Blagojevich Has One Last Chance To Get Convictions Overturned

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network

The last hope to get more convictions against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich thrown out is to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting his request for a rehearing before the full court, the highest court is his final appeal option.

Typically, the Supreme Court addresses cases where there is a national interest or a lack of consensus among federal courts . Blagojevich attorney Len Goodman believes since this case deals with what qualifies as corruption, it meets the Court’s standards.

“It seems like there’s now a real conflict and this is something that the Supreme Court needs to look at,” Goodman said. “They really haven’t addressed campaign contributions in the criminal context since the 90s.”

Goodman argues the case lowered the standard for what constitutes a bribe to there being any connection between campaign contribution and an act of a public official.

“By that standard, no politician could survive a federal prosecution,” Goodman said.

As for how long it will take to find out if the Court will take the case, Goodman says he was 90 days to file the appeal. After that, it may take months for a decision, but Goodman says it won’t be as long as the 19 months Blagojevich had to wait between the arguments and ruling in his first appeal.