Michael Madigan seeks to delay corruption trial
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[December 20, 2023]
By Brett Rowland | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan
asked a judge Tuesday to delay his corruption trial.
Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain asked U.S. District Court Judge
John Robert Blakey to stay proceedings in the case or reschedule the
trial date to the fall of 2024, after the Supreme Court decides another
case involving the federal bribery statute. The Madigan case is set for
trial in April 2024. The Supreme Court is expected to decide Snyder v.
United States by June 2024.
"Considering the monumental impact that the Snyder decision will have on
this irrefutably complex case and the resulting prejudice to the
defendants from denying a stay, the defendants respectfully request that
the court stay the proceedings or, in the alternative, reset the trial
date to the fall of 2024, after the Supreme Court has rendered its
decision in Snyder," the defense attorneys wrote.
Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He served as
speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to
2021. That made him one of the state's most powerful politicians,
especially in combination with his role as head of the Democratic party
in the state. He faces 23 counts of racketeering, bribery and official
misconduct as part of a federal indictment. Madigan said he was just
doing his job as a politician and that the state's laws are overly
broad. He has pleaded not guilty.
Madigan was initially charged along with McClain in March 2022 with 22
counts of racketeering and bribery for his alleged improper dealings
with the state's largest utility, ComEd. Prosecutors further alleged
that he used his political power to unlawfully steer business to his
private law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. In October 2022, prosecutors
filed a superseding indictment that charged Madigan and McClain with
conspiracy related to an alleged corruption scheme involving AT&T
Illinois.
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Madigan's attorneys said that federal prosecutors failed to make
their case that Madigan engaged in quid pro quo transactions. That's
at the heart of the Synder case.
James Snyder was the mayor of Portage, Indiana. He was convicted of
accepting $13,000 from a truck company after the company won bids to
sell garbage trucks to the city, according to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Snyder said the money was payment to his consulting business and the
truck company owner stated that at the trial. The government alleged
Snyder received the payment as a gratuity and didn't have to prove
the payment was for a bid approval.
The Seventh Circuit upheld the conviction but noted the same conduct
would not have been a federal crime in the First and Fifth Circuit
courts.
"A stay, or at the very least a continuance of the trial date, will
remove the risk that the court and the parties will waste time and
resources working in a murky landscape around section 666 that is
about to be clarified by the Supreme Court," defense attorneys
wrote. "Denying the stay will prejudice the defendants by requiring
them to prepare for a trial without a clear understanding of the
elements that constitute the charges that they are defending
against."
Defense attorneys said the pause would be needed.
"To be clear, the defendants are not asking that we simply put this
case on a shelf for the next few months," they wrote. "The parties
will make good use of the time during any continuance. As noted,
this is an incredibly complex case with a massive amount of
discovery."
Federal prosecutors opposed the motion, but had not filed a formal
response as of Tuesday afternoon.
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