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Blagojevich seeks to have counts dismissed

Posted February 21, 2011 10:00 pm

Associated Press

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is trying again to have several corruption charges thrown out based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curtailed an anti-fraud law used by prosecutors nationwide to convict politicians.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Tuesday, the defense asks Judge James Zagel to dismiss bribery, extortion and other counts because of the ruling on honest services laws last year. Such laws bar public officials from denying taxpayers honest services.

Blagojevich is set to be retried on 23 charges. His initial trial ended last year with jurors largely deadlocked.

Defense attorneys also cited the high court's honest-services ruling in a motion for a mistrial early in Blagojevich's first trial. But Judge Zagel at the time rejected it.

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