His gut was right: there was no brother-in-law.
Ettinger, who will represent Robert Blagojevich when the trial begins Thursday, turned over the information to prosecutors, promptly obliterating their case.
“[Prosecutors] called and said: ‘We’re going to dismiss the case. Don’t even bother showing up,” said Judge David Sterba, who then worked on the case as a defense lawyer with Ettinger. “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. He absolutely decimated the government’s key witness before he took the stand.”
Experienced and tenacious, Ettinger is now challenged to walk Rob Blagojevich, brother of the ex-governor, who some wager also has a good chance of walking away from his charges.
Ettinger, who graduated valedictorian from his John Marshall Law School class, has a long history in federal court, having handled dozens of fraud and corruption cases. He beat counterfeiting charges against his client Terrence O’Keefe, and won an acquittal for accused government bid-rigger Michael Cahill. Ettinger also represented Roger Stanley, who cooperated in the Gov. George Ryan investigation.
“By far, Michael Ettinger is the best and brightest lawyer ever to appear before me,” said Sterba, now presiding judge of the Fifth Municipal District Circuit Court of Cook County. “He’s a street guy. He gets it. He understands what makes people think.”
Ettinger will be challenged to bring out the differences between the brothers without it looking as if big brother is taking a shot at the former governor.
Defense attorney Dennis Berkson, who has worked with Ettinger for 35 years, said he’s up to the task.
“He understands how to make Rob likable. He can humanize him,” Berkson said.
Former Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Cheryl Schroeder will work alongside Ettinger to form the defense team. Schroeder, 45, tried more than 70 juries.