Process to select jury in former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's corruption trial begins

Lawyers also argued over allowing witness who filed sexual harassment claim against political operative in Madigan's organization

ByEvelyn Holmes and Craig Wall

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Process to select jury in Mike Madigan trial begins

The jury selection process in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan began Tuesday.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The jury selection process started Tuesday in the trial of longtime former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.

Madigan has been indicted on federal racketeering and bribery charges as a part of what federal prosecutors call "the Madigan enterprise," where they say he allegedly committed crimes for his personal gain and that of his political allies.

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He was once Illinois' most powerful politician.

Now, the fate of Michael Madigan will be decided in Chicago's federal courthouse.

Tuesday, prospective jurors filled out questionnaires, with the in-court portion of jury selection beginning on Wednesday.

The challenge for attorneys will be finding jurors who don't have biases for or against Madigan, given the high-profile nature of the case.

"There's going to be a lot of opinions. Some are going to be loose; some are going to be firmly held. And it's going to be very interesting to find out who's going to be able to take their opinions, set them aside, and who's going to not be able to do that, and hence, be unfair to serve on a jury," jury consultant Alan Tuerkheimer said.

The judge announced Tuesday afternoon that two jurors who were originally part of the jury pool have been dismissed due to unexplained issues.

Lawyers also hammered out a few last-minute issues involving evidence and jury instructions before testimony begins.

But, the majority of their time was spent discussing a prosecution witness who filed a sexual harassment complaint in 2017 against a political operative in Madigan's organization, Kevin Quinn.

Quinn was eventually fired.

SEE MORE: Mike Madigan trial live updates

Prosecutors want to call Alaina Hampton to show a pattern of behavior.

Defense attorneys want limits on Hampton's testimony, saying it would be highly prejudicial and irrelevant to bring in sexual harassment claims.

Charged along with Madigan is former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain.

A federal grand jury handed down a superseding indictment in October 2022, adding a new charge of conspiracy.

According to the indictment, his job was to conceal and hide the illegal operation of the enterprise shielding Madigan from the criminal activity.

Prosecutors say because Madigan's co-defendant McClain worked to funnel secret payments to help Quinn, it will help establish a pattern of concealed payments, which are part of the conspiracy alleged against Madigan.

At the heart of the prosecution's case is former Alderman Danny Solis, who wore a wire as a cooperating witness for the feds after being charged in his own corruption case.

"This is a man who sold his office," former federal prosecutor Ron Sater said. "He has admitted to that, but he hasn't done a single day in jail; so, what the defense is going to say is the prosecution bought his testimony."

"Mike Madigan was seen as being one of the most careful, most cautious, most deliberative politicians ever in the history of Illinois," ABC7 political analyst Laura Washington said. "He never took chances. He was very much behind-the-scenes. He never played his cards in public, and yet he has been caught up in this indictment."

Madigan's attorneys have declined to comment.

Jury selection is expected to take several days and the trial several months