A full appellate court indicated Wednesday that it will not rehear an appeal of Rod Blagojevich’s corruption convictions, and his lawyer responded that the imprisoned former Illinois governor will appeal next to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the judges announced that they were unanimous in denying his petition for a rehearing. “But we remain hopeful that we will prevail in the end because the decision is in conflict with established legal precedent which has existed for more than 20 years”.
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Cotter said Blagojevich might have luck getting his sentence reduced by U.S. District Judge James Zagel, because some of the former governor’s convictions have been tossed.
This, after a three-judge panel threw out some counts and his sentence.
Blagojevich was convicted of the 18 counts over two trials, including that he attempted to trade his power to appoint someone to a U.S. Senate seat in exchange for personal benefits.
Former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said it’s rare when the full 7th Circuit agrees to rehear an appeal, and he doesn’t believe Blagojevich will fare better in appealing to the Supreme Court.
There’s no guarantee the Supreme Court would even agree to hear Blagojevich’s appeal.
Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, expressed disappointment in the 7th Circuit.
The original July ruling by a three-judge panel of the court tossed just five of Blagojevich’s 18 convictions.
“Few politicians, who must raise campaign funds as part of their job, could survive the legal requirements imposed on Blagojevich”, Goodman said in his pitch to the full appeals court.
The court’s rejection of a rehearing means Blagojevich’s resentencing could happen in weeks or months, Turner said.
At the time, a statement attributed to Blagojevich said that “what is at stake is nothing less than the rule of the law”.
The three judges found Blagojevich crossed that line when he sought money – including campaign cash – for naming someone to Obama’s old Senate seat.
A central focus of the three-judge panel’s July opinion was the question of when an official crosses the line from legal into illegal political wheeling and dealing. “It becomes a crime and they set a very high bar – they said it becomes a crime only if there is an explicit promise to do one for the other”.
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He also said he didn’t see a unique issue that might interest the U.S. Supreme Court.
