Judge to confer with attorneys ahead of closing arguments at Madigan trial

[January 20, 2025]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Jurors are expected to receive a long list of instructions from the judge at former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bribery and racketeering trial in Chicago.

Judge John Robert “Jack” Blakey said he planned to work on jury instructions over the weekend before meeting with prosecutors and defense attorneys.

With jurors not scheduled to return until Wednesday, the judge told attorneys he would review the instructions with them Tuesday afternoon at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

Taraleigh Davis, assistant professor of Public Law and Political Science at Bradley University, said the conference will be important.

“There’s a lot of discussion between the prosecution and the defense of, when we talk about ‘corrupt,’ does that mean wrongful or unlawful, like the prosecution wants to include? The defense does not want the word ‘wrongful’ in those instructions,” Davis told The Center Square.

Before jurors took their seats last Thursday, Blakey discussed concerns raised by attorneys about patronage, job recommendations and the First Amendment. Madigan’s attorneys had proposed a jury instruction on patronage Wednesday afternoon.

“I think that’s a big part of the defense of, ‘Hey, this is how politics works. This is how it always works, and there’s nothing to see here. There’s nothing unlawful here,’” Davis said.

Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain are charged with 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct in connection with a scheme that federal prosecutors referred to as "Madigan Enterprise."

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan outside the federal court building in Chicago Dec. 4, 2024 - Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

Prosecutors allege that ComEd and AT&T Illinois gave out no-work or little-work jobs and contract work to those loyal to Madigan to get legislation passed that would benefit them in Springfield. McClain and three other ComEd executives and lobbyists were convicted in 2023 in a related trial, and ComEd itself agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors. AT&T agreed to pay $23 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors.

Davis said that jurors will have a long list of items to consider.

“I think the last time I saw, it was over a hundred pages of instruction, and that’s just a lot. That’s a lot,” Davis said.

Jury selection in the case began Oct, 8, 2024. Closing arguments are expected to begin Wednesday and potentially end Friday. The jury would then begin deliberations.

Madigan is also accused of using his position of power to steer business to his private law firm.

Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021 and was speaker for all but two years between 1983 and 2021. He also chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years.

McClain was a longtime lobbyist who previously served as a state representative in Illinois’ 48th district from 1973 to 1982.