While primary votes are being tallied across the country this mini-Super Tuesday, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial is starting in Chicago. Jury selection concluded today and opening statements are being delivered now. Here are some mildly amusing biographical summaries of a few of the jurors who will decide Blago’s fate, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:
128 — White male. He has applied to the College of DuPage for the fall. Worked in computer sales at Best Buy. Mom is in the Army. He is undecided on what he wants to do in life, but he likes to play sports and video games and hang out with friends. He couldn’t recall having heard anything about the case.
153 — White female, middle aged. Legal secretary who likes to knit, cook, read and visit her grandchildren. She is learning to edit movies on her computer.
155 — White female, about 30. Administrative secretary at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Former event planner for a dating service who also once taught toddlers.
Blagojevich, know as much for his showmanship as for his alleged misdeeds as governor, is already turning the proceedings into something of a sideshow. He arrived at the courthouse today with longtime journalist and Blago chronicler Jimmy Breslin and proudly introduced him to the press corps. As he does regularly, the former governor also proclaimed his innocence and said he’s “dying” for the public to learn the real facts of the case. “I can’t wait to prove that I fought for you the whole way,” he told an onlooker, according to the Tribune. He also kissed one supporter on the cheek and waved to the rest. Blago appears to believe that if more people can just hear more from him directly, he will be vindicated. In the past year, he’s hosted a radio show, appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, written a book and been a guest on a myriad of television news programs. He wants to get the word out! Hence, the recent launch of his very own Twitter feed a week before the trial commenced.
That apparently went too far. The judge overseeing the trial today banned Blagojevich from Tweeting from inside the courtroom.
If you’re following the trial and want a refresher on the man who allegedly tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat, I encourage you to read Alex Altman’s very good profile of Blago published late last year.