Today, the New York Times has an interesting piece describing the complex task the jurors on the Blagojevich case faced.

The judge had handed them instructions that ran to more than a hundred pages. The verdict sheet was as elaborate as some income tax forms. And many of the 24 counts they were being asked to consider came in multiple parts and were highly technical and interconnected.


“It was like, ‘Here’s a manual, go fly the space shuttle,” Steve Wlodek, one of the jurors, said Wednesday.

And then, after fourteen days of flying the space shuttle, the jurors were released back into their normal lives… with a media scrum in hot pursuit.

By Wednesday, the [jurors’] views were so vigorously sought after that a court official advised the 12 to call 911 if reporters grew too persistent.

I said no comment. And if you don’t move on to an easier question now, I’m calling the cops.