* Gov. Pat Quinn celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of Dairy Queen today. During the presentation, Quinn reminisced about how he had stopped at “every single Dairy Queen” when he walked across the state several years ago. That activity earned him a certain nickname from his doctor, Quinn said. Watch…
So, I guess he’s no longer “Soy Boy“? Maybe “Soy Dairy Boy” or something?
Rod Blagojevich’s defense lawyers filed a bid for a mistrial, saying that Judge James Zagel’s repeated rulings against them have kept them from telling their side of the story.
“Defense counsel has been systematically prevented from engaging in meaningful cross-examination by unwarranted sustaining of objections,” Blagojevich’s lawyers wrote in the filing. “The result is the deprivation of a fair trial and a mistrial is warranted.”
They also complained about Zagel’s comments in front of jurors, citing one remark from Zagel: “Don’t do that, now we‟re getting into the mind-reading of the prosecution.”
“Moreover, by ruling on these “mind reading” objections orally in front of the jury, it sends an inappropriate message to the jury (when only the defense is sustained on these questions).”
Defense counsel has been systematically prevented from engaging in meaningful cross-examination by unwarranted sustaining of objections. The result is the deprivation of a fair trial and a mistrial is warranted. […]
The court has ruled that questioning by the defense has gone beyond the scope of direct. In numerous instances, this finding has been erroneous, where indeed the government opened the door to that line of questioning. […]
Defendant moves this court for a mistrial. In the alternative, defense counsel urges this Court to order the government to state the basis upon which it objects, and urges the court to limit the distracting manner in which prosecutors signal to witnesses by persistently standing to object (many times prior to defense counsel even asking a question). It is a distraction for the jury and serves no legitimate purpose.
A barely audible Judge James Zagel is explaining his repeated upholding of prosecution’s objections after Rod Blagojevich’s defense team asked for a mistrial today.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a motion for a mistrial based on objections,” Zagel says. […]
Zagel said he believes lawyers are asking the questions the wrong way — beginning the questions in such a manner that the witness would have to guess what someone was thinking. Zagel noted the defense hasn’t objected much (indeed, today, just one even though the government’s most significant witness has been on the stand all day).
But the bottom line: Zagel said the defense can hand him a list of questions they think he should have allowed and he’d consider them.
Zagel said he saved Sam Adam Jr. and his client a level of resentment from the jury because he kept him from asking of the same questions time and again.
“I’d do it again, because I believe it is in the interest of justice to do so,” Zagel said.
As a commenter said earlier, the defense was probably just trying to “work the refs” a bit here. Others have suggested they’re setting up an appeal. There would always be an appeal. That doesn’t mean, however, that RRB is not doomed. He is.
* Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign manager Mike Rendina just sent out a mass text…
Friends,
Meredith and I excited to announce the arrival of our new boy, Benjamin Nathan. Ben was born at 3:50 am and weighed in at six pounds eight ounces. Both Ben and Meredith are in good health and resting comfortably… Thank you all for your love and well wishes.
Way to go, Mike!
* Former top-notch SJ-R reporter and now Vice President of Public Affairs for Mac Strategies Group Ryan Keith just posted this on his Facebook page…
Baby girl Emersyn Gabrielle is here and healthy, along with mom!
Hooray!
* And, while we’re at it, tomorrow is Secretary of State Jesse White’s 76th birthday. Hope it’s a great one.
Heralded since its 1900 completion as the city’s greatest engineering feat, the reversal of the [Chicago River] kept sewage out of Lake Michigan, providing clean drinking water for Chicago to grow.
Republican Kirk wants to keep the river flowing backward. But Democrat Giannoulias wants a massive federal project to re-reverse it to its natural course.
“We lose about 500 million gallons of purified water because of the way the river flows,” Giannoulias said at the Metropolitan Planning Council’s annual luncheon downtown Monday.
“Long-term, it’s smart to try to re-direct that water, to clean it up first and redirect it into Lake Michigan.”
The project would split the Chicago River from its link to the Mississippi River, blocking the route of Asian carp, which threaten Lake Michigan’s $7 billion fishing industry, supporters say.
But Kirk — also speaking at the luncheon — said “we should not reverse the direction of the Chicago River so that it dumps into the source of our water supply.”
* The Question: Which side has the better argument here? Explain.
AT&T today unveiled its Illinois wired and wireless network investment plans for 2010, which include plans for more than 80 new cell sites and the upgrade of nearly 300 additional cell sites to 3G throughout the state.
The announcement comes on the heels of Gov. Pat Quinn’s signing of the state’s new modern telecommunications law designed to attract private sector investment in broadband and wireless to meet consumer demands and attract jobs across all sectors of the Illinois economy.
“With the stroke of a pen, Governor Quinn made Illinois an attractive place for AT&T to invest in broadband, wireless and emerging technologies,” said Paul La Schiazza, president, AT&T Illinois. “His leadership in broadband coverage and job creation cannot be understated.”
But this is really not new…
From 2007 through 2009, AT&T’s total capital investment in its Illinois wireless and wireline networks was nearly $3.6 billion. From 2007 through 2009, AT&T’s wireless network investment in Illinois was nearly $975 million.
They added 70 cell sites in 2009 and upgraded 220 existing towers. That’s before the law was passed. What’s driving this newly announced expansion is network pressure created by iPhone and iPad owners, not state law. On the other hand, the company can now get out of much of its state legal mandate to expand and maintain its wired service. So, expect AT&T’s actual capital investment to decline overall, not increase.
* The last time the state passed a payday loan law, the industry just worked around it. And even though its supporters say this new law is significantly tougher, the financial services industry has some of the brightest minds in the world on payroll, so I’ll wait and see if this really works. From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today signed a bill into law that will increase protections for Illinois residents obtaining consumer installment loans. The new law caps interest rates charged by consumer finance companies, which can sometimes be as high as 1,000 percent.
“Many consumers who take out short-term loans are doing so as a last resort to pay their bills and provide for their families. It is all too easy for lenders to take advantage of them by raising interest rates and setting very short repayment periods,” said Governor Quinn. “It is important that we do everything we can to protect these consumers who are already hurting, by helping to make these loans more affordable.”
There was no new estimate on how many jobs might go along with a Thomson prison filled with federal prisoners. The administration’s original estimate said 1,200 jobs, both direct and indirect, would be created by the third year of operation, based on 1,600 federal prisoners.
Nearly 900 of those jobs would be positions at the prison.
Overall, the administration had said, 3,200 to 3,800 jobs could be created in the region, both direct and indirect.
Those “indirect” jobs are very hard to quantify.
* Last month, the Peoria County/City Board of Health laid off 31 employees and cut way back on its state-supported health programs. Last week was the Woodford County Health Department Board of Health’s turn…
The Woodford County Health Department Board of Health voted last week not to renew several state-supported programs after Illinois informed the board it would not pay for services rendered until December instead of July.
“We knew they were behind (in paying bills), and we decided we could make it until July,” said Laurie Schierer, public health administrator. “But then they told us it would come in December.”
The last time the department received a payment from the state was in December 2009, meaning it would have to go 12 months without a payment for services already rendered, and that wasn’t a viable option. Before last year, the state paid for the programs by the month.
Over the weekend, 52 people were shot in Chicago, a stunning tally that the police blame in large part on gangs.
The police will also tell you that the lifeblood of the gangs is the sale of illegal drugs. The gangs are the Al Capones of our day, peddling an illegal product for which the demand is enormous.
We can disrupt the gangs’ operations — as Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart did last week when his officers seized 5,525 pounds of pot worth $20 million — but we will never put them out of business, no more than we could put the bootleggers out of business.
We fill our prisons with young men who have committed drug-related crimes — a shameful waste of human potential and the taxpayers’ money — but nothing changes. For thousands of high school dropouts who might otherwise be washing dishes for minimum wage, the money in drugs is just too good.
The sheriff’s plan is to burn all that confiscated pot, a further reminder of how irrational our drug policies are. We agree with those who say the pot should be used for medical purposes by people living in great physical pain.
Why not just legalize it and put the gangs out of business? Create some new jobs in the process.
* Related and a roundup…
* Quinn expected in Marion Wednesday: There is no word on what the nature of Quinn’s visit will be, but many have been anticipating his signature on a bill that would green light a major development project in Marion.
* Our View: Wrong to punish independent thought in Springfield; Cross was elected to his position seven years ago on a promise of allowing greater independence for members. Even after this vote, he told reporters that while he was disappointed, “I’m not a guy who’s going to force people to vote a certain way.” Really? Incidentally, Democrat Jack Franks of Woodstock broke with his party and still holds his committee chairmanship.
*** UPDATE 1 - 1:52 pm *** Former chief of staff John Harris destroys Rod Blagojevich’s alibi that he wanted to appoint Lisa Madigan to the vacant US Senate seat in order to pass the long-stalled capital bill and his healthcare reforms…
Harris and Rod are heard discussing leaking a potential Lisa Madigan appointment to Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed.
John Harris explains from the stand: “Michael Sneed is a woman who writes a political gossip column for a local paper — a page that a lot of politicians read before the sports.”
Prosecutor Carrie Hamilton asked, then, if Harris and Rod were talking about leaking “false information” to Sneed.
Prosecutors play yet another tape, this one happened the morning of the presidential election — Nov. 4, 2008.
The senate seat is discussed at length and Rod Blagojevich can be heard talking about making a “tactical play,” involving Lisa Madigan. The play at one point involved pretending he would appoint the Illinois Attorney General to the Senate seat, but really, he’d appoint himself.
The discussion was a strategy session. Blagojevich and Harris were trying to navigate talks with the Obama camp over the senate seat appointment. But they believed Rahm Emanuel and others were acting “cryptic.” They discussed floating other options as real possibilities to force Obama’s camp to talk straight, according to Harris.
Blagojevich on tape: “We need to think about a tactical play…we gotta figure out a Madigan play.”
Blagojevich said they had Illinois Senate President Emil Jones as a “fallback” for an appointment, but “the best he can do for me is raise money.”
Blagojevich also is heard telling Harris maybe they should work the Madigan angle and then: “I end up using my ace in the hole and I send myself.”
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* They’re doing him in but good. As we learned yesterday, former deputy governor Bradley Tusk helped seal Rod Blagojevich’s coffin…
Tusk said while he was deputy governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich told him he wanted a message delivered to then-U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel: A $2 million grant for the Chicago Academy, a school in Emanuel’s district, was on hold unless his brother, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, held a fund-raiser.
Ari is the inspiration for the “Entourage” characte, Ari Gold.
Tusk said he didn’t deliver the message but called Blagojevich’s lawyer to tell him: “You need to get your client under control.”
Emanuel wanted to know where the money was; Tusk told Harris that the governor would not approve the release of funds. So, Harris testified, he spoke to the governor.
“He seemed to be familiar with it and told me not to approve the release of funds, that he had not approved the release of funds,” Harris said. […]
Prosecutor Carrie Hamilton asked if this was the way grant money was usually doled out.
“No, the process was not typical and quite involved,” Harris said. “I didn’t experience that process again.”
Rod Blagojevich told his top aide to cut off two firms, including CitiBank, from state business as retaliation for not giving his wife a job, former chief of staff John Harris has testified. […]
When Harris later learned CitiBank was in line to win a major state deal, he said he purposely kept Blagojevich in the dark.
Former Blago chief of staff John Harris has just given testimony that backs up what Lon Monk told the court earlier this month — that in 2008, Blagojevich was in cahoots with then-state senate Pres. Emil Jones to kill an ethics bill that would have seriously hindered the governor’s fund-raising efforts. […]
“[Blagojevich] thought Emil would hold because he knew something we didn’t,” Harris testified. “He told us that Emil Jones wanted (Barack Obama’s) senate seat” and wouldn’t go back on his “pledge.”
Jones, though, did succumb to political and public pressure and called the bill.
“No way he’s getting the seat now,” Harris said Blagojevich told him.
Sam Adam Sr., the storied trial lawyer, ran aground as he asked Johnston about his relationship with deceased fundraiser Chris Kelly.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Zagel said after sustaining another objection from the prosecution.
Adam apologized to the judge and moved on, but Zagel’s impatience with the defense team’s tactics did not let up.
Defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky encountered more than 20 objections during his cross examination of Tusk.
* And I really doubt that this defense tactic will work…
Answering questions from prosecutor Reid Schar, Tusk said that at the start of Blagojevich’s first term, the governor came into the office regularly. But his attendance dropped off within a few months. So when the constitutional deadline for acting on legislation drew near, Tusk said, he sometimes had to track Blagojevich down to get an answer, one time meeting the governor at his tailor’s. Other times, Tusk said, he just couldn’t get a hold of his boss, and had to personally decide whether to sign a bill or veto it.
Seeming to respond to this testimony, Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky described Blagojevich as a “big picture guy and not a nitty-gritty detail guy,” an observation Tusk agreed with. This makes the point to the jury that Blagojevich left these “detail[s]” (like which bills to sign, apparently) to his aide. That, in turn, furthers a defense that Sorosky acknowledged in open court earlier Monday: that bad acts may have been committed by some people in the governor’s office, but not by the governor himself. “That undoubtedly is a substantial potion of the defense,” Sorosky told Judge James Zagel.
The reason it won’t work is simple. Rod wasn’t much of a governor, but the tapes clearly show that he was intimately involved with all sorts of nefarious details and was actually leading the parade.
Millionaire Mortgage Banker Mike Niecestro, the west suburban conservative who talked for months about running as an independent against Republican Kirk, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and the Green Party’s LeAlan Jones, did not file petitions for a position on the November ballot. Niecestro–who needed 25,000 signatures of registered voters–told me that his petition drive fell way short of its goal because a “certain republican politician” did not make good on his promise to get 45,000 signatures. In fact, according to Niecestro, the politician known as a “flake” in GOP circles, delivered a goose egg.
Retired U.S. Marine Randy Stufflebeam of downstate Belleville did file for the U.S. Senate as part of the Constitution Party slate. But the ultra conservative Stufflebeam, a Tea Party favorite, told me the Constitutions filed only 34,000 signatures. The conventional wisdom among election lawyers and politicians is that you need at least twice the required number to come up with 25,000 valid names.
So self-described moderate Kirk is likely not to have conservatives on the ballot to take away right wing republican votes.
Who the heck was Niecestro relying on and why would he rely on a “flake” to get his signatures? Weird, that.
Asked then his view of the federal Civil Rights Act, the legality of which has been questioned by Paul’s son, Kentucky GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul, [Lex Green of Bloomington, Libertarian candidate for governor] pulled out a copy of the Constitution and said the document provides “no justification” for the law.
“The Libertarian Party stands for civil rights,” Green said. “We are the party of civil rights. But there is no permission given in the Constitution to pass civil rights law.”
Asked if that means a local business would be able to deny service to black customers, Green said, “I guess I would have to say yes.”
* Still, the Democrats are the ones with problems on their hands. Nobody reported it, but former East St. Louis Mayor Carl Officer filed to run for US Senate, as I told subscribers several days ago. Also, Dock Walls filed for governor. Both men are African-American. And then there’s Scott-Lee Cohen…
“I am extremely confident that a majority of the people of Illinois have forgiven some of my behaviors,” he said.
Cohen spokesman John Davis acknowledged that the campaign paid petition circulators $1.50 a signature and that the ballot drive was coordinated by former Gangster Disciples leader Wallace “Gator” Bradley.
Cohen paid people to help gather the immense number of signatures in just five weeks and addressed reports that some of his helpers were drug users and homeless.
“They have just as much right to earn an honest living as anyone else,” Cohen said.
Davis acknowledged that some of the petition circulators have not been paid, and said Cohen planned to deposit money in his campaign immediately after finishing the task of filing in Springfield, and he promised that unpaid workers would received what they’re owed over the next two or three days.
“As we have said all along, we will be doing our due diligence,” said Mica Matsoff, spokeswoman for Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign. “You have to meet certain requirements to get on the ballot, and it’s important to voters that those requirements are met.”
* Related…
* ADDED: What was unexpected, however, at least to this observer, was that petitions would also be filed by attorney Roger Zamparo, seeking to challenge Ann Finley Collins, the Democratic nominee for the Riley vacancy in Cook County’s 11th Judicial Subcircuit, and by attorney Keith Thiel, challenging Judge Daniel A. Pierce, the Democratic nominee for the “A” vacancy in the 14th Judicial Subcircuit.
* Claypool, Cohen ready for change as filing deadline passes today
* Claypool files paperwork to get in Cook County assessor race
