Legal Commentary

Rezko: Government to Rest Case Monday, Defense by Wednesday

By Jeralyn

The trial of Tony Rezko is wrapping up. The Chicago Tribune reports the Government is expected to rest Monday.

The Tribune says the evidence against Rezko has been largely circumstantial and without a smoking gun to support the allegations of its cooperating star witness, the self-admitted drug-abuser and fixer Stuart Levine, who sang for his supper for weeks on the stand.

Jurors will have to pull together a variety of moving pieces if they are to agree on Rezko's guilt. There is no smoking gun evidence, no clear money trail of kickbacks into Rezko's pocket and no wiretap that indisputably captured Rezko in the act of scheming. Instead, jurors were taken on a disturbing ride through the dark underbelly of Illinois government.

To fix this, the Government this week called on Ali Ata, who had pleaded guilty days earlier and could use the sentencing break the government was offering for his Rezko testimony (8 years down to one.) The Tribune says Ata was called to support Levine's accounts rather than to provide a smoking gun against Rezko. [More...]

Ata's role on the stand was akin to damage control after Rezko's defense team shot gaping holes in the credibility of Stuart Levine, the government's drug-addled and memory-challenged star witness.

The message to jurors was this: Even if you can't stomach Levine, here's another insider who says Rezko ran a shadow government under Gov. Rod Blagojevich and was unafraid to use his clout for personal gain.

The reporter for the Chicago Sun Times paints a more favorable portrait for the Government.

Ata has proven to be a key witness for the prosecution, testifying that Rezko held vast power in the governor's administration and shook him down for cash.

But yet another reporter for the Tribune says Rezko's lawyer scored points discrediting Ata's testimony on cross-examination. More from the Chicago Daily Herald.

Rezko's lawyers seem to be feeling pretty good about their chances. Originally, they said the defense portion of the case would take weeks. Then days. Now, it's down to "an afternoon, or possibly a day and a half."

Even though testimony will wrap up Tuesday or Wednesday, the judge will not be going directly into closing arguments. There are jury instructions to go over and she has set closings for May 12.

Still, with the prosecution resting Monday and the defense as early as Tuesday, Rezko may become national news for a a few days.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 03, 2008 (boomark / email).