That, in effect, made the verdict a sort of victory for Blagojevich and his legal team.
The Harvard administration ultimately made the verdict, announcing that, "Harvard alone must decide on the eligibility of its students to compete".
Joseph A. Moniz, the lawyer for the Jones family, said the jury's decision to punish the institution instead of the individual made the verdict more powerful in some ways.
He had just finished making "The Verdict" and was interested in doing another courtroom film when an agent sent him "A Few Good Men," a play about a military trial by a young, unknown playwright, Aaron Sorkin.
The Supreme Court declined to order another trial, making the verdict the final ruling in the case.
What made the verdicts even more shocking was the fact that the US government had signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Tunisia, which purported to guarantee that the men would receive "humane treatment".
The decision by the judge, Ursula Ungaro-Benages of Federal District Court, means smokers can pursue a court order to make the jury verdict final.
Burnham is appealing to all the major Westminster parties to make the Hillsborough verdict a watershed moment for justice by supporting amendments Labour will table when the policing and crime bill returns to the Commons next month.
"We asked Sir John Chilcot to do the inquiry, I think that people have faith in him to do that independently - and we must wait until he judges that he has all the information to make the right verdict and to publish his report," she added.
That is democracy, and we now have to make the country's verdict work.
