No Delay For Blago

A federal appeals court has turned down a request by Team Blago to delay the start of the ex-gov's (and his brother Rob's) trial. With this latest round of denial for the defense, it appears only an act of SCOTUS will keep the trial from starting June 3. And Blago's defense team is not afraid to aim that high. After yesterday's decision, Rob Blagojevich attorney Michael E. Ettinger said, "We are going to the Supreme Court," while Rod's attorney Sheldon Sorosky echoed the sentiment, saying the team would "contemplate a possible appeal to the Supreme Court."

Why the new request for a delay? Team Blago is waiting on the SCOTUS to rule on the honest services law which is the basis for several of the charges against the ex-gov. But the appeals court ruled there's still plenty there in the case on which the SCOTUS ruling would have no effect. And federal prosecutors secured that re-indictment of the Blagojeviches to ensure certain charges would be maintained if the SCOTUS, which is to take up the issue in June, overturned the honest services law. The SCOTUS is currently considering three appeals pertaining to the honest services law, one of which pertains to former Sun-Times owner Conrad Black and, as Carol Marin points out in her column today, it's the law that helped put away another former Illinois governor, George Ryan.