7th Circuit Court

Conrad Black Released on Bond After Some $40M in Legal Bills; How Much More Can He Afford to Pay?

Freed today from a federal prison in Florida, onetime media mogul Conrad Black is seemingly potentially on track for a possible reversal of his fraud and obstruction of justice convictions. But a major roadblock remains: His legal fees. An estimated $40 million in defense costs for Black have been covered…

Jul 21, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

Blago’s Lawyers Mull Bold Defense: Presenting No Witnesses & Resting Case

Defense lawyers promised the jury in former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s federal political corruption trial that he would testify. But then they debating whether he should do so, as the moment of truth neared today in the Chicago trial. Sam Adam Sr. said prosecutors haven’t proven their case, so the…

Jul 20, 2010 9:56 PM CDT

Blago Defense Plans to Blame Then-Gov’s Lawyers for Steering Him in Wrong Direction

To the extent that impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may admit any mistaken conduct on the stand if he testifies, as expected, in his ongoing political corruption trial, there is a ready-made target for blame: His lawyers. His criminal lawyers have notified the Chicago federal court in which his…

Jul 12, 2010 9:10 PM CDT

Blago Trial Watchers Abuzz Over $400K Clothing Bill

Clark Gable, Gary Grant and Joe DiMaggio were all customers of Oxxford Clothes, a Chicago-based custom suitery. And so was the impeached former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. Observers are agog over testimony by an Internal Revenue Service agent yesterday at his federal political corruption trial contending that the ex-gov…

Jul 2, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Blogger Who Put Juror Info Online Can Be Prosecuted; Intent Will Be Key Issue

Reversing a lower court, a federal appeals panel has given the government a green light to prosecute a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi for posting a juror’s name and publicly available address information on the overthrow.com website after the unidentified man helped convict a fellow white supremacist. Whether William White intended to encourage…

Jun 29, 2010 11:04 PM CDT

Former Chicago Police Lt. Accused of Suspect Torture Is Convicted of Perjury and Obstruction

It was a long time coming. But this afternoon, a decorated former Chicago police lieutenant accused, along with officers under his command, of torturing scores of suspects to extract confessions during the 1970s and 1980s was criminally convicted by a federal jury in Chicago. Although the statute of limitations had…

Jun 28, 2010 9:41 PM CDT

Sheriff Shouldn’t Have Searched Lawyer’s Home & Office for Cocaine, But Can’t Be Sued, 7th Cir. Says

An informant’s claim that a known thief and cocaine dealer told him he’d paid his unidentified female lawyer, who also happened to be a cocaine user, with two stolen laptop computers was likely insufficient probable cause to search the attorney’s home and office. But even assuming there was no probable…

Jun 28, 2010 8:49 PM CDT

Judge Posner Admits He Didn’t Read Boilerplate for Home Equity Loan

Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals does a lot of reading—but he apparently hates boilerplate as much as the next person. Appearing at a recent American Constitution Society conference, Posner recalled his encounter with hundreds of pages of documentation for his home equity loan,…

Jun 23, 2010 1:37 PM CDT

Blago Says His Law School Roomie Lied on Stand, But Judge Nixes Gag Order, For Now

The jury has been promised that Rod Blagojevich will testify in his own defense when the time comes in his public corruption trial. But meanwhile federal prosecutors are fuming about public comments the impeached former Illinois governor is making about the case. In a 16-page filing they made today seeking…

Jun 17, 2010 12:15 AM CDT

Blago Can’t Tweet About Trial, But Defense Lawyer Tells Jury He’ll Testify

As opening statements were about to begin today in the much-publicized public corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, a federal judge arguably saved the impeached former Illinois governor from himself, reports the Blagojevich on Trial blog of the Chicago Tribune. Although Blagojevich can continue to comment publicly on the case, if…

Jun 8, 2010 10:03 PM CDT

Obama’s Chief of Staff Is Subpoenaed as a Defense Witness in Blagojevich Corruption Trial

The chief of staff for President Barack Obama has been subpoenaed as a defense witness in the upcoming political corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, the impeached ex-governor of Illinois. Rahm Emanuel is a “critical” witness for Blagojevich in the federal case to be tried in Chicago starting tomorrow, says defense…

Jun 2, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

7th Circuit Nixes 30-Day Jail Term for Infomercial Pitchman Whose Fans Flooded Judge’s E-Mail Inbox

A 30-day jail term for criminal contempt imposed on an infomercial pitchman after his followers flooded a federal judge’s BlackBerry and courthouse computer inbox with e-mail has been nixed by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals. Because U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman didn’t actually see the conduct at issue,…

May 20, 2010 5:59 PM CDT

‘Quotable Judge Posner’ Is Law Prof’s Life Project

One renowned jurist on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has many admirers. But law professor Robert Blomquist is surely among the foremost fans of Judge Richard Posner. After reading all of the judge’s more than 2,250 opinions from a 25-year period between 1981 and 2006, Blomquist has…

May 19, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Blago Lawyer: ‘He’s a Celebrity Idiot’; Judge: Juror IDs Secret Until After Trial

To reduce the potential pressure on jurors to consider Internet material sent to them by outsiders about Rod Blagojevich, a federal judge in Chicago today said that juror identities will be kept secret from the public until after the former Illinois governor’s upcoming corruption-in-office trial is completed. At this point,…

May 17, 2010 10:13 PM CDT

Obama Interviews 7th Circuit Judge Diane Wood for Potential Supreme Court Nod

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today interviewed 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood for a potential seat on the nation’s top court, reports the Caucus blog of the New York Times. It is the fourth set of in-person interviews that the two have conducted…

May 5, 2010 12:05 AM CDT