Impeachment rules quirks
SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Senate on Tuesday released the proposed rules that would govern the impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The trial is expected to start Jan. 26.
Senators will likely formally approve the rules later this week.
Here are a few unique details:
•Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, a Chicago Democrat, presides over the trial. Senators can overrule his procedural decisions with a majority vote, which is 30 votes in the 59-member Senate.
•The Senate can issue subpoenas, writs, and other legal orders, and if a witness refuses to testify he or she can be arrested and forced to testify.
•Evidence is admissible if it is "relevant, material and not redundant." The Senate is not bound by normal rules of evidence used in Illinois or federal courts.
•Gov. Blagojevich is entitled to appear at the trial himself or be represented by lawyers. However, the trial will proceed even if the governor declines to participate.
•Senators will swear an oath to "do justice according to law."
•Senators and Senate staff "should" abstain from commenting on testimony and evidence before the trial ends.
•Both sides will have 30 minutes for opening statements. After the Senate hears the evidence, the House prosecutor can make a 60-minute closing argument. Blagojevich's attorney will then have 90 minutes for a closing argument, followed by 30 minutes for rebuttal by the prosecutor.
•For the final vote, the chief justice will ask each senator individually, "Shall the Senate sustain the article of impeachment against Governor Rod R. Blagojevich and remove him from the office of Governor?" Each senator will rise from his or her seat and answer "yes" or "no."
•If two-thirds of the Senate (at least 40 out of 59 members) vote to convict, Blagojevich is immediately removed from office. The Senate will then vote again on whether to bar Blagojevich from holding any future public office in Illinois.
The full set of proposed impeachment rules is available online at www.ilga.gov/senate/committees/Documents/Proposed%20Senate%20Impeachment%20Rules.pdf