Allegations of misconduct are flying in the case of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. According to the Chicago Tribune, Blagojevich’s attorneys have accused the prosecution of misconduct during their investigation of the former Governor. Now the prosecution has struck back and charged that Blagojevich and his counsel lied.
The jury deadlocked on 23 of 24 counts against Blagojevich during his trial this summer. Blagojevich has moved to throw out his conviction on the remaining count of lying to the FBI. His counsel alleged that a "plethora of errors" caused his conviction on the count.
The government has called the claims of prosecutorial misconduct "baseless," especially claims that the government lied about the contents of secret recordings of Blagojevich. It also contends that the defense falsely suggested that the government put improper pressure on the witnesses against Blagojevich, including Antoin "Tony" Rezko. The prosecution has also objected to Blagojevich’s alleged estimate that a retrial would cost $25 to $30 million.
Blagojevich may be retried as early as January.