Blagojevich Trial Ends: Illinois Jury Finds The Ex-Governor Guilty of Only 1 of 24 Counts
Yesterday former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich was found guilty of lying to FBI agents about his involvement in campaign fundraising. The jury could not agree on the remaining 23 felony counts brought against Blagojevich by the government, including charges of trying to profit from Obama's former Senate seat.
Prosecutors intend on retrying Blagojevich on those 23 additional counts on which the deadlocked jury was unable to agree. Because the jury was unable to unanimously agree on those counts there was a mistrial regarding those counts. Legally this means that the former governor can be retried on them and still be found guilty. However, if the jury had found him not guilty on any counts, which it did not, then those felony charges would be barred from further prosecution.
The current conviction carries a maximum of five years in prison; however, the official sentencing is unlikely to occur before the retrial. If Blagojevich ends up being convicted of all the felony counts against him then he faces up to 415 years in prison and up to $6 million in fines.
The trial court upheld the defendant's right to arbitrate and denied plaintiff's request for a jury trial. This arbitration clause issue was recently ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court in 
The majority of the corporation's directors and officers alleged that they should be dismissed from the case because they had no knowledge of the fraud committed by Krupa, an officer of the corporation. The main issue in the plaintiffs' complaint was that Krupa had conned plaintiffs into giving him their money for a special "investment fund" he alleged was limited to the corporation's officers and directors. The issue before the Appellate Court was whether the remaining officers and directors are liable for Krupa's actions. 
While typically an Appellate Court will not overturn a jury's monetary awards since this is "an issue of fact for the jury to determine". Typically a jury's verdict awards will only be overturned if a party shows that the jury obviously ignored an established element of damages, that the award does not relate to the loss suffered, or if the verdict was the result of prejudice. 
In Illinois, the amount of damages awarded is typically left up to the jury's discretion. The jury is given judge-approved jury instructions so that the jury can make an informed decision regarding its verdict. Oftentimes if a party disagrees with the verdict their appeal focuses on the content of these jury instructions. For example, in 
The plaintiff's motion in limine sought to prevent evidence being introduced related to plaintiff's two prior traffic accidents and injuries. However, the defense contended that this information was relevant because there was extensive medical evidence demonstrating that the prior injuries were relevant to the plaintiff's current injuries. 
This decision essentially states that the Illinois legislators interfered with a jury's right to determine the amount of economic damages in 
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In Illinois, the “intentional destruction, mutilation, alteration or concealment of evidence” is called spoliation of evidence. If medical records were to be destroyed or altered, the Illinois Supreme Court can impose a sanction upon any party who unreasonably refuses to comply with any discovery rule or order entered pursuant to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules. The court has the power to stay the proceedings pending compliance; default the case, barring further pleading related to the issue; dismiss a claim or counterclaim related to that issue; exclude testimony related to the issue; to strike any relevant portion of the offending party’s pleadings and enter judgment on the issue; and to enter a default judgment or dismissal against the offending party. 
The Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Courts can be found at a site located at 
Stryker Corp. moved to dismiss the complaint filed by Lenore because the 2-year statute of limitations had run when the case was filed in Chicago in 2005. In Illinois, typically the statute of limitations begins running from the date that the claimant should have known that there was a problem with the 
Photographs can be a very persuasive way to drive a point home to the jury at trial. For example, if you want to demonstrate the horrific nature of a car crash then nothing gets this across better than photographs of the totalled car. Or if you're arguing that doctors at a local Chicago hospital dropped the ball and didn't prevent or treat your client's bed sores, then pictures of the exact size and nature of those sores will underscore how impossible they were to miss. 
Defendant Mancari's Chrysler Plymouth dealership in Cook County lucked out with an ideological “get out of trial free” card in a product liability case involving a car sold at his dealership. Murphy v. Mancari's Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. 2008 WL 927727. 
