CHICAGO—Federal prosecutors rested their case against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday, but have they shown him to be guilty?

They had a relatively easy time showing him to be a foul-mouthed executive. Testimony suggested he was an indifferent public servant. And evidence shown at trial demonstrated the defendant's penchant for living beyond his means.

But even a host of character flaws may not persuade the jury that Mr. Blagojevich—who faces 24 corruption counts—committed any crime. Legal experts say the government's case is strong but cite a big caveat: Jurors like completed acts, and most of the plans Mr. Blagojevich allegedly hatched weren't carried out.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives Tuesday at Chicago's federal building, where prosecutors wrapped up their corruption case against him. Associated Press

Federal prosecutors rested their case against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday, but have they shown him to be guilty? Video courtesy of Fox News.

The U.S. Senate seat he is accused of auctioning wasn't sold. The Chicago newspaper Mr. Blagojevich was said to have strong-armed didn't fire anyone. The president of the Children's Memorial Hospital didn't give Mr Blagojevich the $50,000 campaign contribution he allegedly demanded.

The jurors will be instructed that in the case of conspiracy, intending to commit a crime is enough, said Ronald S. Safer, a former federal prosecutor turned white-collar defense attorney. And they will be told that prosecutors acted when they did to stop a crime wave before it happened.

But Mr. Safer acknowledged it is a lot easier to convict somebody of doing something rather than intending to do something.

"I think it's pretty clear his avarice knows no bounds and the government has presented a powerful case," Mr. Safer said. "But Blagojevich will say, 'Look, this is politics and politics is messy.' "

So while the consensus among Chicago's white-collar defense bar is that Mr. Blagojevich is headed to prison for a substantial stretch, the outcome seemed nowhere near as certain out on the city's streets.

"It'll either be a hung jury or he'll be found not guilty," said Saud Ibnabdul Aziz, a 60-year-old Chicagoan holding an oversize menu and steering downtown pedestrians to a nearby restaurant Tuesday. "There's no smoking gun. What I see is a lot of talk but not much else."

That's precisely the argument Mr. Blagojevich's lawyers have been putting forth since the trial opened on June 3. Attorney Sam Adam Sr. told the judge Tuesday that the defense plans to show "a lack of willful intent" to commit crimes, and will argue that his client acted based on guidance from advisers.

Patrick Collins, another former assistant U.S. attorney turned defense counsel, said the government's strongest evidence was the dozens of tapes of Mr. Blagojevich allegedly plotting to use his elected office for his personal benefit.

"To use an old analogy, you don't need a dead body to prove attempted murder, just proof that you bought a gun or hired a hit man," Mr. Collins said. "Those tapes provide that."

Mr. Blagojevich was able to twice persuade voters to elect him governor, but his powers of persuasion could be diluted and the jurors' perception of him diminished, after hours of recordings in which he crassly denigrated everyone from President Barack Obama—who vacated the Senate seat in question—to a well-liked local television reporter.

Prosecutors have also used the tapes to portray the defendant as greedy, cowardly and lazy. Mr. Blagojevich and his wife spent about $400,000 over seven years on clothes while running up substantial debt. At the same time, he was practically a no-show in the governor's office, according to testimony by one former aide; when he was there, Mr. Blagojevich sometimes hid in the bathroom when his deputies were coming to deliver bad news about the state's fiscal condition.

"But what did he actually do that was criminal?" asked David York, a 63-year-old environmental engineer who was passing through Daley Plaza on Tuesday and said he was following the case closely. "At the end of the day, the government has only made a partial case. I think he's guilty, but Blago is a real cool character—he implied a lot of stuff but I don't think he ever came outright and demanded money for contracts. He kind of talked around it. I think he's going to get off."

A few feet away on Daley Plaza, sisters Debra and Carolyn Thompson plunged into an argument when asked if Mr. Blagojevich was guilty.

"No way," said Debra, a 53-year-old middle-school teacher from Chicago. "That's just how politics works. All he was doing was talking trash."

Carolyn, 65, eyed her younger sister from behind the smoke drifting up from her cigarette. "Of course he's guilty," she admonished, shaking her head. "He's been taking kickbacks from the day he walked into office."

Write to Douglas Belkin at