Madigan Jury Begins Deliberations

The trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the longest-serving speaker in U. S. history, on charges of corruption and racketeering has gone to the jury. Michelle Gallardo reports at ABC 7 Chicago:

CHICAGO (WLS) — 14-and-a-half weeks after the jury was first seated in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal bribery and racketeering trial, his fate, and that of his co-defendant Mike McClain is now in their hands.

While the case is now in the hands of the jury, any actual deliberations are unlikely to take place before Thursday. The delay is due to the countless recordings and documents that must be set up in the jury room for them and a foreman must be selected.

Including the more than 100 pages of instructions they have to go through.

The jury is made up by eight women and four men, including a nurse, a woman who works at a Goodwill donation center and a manager for Aramark food company.
Former Federal Prosecutor Chris Hotaling said they may start by taking an initial poll.

Today is the first full day of deliberations and I honestly have no idea of how long they will deliberate or what their verdict will be. Considering that Speaker Madigan made the unusual move of testifying on his own behalf, the verdict may depend primarily on whether the jury believes him or not.

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