Blagojevich needs more lawyers for discovery
There was also an argument over whether Blagojevich's $2.3 million campaign fund could be spent on his defense.Rod Blagojevich's attorneys said Friday it would take one lawyer 51 years to get through all the evidence the feds have turned over against the former governor.
In a filing in which defense lawyers for Blagojevich say they'll accept $110 an hour pay, they indicate they've received 1 million pages of documents and 400 hours of tapes. The filing also reveals that due to grand jury subpoenas, the office of the governor "has provided approximately 2 million documents to the government." Those documents are in the hands of Winston & Strawn, Blagojevich's previous lawyers, according to the filing.
The defense attorneys asked U.S. District Judge James Zagel to appoint a "sufficient number of attorneys so that the massive amount of discovery can be read and the tapes can be digested within a reasonable amount of time and Defendant Rod Blagojevich be afforded effective assistance of counsel."
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With this much discovery, the defense should ask the government for more specificity about documents it plans to use in a trial. The other documents might still need to be reviewed for exculpatory evidence, but the defense could also prioritize its review.
Whenever you get this much discovery production, you have to be concerned about the other side employing a "box of rocks" strategy to overwhelm the defense pressuring them into a settlement. While I don't think Patrick Fitzgerald would do that, it is still a concern.
I think most of the evidence will come from the tapes and possibly a handful of documents reflecting transactions discussed in the tapes. Blagojevich should be able to tell his lawyers which ones are of the greatest concern.
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