news on the big screen TV. They have two of them, one for news and one for sports. The news was talking about the Barefoot Bandit, the kid who went on a years-long crime spree, breaking into places as well as stealing luxury cars, planes and boats. His old school Bonnie and Clyde motif garnered him over 80,000 Facebook fans. Some guy’s already writing a book about him, which apparently draws heavily on new age sensibilities. He’s not bad, he had a tragic up-bringing, his doctor’s didn’t prescribe him the right medications, he took drugs, he didn’t take drugs, he got lost in The System. It’s the usual suspects. The TV went on about it for awhile and then flitted to another hot topic. And then I refocused, looked around this courthouse: Lawyers, judges, the public, defendants; all milling around. And I wonder what are the new age elements of the Blagojevich trial? What gives this the Barefoot Bandit treatment?
Political corruption is a replenishing resource and there is certainly no shortage of this commodity, but what makes this particular trial so interesting on a national scale? I’ve sat through high profile trials of government and corporate officials, and they never had nearly as much attention—either locally or nationally—as this gathering in Chicago. So what is it about this one?
The problem with the Blagojevich situation is there is an inability to confidently put a thumb on what this thing means or why people care as much as they do. Is it the Obama connection? Is it the drama of the powerful and politically connected father-in-law and the falling out with his daughter and her husband before they spent their days sitting through a trial? But that’s a local thing. There has to be more. What about the Barefoot Bandit qualities: The son of a poor immigrant’s rise and fall in American politics, the meteoric rise and inevitable crash-landing of a populist politician. How about the man who wanted to be all things to all people and the people who loved him for at least a little while? But I look at the people who come to trial—more and more every day—and the swarming media coverage and there’s a Waiting for Godot quality to it all. We don’t really know what this means. None of us do. But we come anyway1. Is it the fact that we can create this thing that makes it The Sacred—makes this daily gathering happen—that makes Blagojevich the Barefoot Bandit of Illinois?
1The other day, I overheard one of the Marshalls talking to a member of the public who had come to watch the trial. “Can you write in there,” she said. “Yes. In fact there are people who write pages and pages of notes. I don’t know what they’re doing, but if that’s what they want to do, they have a right to as long as they do not disrupt anything.” I looked down at my case jammed with pads, thought of a dozen more full ones back at the hotel.
The defense
Before testimony began, in the pre-court juryless sessions with the attorneys, Judge Zagel made an interesting comment, making an assessment of the defense’s case. With the government’s case concluded, it is something worth thinking about over this long weekend. He said: “Absent his [Blagojevich’s] testimony, there is no willfulness.” He meant that if the defense will argue that Rod Blagojevich never willfully broke the law, the only way to get there is through his testimony. But this statement might hint at something else. If the defense uses the theory that the Governor did not willfully or intentionally break the law, and if Zagel’s assessment is correct, his testimony might be the only thing the defense should depend upon. I could be wrong about what I am seeing, and I’ve learned to never put a lot of stock on playing guessing games with courtrooms, but for those who are dazzled by revelations of the Secret Service details that will have to accompany star players like Rahm Emanuel or Valerie Jarrett or even Jesse Jackson Jr. I wouldn’t put much stock on these guys actually being called to appear at this trial.
Before John Wyma took the stand, Sorosky wanted to confer with Zagel and the attorney said, “Open court or at the side?”
Zagel said: “Is it something scandalous?”
A non-cooperating witness who cooperated
Wyma told about how he went from being Chief-of-Staff for several politicians, including Congressman Rod Blagojevich, to being a lobbyist where he made over a million dollars in his first year. It was a good time to be a lobbyist in the state of Illinois because he got to meet some of the governor’s friends, people like Tony Rezko, Chris Kelly and Stuart Levine.
Wyma was portrayed as the voice of reason in the middle of all of the schemes swirling around the Blagojevich administration. Besides learning from his new friends Tony and Chris that the going rate for getting state business was $50,000, he heard from an old friend, Rahm Emanuel, who told him that he believed an appropriation for a school in his district was being held up because the Governor wouldn’t release it until Emanuel’s brother held a fundraiser. He was also in meetings where hitting up Patrick Magoon, the CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital, for $25,000, was discussed. The money was to be raised at a fundraiser that Magoon would host. Wyma enumerated why he didn’t think this was a good idea and presumably didn’t think any of the plans were that good. If all of these schemes, which were going on nearly simultaneously, weren’t enough, he got a call from Doug Scofield, who put some strange question to him about setting up a non-profit for Rod Blagojevich to run. And this non-profit would somehow be a pay-off for appointing a senator. Out of breath yet? Wyma might be the Forest Gump of the trial, wandering through all of the various plans and schemes. And not only that, things couldn’t be better when it comes to Wyma and the prosecution’s case, because, he wasn’t charged in any crime and he was the only one in the cast of characters who went into the FBI on his own, to tell stories about Rod Blagojevich.
But before Blagojevich trades in his expensive suits for a prison uniform, and before we size up his cell, there are some problems with the Wyma testimony.
- Besides hearing some things from Rezko and Kelly, there wasn’t any evidence that he actually did anything or that he has other first hand knowledge of the whole alleged pay-to-play scheme, nor could he provide anything that said this scheme originated in the Governor’s office;
- Like almost everyone in Rod’s extended circle of advisor’s, Wyma felt he couldn’t get Blagojevich to change his mind once he made it up, so he didn’t bother to call him with Emanuel’s complaints. Likewise, he said that he got a call from either Monk or Blagojevich, about having Emanuel’s brother hold a fundraiser. He didn’t make that call either. Nor did he call the cops. Nor did he question Monk or Blagojevich or whoever it was that called about whether or not this fundraiser was tied to state funds.
- When Doug Scofield called about setting up a non-profit for Blagojevich and making it a condition of naming a senator, Wyma said he was confused. That makes two of them. Both Scofield and Wyma said they thought it was essentially a hair-brained idea, and both of them played along a little while doing nothing to further a scheme they both thought was kind of idiotic.
- After helping broker the deal with Children’s Memorial (he was a hired lobbyist of the hospital) he told Blagojevich that the Governor’s idea of trying to get $25,000 from a Magoon hosted fundraiser wasn’t sound. After getting a voice mail from Rob Blagojevich about this fundraiser, Wyma said he became concerned about the aggressiveness of the administration’s fundraising, which supposedly sent the lobbyist to the feds.
The objections came fast and furious for the rest of the day, often yelled with a pointed barb by Carrie Hamilton, accompanied by some body language-hands-on-hips-cold-stare attitude. However, even though most prosecution objections were sustained and there were even some admonitions from Zagel, the defense managed to get a couple of good points in.
This time the witness, Wyma in this case, went to the cops, sort of. Finally. Finally someone who said that his consciousness was sending out alarms went to the cops. But wait a minute. The defense raised an issue that casts doubts on Wyma’s whistleblower status, on the he’s-the-one-guy-that-went-to-the-cops thing. Near the time that these calls were taking place, John Wyma was subpoenaed about a situation involving a CON (Certificate of Need, state issued certifications necessary for building or improving medical facilities—these things tend to follow me around, as I have sat through an entire trial where CONs were the centerpiece). It turns out Wyma may have—willingly or unwillingly—been involved in a scheme to sell a CON, and this is why his records were subpoenaed. He was scared. There could be charges and one of them might have his name on it, so he ran to the FBI to cooperate as much as he possibly could. Although Wyma may not be charged with any crimes related to the state’s case against Blagojevich, his going to the feds may not have been entirely motivated by his consciousness and his sense of right and wrong. Did you follow that? Will the jury?
Zagel as the prosecutions case comes to an end
In one exchange, Sorosky argued that Wyma was just giving his opinion on someone else’s opinion. Zagel said: “I don’t think it’s a rule that one witness can’t contradict another. We do it all the time in here.”
Later Sorosky characterized Wyma’s cooperation with the government as spying on Blagojevich. Zagel said: “Why don’t you not use the word spy.”
Governor Blagojevich
After lunch, Blagojevich stood facing the gallery with his arm around Sheldon Sorosky. “He’s the next lawyer up,” Rod Blagojevich said to his audience, “Anybody want to ask him questions?”
Someone in the fourth row shouted, “Where’s our popcorn?”
The former Governor of Illinois, a populist governor, replied: “I’m not governor anymore.”
The man next to me said, “If he was still governor, we’d get popcorn?” Maybe so. While I write these notes, he’s up there autographing the tickets that gets the public into the trial. Really. I’m not kidding.
The last government witness
The anchor witness, for the prosecution, was Patrick Magoon, CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital. Presumably, his slot as the last government witness was probably to leave the jury with an emotionally charged image. The underpinnings of the CMH situation, from the government’s perspective, is that the Blagojevich administration, especially Rod and Rob Blagojevich, were so callous that they would put their fundraising goals above the needs of sick children. (They didn’t ask, but I think a better ending would have been with the showing of Blagojevich taking the oath office, which they played in the morning, during Daniel Cain’s testimony.)
Magoon related how after years of hard work, he finally got the state to approve reimbursements of physicians which would result in more sick kids being treated. And while he was still celebrating, he received some messages saying that Blagojevich would like him to host a fundraiser and that they were counting on him for $25.000. Rob called to make the request, and an offended Magoon refused to take further calls, but got voice messages.
Adam Jr.’s cross-examination was choppy and broken up by objections and admonitions from Zagel, but his message got through. Neither Rob nor Rod Blagojevich ever told Magoon that a fundraiser was expected in order to get the money. The money was committed. There was never any information or even a suggestion to Magoon that it had been recommitted, or was being held up until a contribution was received.
At one time, Zagel was so annoyed that he told Adam that, “If you continue to violate my order, I’ll give you a time limit.” And it appeared that Adam Jr. didn’t understand what he meant. The day before, Zagel had explained that if the attorneys ask questions that contain a fact not in evidence, he will always sustain objections. The reason why Adam Jr. didn’t get this very well, and continued to do it, is that this kind of questioning is very much a part of his style. The defense will have to choose wisely as they embark on their defense. Toward the end of the cross, Zagel seemed almost at the end of his rope. He said: “Objection sustained. Would you wrap this up please.” He did and the prosecution rested.
See ya
In the near empty courtroom, I was the last one out of my row. Rod Blagojevich said cheerfully, “See you next week.” Stop by the site and we’ll watch it together.
The witness list has been updated—in the link on the right, and various additions will be made while the court is out of session until the defense begins its case next Monday. So check back frequently because there’ll be lots of updates…]
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