Thursday, August 19, 2010

"Aunt Bee" Blago holdout juror identified

It appears my dubbing the holdout juror in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial as "Aunt Bee" wasn't too far off. I got the age right.

FOX Chicago News reported that it is likely to be juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying since early july that she would find Blagojevich not guilty.
More...
Chiakulas is a retired director from the Illinois Department of Public Health. She was juror 106, college educated, is active in the Urban League and other politics, and listens to NPR. She reportedly did not see smoking gun in the case and that's why she didn’t vote to convict.

Contacted Tuesday night, she told FOX Chicago News she would call on Wednesday if she wished to talk about the case.
"...Active in the Urban League and other politics..." How on Earth this woman end up on the jury?

Now we know why other jurors asked the judge to send them the oath they signed:

Do each of you solemnly swear that you will well and truly try, and a true deliverance make, in the case now on trial and render a true verdict according to the law and the evidence, so help you God?
Planet Blago is a strange place.

Related post:

"Aunt Bee" holdout juror saves Blago

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1 comment:

Jeff Stone said...

There was more than one count with more than one 'not guilty'.

On some counts it was 7-5, on others it was a 6-6 split.

The only 'proof' that the "lone holdout" should have been disqualified as a juror is that she agreed with the others that lying to a cop is a crime.

Unless and until it becomes a criminal act for a cop to lie to a citizen there is no equal justice under the law.