Blago Takes Stand, Says He Can Spin Basketball on Finger

[WSJ Law Blog]

This time around, Blago is mixing it up.



In his first trial on corruption charges, Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich declined to take the witness stand in his own defense.

But in Round 2, Blagojevich is swinging for the fences.

Many criminal defense lawyers would say that allowing your client to take the stand is a risky proposition; the trial immediately stops being about anything other than the defendant’s testimony. But Blago took the witness stand in his own defense Thursday, with the aim of dispelling, in the words of the WSJ’s Stephanie Banchero and Julie Jargon, “the image of a crass and scheming politician that prosecutors have sought to build up during the disgraced governor’s corruption trial.”

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