Many thought they’d never see the day former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would take the stand in his own defense – until he was called to testify Thursday morning.
Blagojevich is facing 20 counts in his federal corruption case, including trying to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat and linking state action to campaign contributions.
Throughout the retrial that began with jury selection April 20, the defense has said Blagojevich was prepared to testify. But since he told the public he would take the stand last year in his first trial and decided not to at the last minute, many wondered if the same thing would happen this time.
“I’ve waited two-and-a-half years to get my story out,” Blagojevich told a crowded courtroom just after 10 a.m. when he took the stand.
But the details that jurors and spectators have been waiting to hear didn’t come out right away. In fact, Blagojevich really did tell his story – one that began with childhood memories of shining shoes and dreams of playing Major League baseball and joining the NBA.
Blagojevich talked about his childhood in a working-class family and his parents’ determination to pay for him to go to college.
“It’s what parents do. We love our kids. We sacrifice for our kids,” Blagojevich said.
He mentioned his failures in school, his love for history books, various jobs he had growing up and realizing playing professional sports was just a dream.
He also talked about fashion.
“I thought I was fashionable…right out of Saturday night fever,” Blagojevich said referring to what he called the “disco look” he sported when he attended Northwestern University. He said he didn’t realize he was the one who was different, while other students wore tan slacks and shirts with alligators.
“Are you still in that era when it comes to your hair?” defense lawyer Aaron Goldstein asked. Blagojevich said his grooming habits started early in life and they haven’t changed.
Blagojevich told his story, mostly in chronological order. Then he stopped at March 6, 1988, which he said was, “The date I met…,” he began choking back tears while he pointed in his wife, Patti’s direction. That prompted U.S. District Judge James Zagel to call a recess for lunch.
Before the jury returned to the courtroom, the prosecution asked Zagel to order Blagojevich to stop giving narrative answers in order to “move things along.” While some have said Zagel seems to have favored the prosecution throughout the trial, often limiting what defense attorneys could ask of witnesses, the judge said, “This is the chance for him to tell his story.”
And so Blagojevich continued.
Not long afterward, the defense asked direct questions about the individuals who have testified against him, which required a simple “yes” or “no.” But Blagojevich was still in story-telling mode – and this time the defense was told to make it stop.
“There have been occasions the witness has gone way beyond answering the questions,” Zagel said during a recess.
Zagel said it’s common for politicians to feel the need to fill in the silence and doing that could hurt him.
Blagojevich will return to the stand this morning in a rare Friday session of the trial.
