It was a complicated case. Eight of the jurors who agreed to talk Wednesday afternoon agreed it was complex. They said that they got along during the process, that there were some critical thinkers in the group, that they took great care and caution and stayed focused on the evidence.
When asked about the credibility of key government witness Stuart Levine, one of the jurors said initially that he was discredited. But another juror then said that when you took his testimony, put it all together on the whole, "we found consistency and credibility."
The jurors during the trial heard the names Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama and were asked if those names had any bearing on the verdict.
"As a jury, we tried to just focus on the Rezko trial because that was what we were there for, so we didn't wonder about the governor or anything else. We were just trying to make a decision based on what was presented to us," said one female juror.
"We had to piece this puzzle together using all the evidence in there. But then I think on behalf of the jury, we were here to represent the people who didn't have a voice in this case," said juror Susan Lopez.
The jurors said they took their charge seriously. They stayed focused on the evidence. The next verdict would seem to suggest they certainly did that.
When asked if they had any idea how corrupt the state of Illinois was, a loaded question to be sure, they all laughed and said no comment.
