Judge to Blago Defense Lawyer: ‘I Will Sit You Down’ if Improper Questions Continue
The judge presiding over the political corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich told one of his defense lawyers on Monday that he needed to stop asking questions that alluded to inadmissible evidence.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel of Chicago told lawyer Aaron Goldstein his questioning was “out of bounds” and elaborated after the jury was dismissed for the day, according to the Chicago Tribune and Reuters.
“If you are going to make a defense, make a defense. Don’t nibble around the edges with stuff that’s inadmissible,” Zagel said. “The truth is, if you continue to do this I will sit you down.”
Zagel has sustained more than 150 prosecutor objections since the trial began on April 20, according to a count by Reuters.
Afterward, Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, complained that the government’s frequent objections were “a deliberate attempt to hide the truth,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
