Blago's Holdout Juror Breaks Silence

The jury ruled 11-1 against disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich during his corruption trial. And JoAnn Chiakulas, a 67-year-old grandmother, was the one. “I could never live with myself if I went along with the rest of the jury,” Chiakulas told the Chicago Tribune in her first media interview since the trial ended. “I didn't believe it was the correct vote for me.” Following a 14-day deliberation, the jury ultimately convicted Blagojevich of just one count of lying to the FBI, and split on the 23 other counts—including the main charge that he and his brother, Robert, committed a crime with their alleged “pay-for-play” actions to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Chiakulas has since been branded a “holdout” by the media and many of her fellow jurors, as well as a Blagojevich apologist, but she brands the ex-governor as “rambling” and “narcissistic,” and claims she was harassed by her fellow jurors during deliberations.