Chicago Tribune-Lone Holdout Created Tension With Jurors In Blago Trial

John Grover, one of the jurors on the Blagojevich trial: Marcelle Bright/Chicago Tribune

(Story reported by Steve Schmadeke, Vikki Ortiz Healy, Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, and Duaa Eldeib for the Chicago Tribune)

Feeling the eyes of the nation upon them, jurors in the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich grew tense as realization sank in earlier this week that they might convict the former governor on only one of 24 counts he faced.

Of particular concern, several jurors said Wednesday, was the lone holdout on numerous counts that would have convicted Blagojevich of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. John Grover, 52, a juror from Joliet, said he grew so frustrated after three days of deliberating on the same charge that he yelled at the woman who refused to join the other 11 in agreeing to convict.

"I gave her a piece of my mind," Grover said. "If it wasn't for that one lady, we'd have had him convicted on probably 80 percent of (the indictment)."

Grover considered going to the judge to tell him that the female juror was deliberating in bad faith, but he felt that would do no good.

(Click here to read the full story on the Chicago Tribune website.)