http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/28blagojevich.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
"Rod R. Blagojevich the former governor of Illinois, of trying to personally benefit from his role in selecting a replacement for President Obama in the United States Senate. Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat whose former aides say once saw himself as a presidential contender some day, was found guilty of 17 counts of wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy. He was acquitted on one charge of bribery, and the jury deadlocked on two counts of attempted extortion. (SNIP)" ********************** I tag this as "TV" because of his interviews on TDS (where I thought Stewart did not do a particularly good job of pinning him down either time). Also, I guess he was on one of the reality shows (or did the prosecutors keep him off?). The more important story for me is that the prosecutors did learn their lesson from the first trial - keeping their narrative simpler and trimming some of the counts. Prosecutors almost always feel obliged to overcharge and then over-try high profile cases, no matter how often it gets them in trouble. OJ Simpson would be serving a life sentence for double murder in California today if his prosecutors had a little bit of discipline. In this case the key was focusing like a laser on the point that Blagojevich did not actually have to by a successful extortionist to be guilty of extortion. Just trying to get personal benefit for his public duties is a crime (this was one of the things Stewart did not quite seem to understand when interviewing him). -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
