Blagojevich lawyer: Government didn’t prove case

CHICAGO (AP) — Rod Blagojevich is an insecure man who talks a lot, but he is not a criminal, his defense attorney told jurors Tuesday during closing arguments at the ousted Illinois governor’s corruption trial.

Sam Adam Jr. told jurors that he did not call Mr. Blagojevich to testify, as he had promised at the beginning of the trial, because the government did not prove its case. He called the governor’s silence the “elephant in the room.”

“I thought he’d sit right up here,” Mr. Adam said, shouting and pointing at the empty witness chair. “I promised he’d testify. We were wrong. Blame me.”

“I had no idea that in two and a half months of trial that they’d prove nothing,” he told jurors.

Mr. Adam, known for his theatrical style, dismissed prosecution claims that Mr. Blagojevich tried to sell or trade the nomination to President Obama’s former Senate seat, saying, “That man wasn’t selling any seat.” He said jurors knew that after listening to hours of FBI wiretap tapes played by prosecutors during the trial.

** FILE ** Sam Adam Jr., defense lawyer for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, talks to the media on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, in Chicago after the defense rested without calling any witnesses in Mr. Blagojevich’s corruption trial. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

“You heard the tapes, and you heard Rod on the tapes,” he said. “You can infer what was in Rod’s mind on the tapes. You can infer from those tapes whether he’s trying to extort the president of the United States. We heard tape after tape of just talking… . If you put Joan and Melissa Rivers in a room, you wouldn’t hear that much talk. That’s how he is.”

Mr. Adam, living up to his reputation, was delivering a highly emotional and thunderous closing. After saying in a whisper that the prosecution’s closing was impressive, he swiftly changed his tone — shouting and pointing to different jurors.

“They want you, you and you to convict him,” he yelled, moving along the jury box and gesturing.

Jurors seemed transfixed, sometimes laughing.

“It’s beginning to look more like a show,” Judge James B. Zagel admonished Mr. Adam at one point.

Mr. Adam said that a big reason why Mr. Blagojevich is on trial is that he is a terrible judge of character, surrounding himself and taking advice from untrustworthy associates.

“He’s got absolute horrible judgment on people, and that’s this case, and they want you to find him guilty of these horrible crimes because of that,” he said.

At the same time, Mr. Adam roared that prosecutors never presented any evidence of any fundraisers from anyone that Mr. Blagojevich allegedly was shaking down.

“Tell me one state contract tied to fundraising?” he asked. “Did they bring one state contract based on fundraising? Just one? No.”

Mr. Adam was warned by Judge Zagel that he would be stopped if he tells jurors about witnesses the prosecution did not call. The judge said it’s improper for the defense to imply that those people — including convicted political fixer Tony Rezko — would have helped Mr. Blagojevich’s case.

Story Continues →

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.