Juror Relieved That Blagojevich Trial Is Over
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some of the jurors in the Blagojevich trial have been expressing relief, with the opportunity finally to put their lives back together after three weeks of deliberation.
As CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports, one by one, jurors on Tuesday shared what went on behind closed doors, and what they sacrificed to get the job done.
One juror, Maya Moody, said serving on the Blagojevich jury was as unique chance to serve the public, but it was also very exhausting and emotional work.
"It's just nerves, nerves, nerves, and I kept thinking in my head, if I'm feeling this way, I'm sure his is a thousand-fold worse," said Moody, who served as Juror No. 103.
Moody said she couldn't help but think about how the defendant, deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was feeling during his trial.
She says the real nervousness began when the group decided "guilty" on the first count involving the sale or trade of President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat.
"Just a knot in the pit of my stomach," Moody said, "because it's just a horrible feeling to know that you're tearing somebody away from their family. You know, that first one, automatically he's doing time for that."
Moody, 41, runs Maya Moody Photography, her own studio in the Pilsen neighborhood, where she captures portraits and events.
CBS 2 caught up with her Tuesday evening, before she headed to her second job as a bartender. Add jury duty to all that, and it made for a hectic schedule, to say the least.
"Essentially, while the trial was going on, I had almost two full-time jobs between everything that I was doing, so it's definitely good to be finished," she said.
Mooday and the others bonded with the only man in the jury, John McParland, who said he remembered how meticulous his counterparts were.
"They are almost like my secretaries, because they took notes and notes, and they have books and things of notes and everything," McParland told CBS 2's Vince Gerasole earlier Tuesday. "I don't know if doing shorthand or what, but I can't write like they could."
On Monday, the jury found Blagojevich guilty of 17 of the 20 counts against him. The verdict marked the end of the group's time together.
"At the end of the day, you know, we all were there and we got it done," she said.
Moody says she is very proud of all the work she and the other jurors did, but given the length of the trial, she's not leaping at the opportunity to serve on another jury.
