The long-awaited public corruption trial for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is expected to get underway Monday.
While 12 jurors and four alternates have been selected, two more alternates are still needed. If they are chosen by Monday morning, opening statements will begin in the afternoon.
Madigan was the longest-serving State House Speaker in American history, holding the post from 1983 to 2021, excluding a two-year period from 1995-1997.
He’s now charged with 23 federal counts of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and extortion.
The 82-year-old Madigan and his co-defendant, longtime confidant Mike McClain, both pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in the case.
The jury selection process in the federal corruption trial began last week.
Madigan’s attorneys expressed concern about finding a fair jury in a 15-page filing that mentioned “a barrage of negative publicity over the last decade.” The defense said attorneys “should be allowed to review potential jurors public social media posts” and be able to question them on their “prior exposure to Madigan and this case.”
Local
Of particular concern, according to the filing, were attitudes towards words like “machine” and “patronage politics.” There are also questions about the potential testimony of University of Illinois Chicago professor and former Ald. Dick Simpson, who they say “criticized Madigan extensively in the 1980’s and 1990s.”
Already, Madigan’s former chief of staff, Tim Mapes, has been found guilty of perjury and sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
But in a trial that many expected to be a preview of the Madigan trial, a deadlocked jury forced a mistrial in the case of former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza, who was accused of trying to bribe the former speaker. The judge is putting off any decisions about a re-trial until he has read La Schiazza’s post-trial motions.
