Blagojevich Jury Holdout Remaining Silent Jurors Say One Woman Kept Them From Convicting On Senate

cbs2chicago ^ | 8/19/10 | Vince Gerasole & Jay Levine

[Nachum]

Chicago - Jurors who handed down a single guilty verdict against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have said there was one hold out who kept them from convicting Blagojevich of one of the most serious allegations: that he tried to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. Sources tell CBS 2 News that the holdout juror is Jo Ann Chiakulas, a retired state employee. She used to work for the Illinois Department of Public Health, had been a director of teen counseling for the Chicago Urban League

[Darkwolf377]

Follow the state employee’s money.

[raybbr]

I see money in her future...

[MNDude]

a director of teen counseling for the Chicago Urban League-—
I bet his lawyers were tickled pink when they saw this juror’s profile come up.

[TexasCajun]

Check her bank account !

[marron]

In the absense of any evidence of wrong-doing, the names of the jurors and what happened in the jury room should not be made public in my opinion.

Having jurors come out and jump in front of a camera to tell the whole story is a big mistake. I’ll admit I’m interested to know, but I still think its a mistake.

[elcid1970]

Jury nullification.

Works every time!

[Dr. Sivana]

I hate to say it, but my guess is that she is close enough ethnically to Blago that this influenced her greatly. As far as I can tell the name is Greece (Cyprus), and Blago is Serbian. Both would have Orthodox heritage.

For some groups, these ties are close. I knew of a small Greek deli owner in CT, who was plenty conservative ... but he still voted for Dukakis!!

I only assert this link as a possibility, because it fits the Occam’s Razor explanation, a simple explanation is more likely to be accurate. These types of things are NOT limited to the O.J. jury.

[WaterBoard]

Shocker, look at the background of this woman and there is no way on God's green earth she would ever convict a fellow Democrat.



Juror # 106, a black female believed to be in her 60s, is a retired state public health director who has ties to the Chicago Urban League. She has handed out campaign literature for a relative who ran for public office. She listens to National Public Radio and liberal talk radio shows.

Check this out!

"Coincidentally, the Chicago Urban League was once headed by Cheryle Jackson, a former Blagojevich press secretary, although it appears Chiakulas left the Urban League several years before Jackson became the league's president."

[colorado tanker]

I agree. If the jurors don’t want to talk, leave them alone.

[Wuli]

Who leaked this information? My bet is on the Stalinesque prosecutor, Fitzgerald, who made his fame getting a similar single “he said - he said” perjury verdict against Scooter Libby, during a “trial” in which her knew before hand that Scooter was not the source of the media leak of the identity of Valerie Plame.

What Fiztgerald has been tops at, all along, including in the Blogo trial (as well as in the Libby trial), is prosecutorial-ethics-conflicted, over reaching, jury inflaming media events at the start of his “investigation” and “prosecution”, with ample supply of leaks once those things begin.

Believe me, I am not suggesting any particular innocence on the part of Blogo. It’s just that if anyone is looking for why he was only convicted of the one charge and why this leaked story about the one juror is now coming out, I think one need look no further than the lousy prosecutor - Fiztgerald.

[Dr. Sivana]

Well, if Chiakulas is black, that kind of blows my theory to smithereens.

[marron]

Blago is being prosecuted for what is normal politics in Chicago. Its hypocritical to go after him and not arrest half of the politicians in office. He must have ticked someone off.

Fitzgerald, on the other hand richly deserves to be in jail.

[WaterBoard]

Here is a jury sketch of the hold out Democrat.

Juror # 106

[WaterBoard]

Does a juror deserve to be anonymous if press reports indicate that she told relatives she would 'not convict' Blago during the trial?

Or does she get a pass?

"FOX Chicago News reported that speculation is centering on juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying for weeks that she would find Blagojevich not guilty."

[chris37]

I would have nullified a conviction too.

If the feds won’t go after all the players, then they should not be allowed to go after any of them.

Quit protecting Imam Obama, Mr. Fitzgerald. Your willful corruption is sickening.

[WaterBoard]

“Of particular concern, several jurors said Wednesday, was the lone holdout on numerous counts that would have convicted Blagojevich of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. John Grover, 52, a juror from Joliet, said he grew so frustrated after three days of deliberating on the same charge that he yelled at the woman who refused to join the other 11 in agreeing to convict.

“I gave her a piece of my mind,” Grover said. “If it wasn’t for that one lady, we’d have had him convicted on probably 80 percent of (the indictment).”

Grover considered going to the judge to tell him that the female juror was deliberating in bad faith, but he felt that would do no good. […]

Stephen Wlodek, of Bartlett, said it bothered him that after the verdict, the former governor and his defense team claimed the prosecution failed to make its case.

“In a way, they didn’t prove it to one person,” he said. “I just felt a little slighted by that. It gave the impression to the residents of the state that this jury was deadlocked right down the middle when we weren’t.” “

[The Great RJ]

As a former state employee who may even have worked under Blago she should have never been considered as a juror.

[colorado tanker]

Jurors sometimes do some weird stuff, or at least others allege they do. Courts are very, very reluctant to look behind a verdict. Criminal trials are not supposed to be two round affairs where round one is the verdict and round two is putting the jury on trial. With good reason.

[glorgau]

It’s nice to see that one person can still make a difference.