* Rod Blagojevich’s sentencing hearing will start October 6th. The Sun-Times reports that Blagojevich plans to testify. For his sake, I certainly hope his lawyer’s comments are not a preview of that testimony…
Blagojevich was “a good, honest governor who tried to help the people of Illinois,” Sorosky said. “He cared about the ordinary guy.”
Unrepentant testimony like that could add more years to his sentence.
* This won’t help him much, either…
In Blagojevich’s case, sentencing at the hands of Judge James Zagel will also come on the heels of a 158-page motion, where the former governor and his lawyers argued that Zagel had his “thumb on the scales of justice” and that the judge’s rulings skewed heavily in favor of the prosecution.
“The motion basically states that we believe that many of Gov. Blagojevich’s constitutional rights were violated at trial, and that therefore he should receive a new trial,” Sorosky said.
Indeed, Blagojevich and his lawyers said categorically that Zagel had reneged on a promise to let Blagojevich testify to his own good intent. In his motion for a new trial, Blagojevich filed an affidavit stating that had he known he would not be allowed to make such claims, he never would have taken the stand.
“His defense to these charges is that he was operating in good faith at all times,” said attorney Lauren Kaeseberg. “And he should have been able to testify to that effect, tell the jury that he operated under good faith and the reasons that he believed he was operating in good faith.”
“And he wasn’t able to do that, and we believe that was not fair.”
* The hearing could last two days…
The sentencing hearing could last two days, U.S. District Judge James Zagel said in setting the sentencing date, depending on the number of witnesses Blagojevich’s lawyers call to testify to his character and his accomplishments as governor.
That list of character witnesses can’t be very long. And since the disastrous fiscal impact of his gubernatorial reign will be felt for years to come, those who testify about his “accomplishments as governor” could be violating their oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
