Another long day of questioning potential jurors was underway Thursday in the corruption trial of ex-Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime friend, Michael McClain.
A pool of more than 150 potential jurors from all over northern Illinois was called into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for the blockbuster case, and attorneys are questioning each member of the panel individually to weed out potential bias. They are being referred to in court only by their juror number to protect their privacy.
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has given the parties wide leeway in their questioning and said he will not put a time limit on the process. But before taking a mid-morning break, he told the lawyers that at their current pace, they will not get to opening statements until the week after next, which will extend the trial beyond the 10 weeks originally scheduled.
“I am not going to rush you guys at all. I’m not,” Blakey said. “It’s an important process, and it’s going to take as long as it needs to take. But if the trial is going to be 11 weeks, we need to let the jurors know that.”
The first three jurors were chosen Wednesday, including a former kindergarten teacher, an Amazon warehouse worker and a Southwest Side insurance underwriter.
Among those questioned Thursday morning was a Navy veteran in his 40s originally from the Cleveland area, who said he gets details of the Madigan case “mixed up” with the corruption charges against former Ald. Edward Burke.
Juror No. 18 is a retired publics school teacher who was asked whether she felt like Illinois politicians are “more corrupt” than in other areas of the country. “They seem that way, based on what you see,” the woman said with a laugh. “This person and this person and this person.”
Another potential juror is attorney who has own law office, currently specializing in mostly misdemeanor traffic and other criminal cases involving Northern Illinois University students. He recently was offered a state position as an administrative law judge.
Juror No. 21 works as a nurse at Elmhurst Hospital and recently moved from Naperville to Downers Grove. An avid gamer, he said he likes to play “FIFA,” prompting the judge to ask what that was.
“It’s soccer, judge,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu.
Madigan, 82, once the enormously powerful speaker of the Illinois House, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise, scheming with utility giants ComEd and AT&T to put his cronies on contracts requiring little or no work and using his public position to drum up business for his private law firm.
Both Madigan and McClain, 77, a former ComEd lobbyist and longtime confidant of Madigan’s, have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
