CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich say they want to delay by five months a retrial set for January to give them more time to prepare.
A motion filed in federal court in Chicago on Friday says a drastically reduced number of lawyers on the defense team means they will need until May to get ready for Blagojevich's second trial on corruption charges.
The broke ex-governor must rely on taxpayers to foot his legal bills, and Judge James Zagel has said Blagojevich can have only two attorneys and a paralegal. Blagojevich's attorneys say they had more than a dozen lawyers on the case at the first trial.
Zagel could rule on the matter Friday.
Blagojevich was convicted of lying to the FBI in his first trial, but jurors deadlocked on 23 other counts.
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