Madigan's long-awaited trial to kick off Wednesday with jury selection
CHICAGO - It’s time for the next high-profile political corruption trial to begin in Illinois.
Jury selection is scheduled for Wednesday in former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal corruption case.
It comes just 14 days after former Chicago alderman Ed Burke’s public corruption trial officially wrapped up when he reported to prison.
In a Fox 32 special report, Paris Schutz has a look ahead at the Madigan case.
When federal prosecutors begin to present their case to Judge John Blakey, the biggest obstacle Madigan and his defense team have to overcome is not a new one.
"What he has going against him are recordings," said former FBI agent Ross Rice. "Recordings were made by co-defendants, cooperating witnesses."
FBI recordings were also front and center in other political corruption cases like Burke’s and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s.
"In my experience, there’s no better evidence to present to a jury than a defendant’s own words in their own voice," Rice said.
Just like some of Burke's recordings, some of Madigan's were recorded by former alderman Danny Solis. But regardless of the tapes or who helped record them, prosecutors still have their work cut out for them.
Just a few weeks ago, a federal judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they could not unanimously decide if former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza was guilty of bribing Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation.
"If you look at the jury pool, it was 11 to 1 to convict in that case," Rice said.
"If you think back to the Rod Blagojevich trial, he had two trials. A lot of people forget that. The first trial was 11 to 1 to convict. In both cases, you have one juror who was a hold out. When they went back to trial the second time with Blagojevich, he was convicted on virtually all accounts," he added.
While a mistrial verdict may make Madigan's defense attorneys nervous, there are other points that may weigh in their favor.
"If you go out on the street and ask people if we should prosecute people for public corruption, probably get 100 percent saying ‘yes’," said Stephen Caliendo, a political science professor at North Central College.
"But defining what corruption looks like much more difficult. The Supreme Court has made it much more difficult based on a recent decision that they made. That’s certainly going to come into play in this trial as well," he added.
"I think Rod Blagojevich would say even to this day he doesn’t think he was doing anything wrong. What he was doing was in furtherance of the best interests of the citizens of Illinois, because that’s part of the way you govern. I think most of us would look at that and say that’s beyond the pale."
A federal grand jury initially indicted Madigan in March 2022 on racketeering and bribery charges for allegedly causing Commonwealth Edison to pay Madigan's allies as a reward for their loyalty to Madigan.
Seven months later, Madigan was charged in a superseding indictment with another conspiracy count for the alleged corruption scheme involving AT&T.
"There’s been allegations and rumors for decades about a criminal enterprise that he was running, and that’s essentially what he was charged with in the federal indictment," Rice said.
Whether it’s Blagojevich, Burke or Madigan's case, it all comes down to this.
"That’s ultimately what the jury will have to decide. Whether or not it’s politics or whether or not it’s crossed a line," Caliendo said.
Madigan's trial is expected to last several weeks.