CHICAGO (AP) — Jury selection has begun for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's second corruption trial.
Potential jurors started filling out questionnaires
Wednesday that are meant to help weed out anyone with strong biases for or
against Blagojevich.
The first trial ended with jurors deadlocked on all
but one count of lying to the FBI. Federal prosecutors have since simplified
their case to address previous jurors' complaints that the evidence was too
difficult to follow.
The 54-year-old faces 20 charges, including
accusations he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack
Obama's old U.S. Senate seat for campaign cash or a top job.
Blagojevich doesn't have to be at the courthouse
for the very beginning of jury selection. But he'll be called in whenever the
judge begins questioning potential jurors individually.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
