The jury selection process in the federal corruption trial of longtime former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan began Tuesday, with a questionnaire issued to 180 potential jurors.
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.
Madigan’s attorneys showed their concern about finding a fair jury in a 15-page filing that expressed concerns about “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.”
Of particular concern, according to the filing, attitudes towards words like “machine” and “patronage politics.” There are also questions about the potential testimony of University of Illinois Chicago professor and former Alderman 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.
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.
The judge in the case tentatively set Oct. 15 for opening statements in a trial that could stretch into December.
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