disorderlyvision
02-05-2010, 02:46 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35240304/ns/politics/
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled a revised corruption indictment of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may declare a law underpinning the case unconstitutional.
Blagojevich was charged in April with 17 counts of racketeering, fraud, lying to investigators and other criminal activity tied to schemes that included trying to sell President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.
"The new charges ... are based on the same underlying criminal conduct," said Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, in a court filing accompanying the new grand jury indictment in Chicago.
The Illinois legislature impeached and removed Blagojevich, a Democrat, from office in January 2009, during his second term. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to go on trial in Chicago in June.
Some of the charges rely in part on a 1988 law that says public officials and executives can be convicted of fraud if they deprive those they represent of the right to their "honest services."
But several Supreme Court justices said during oral arguments in separate cases last year that they found the 28-word "honest services" law overly broad, suggesting it could apply to practically any employee.
The high court is expected to issue a ruling within months on the law after appeals by convicted Alaskan legislator Bruce Weyhrauch and media baron Conrad Black. Former Enron Corp. executive Jeffrey Skilling's case may also get a hearing.
Legal analysts say prosecutors would have a more difficult job and require more solid evidence of wrongdoing if the law is declared unconstitutional.
In the Blagojevich case -- his brother and two former aides are also charged -- prosecutors said some charges will be dismissed if the high court throws out the law.
"Such dismissal would do little to effect the trial in the instant case," Fitzgerald said in the court filing.
The grand jury added eight new charges against Blagojevich, some of which apply to his co-defendants: racketeering, three counts of extortion related to the Senate seat, and four counts of bribery involving demands for campaign contributions.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled a revised corruption indictment of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may declare a law underpinning the case unconstitutional.
Blagojevich was charged in April with 17 counts of racketeering, fraud, lying to investigators and other criminal activity tied to schemes that included trying to sell President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.
"The new charges ... are based on the same underlying criminal conduct," said Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, in a court filing accompanying the new grand jury indictment in Chicago.
The Illinois legislature impeached and removed Blagojevich, a Democrat, from office in January 2009, during his second term. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to go on trial in Chicago in June.
Some of the charges rely in part on a 1988 law that says public officials and executives can be convicted of fraud if they deprive those they represent of the right to their "honest services."
But several Supreme Court justices said during oral arguments in separate cases last year that they found the 28-word "honest services" law overly broad, suggesting it could apply to practically any employee.
The high court is expected to issue a ruling within months on the law after appeals by convicted Alaskan legislator Bruce Weyhrauch and media baron Conrad Black. Former Enron Corp. executive Jeffrey Skilling's case may also get a hearing.
Legal analysts say prosecutors would have a more difficult job and require more solid evidence of wrongdoing if the law is declared unconstitutional.
In the Blagojevich case -- his brother and two former aides are also charged -- prosecutors said some charges will be dismissed if the high court throws out the law.
"Such dismissal would do little to effect the trial in the instant case," Fitzgerald said in the court filing.
The grand jury added eight new charges against Blagojevich, some of which apply to his co-defendants: racketeering, three counts of extortion related to the Senate seat, and four counts of bribery involving demands for campaign contributions.