Judge James Zagel wants jury selection in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial to go a lot quicker the second time around.
During the impeached Illinois governor's first trial, choosing a jury was a slow, tedious process studded with numerous objections and arguments from lawyers on both sides.
On Wednesday, the first day of Blagojevich's retrial, Joel Daly, administrator to federal courts, said Zagel intends to have the jury seated by Wednesday. That's weeks quicker than last year.
For starters, Zagel will question potential jurors in open court beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday. Blagojevich wasn't in court on Wednesday, but Zagel "anticipates" he'll be present during the open-court questioning.
Would-be jurors filled out questionnaires to weed out folks with strong biases toward the former governor. The questionnaire was between 70 and 80 questions long.
No court is scheduled for Friday.
