The Blagosphere - Blago Arraigned in Chicago
Former Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was arraigned yesterday in Chicago on the 16 criminal charges pending against him. At arraignment the criminal defendant is brought before the court, advised of the charges against him and enters a formal plea of “not guilty.” An arraignment takes about 10 minutes, at most. The Chicago Tribune reports that Blago has not yet settled on criminal defense counsel and is trying to get access to his campaign funds so that he can retain counsel.
Other defendants, including Blagos former Chief of Staff, John Harris, are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
No doubt the discovery in this case will be voluminous and the government has indicated that it is turning over the first round of documents and recordings within two weeks.
