The Law Offices of Thomas Glasgow - NBC8 | Video Transcript

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MALE VOICE: Live from Chicago's NBC 5, this is NBC 5 News at 5:00.

MALE VOICE: Thanks, Maryann. Opening statements began this afternoon in the corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich. Blagojevich and his wife Patty arrived at court this morning, where the ex-Governor told reporters this was a historic day, one he was glad had finally arrived. Lawyers for Blagojevich had requested more than two hours for their opening statement. But the judge granted an hour and 45 minutes.

FEMALE VOICE: And joining us now for some perspective on this case is Thomas Glasgow, a former Cook County state's attorney and now in private practice. Thanks for joining us tonight.

THOMAS GLASGOW: It's good to see you this afternoon.

FEMALE VOICE: And the judge today said Blagojevich is not allowed to twitter in court. But he's also been in the media spotlight for 18 months. Do you think that's going to have an impact on this case?

THOMAS GLASGOW: I think it'll have an impact because the jurors now at least know who Blagojevich is. I think that was part of his strategy and the defense team's strategy from the onset, get him out in the public eye, let people know who he is, make sure that he's a sympathetic character, make sure people kind of identify with who he is so he's not a stranger and he's not the evil corrupt politician that the prosecution's attempting to paint him to be.

MALE VOICE: What is the biggest challenge for the prosecution going to be do you think in this trial?

THOMAS GLASGOW: With regard to the prosecution keeping probably the jurors' attention through almost 3.5, 4 months of tapes, audio tapes, the overhears that the government had. There are hundreds of calls, hundreds of tapes that they're going to be playing in court. And these are things that begin to get tedious over a period of time. And three to four months of playing these over and over and over again, you tend to either make a powerful impact on the jury or lose their attention.

FEMALE VOICE: And how important are those tapes?

THOMAS GLASGOW: Those tapes are incredibly important. Those paint the picture of not only what was going on but give the prosecutor and the jury an inside view as to what occurred behind the scenes, when they are saying that no one was looking and the inside circle thought that they were just talking to themselves.

MALE VOICE: The Governor can be a very charismatic guy. He's going to testify. His lawyers say that. When the jury hears him testify and they see that earnest public persona they're used to and then they listen to the tapes, which many say paint a completely different picture, how does the defense deal with that?

THOMAS GLASGOW: The defense will have to deal with it as, hey, this is the guy who you see right here, right now. These are not snippets of tapes. They're not taken out of context. This is the person you are seeing. You've got the judge's character. You got to hear his voice. You got to see what he's really like, not a disembodied voice on the other end of a wire tap.

FEMALE VOICE: And they're saying the defense obviously a little more flashy, the prosecution more buttoned up, how do you think that plays out for the jury?

THOMAS GLASGOW: Well, as we were discussing before, a good prosecutor is methodical. All they have to do is meet the elements of the crime. Defense attorneys are flashy sometimes to entertain and sometimes to get their point across and point out the weaknesses in the prosecutor's case. Prosecutor just has to be methodical in his case. And they will present the evidence and then let the jury make the decision.

FEMALE VOICE: I hope you'll come back. We've got four months of taking a look at what's happening with Blagojevich, almost like a sporting event, almost.

THOMAS GLASGOW: Well, it's been analogized that way, yes.

FEMALE VOICE: Alright, thank you.

MALE VOICE: Thanks for the insight. Appreciate it. Coming up in today's Target 5, a Chicago alter man's fight--