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Blagojevich Lawyer: Waiting is Difficult
As jurors resume deliberations in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial Monday, Blagojevich’s lawyer Sam Adam, Jr. told the Chicago Tribune he cannot eat or sleep while the jury is deliberating. Adam, Jr. said he’s been replaying the entire trial in his head and wonders if he should have done anything differently. In the end, he said he believes he did the best he could. He said the waiting game is difficult and no one really knows what the jury will decide. On Friday jurors asked the judge for written transcripts of the entire trial, which would be several thousand pages long. Instead, the judge told them they could request testimony from specific witnesses.
Blagojevich attorney clashes with judge over mentioning witnesses not called
Rod Blagojevich’s defense attorney could find himself behind bars even as he works to keep his client out of prison. Sam Adam Jr. faced that dilemma before presenting his closing arguments in the former Illinois governor’s corruption trial on Tuesday, after he and the presiding judge clashed over whether he could mention witnesses who prosecutors did not call during the evidence stage of the trial. Judge James B. Zagel warned Adam on Monday that he would hold him in contempt if he mentioned those witnesses. Turning red and raising his arms, Adam responded, “I will go to jail over this.” A showdown between the gray-haired, by-the-book federal judge and the young, theatrical attorney — who made his name in Chicago’s more freewheeling Criminal Courts Building — could come when Adam starts his closing.