Juror speaks out on why former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan found guilty in partial verdicton February 14, 2025 at 5:08 am

With the four-month trial now in the rearview mirror, a juror from the Michael Madigan trial explained why they were able to convict the former speaker on some counts, but not others.

mike madigan

Madigan due back in court May 5 for forfeiture hearing

Thursday, February 13, 2025 11:38PM

Juror speaks out on why Madigan found guilty in partial verdict

A juror is speaking out on why former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan was found guilty in a partial verdict.

CHICAGO (WLS) — With the four-month trial now in the rearview mirror, a juror from the Michael Madigan trial explained why they were able to convict the former speaker on some counts, but not others.

When Madigan left the courthouse Wednesday, it was as a convicted felon. But, there is still a long way to go before the former speaker sees the inside of a prison, if at all, with the sentencing hearing expected to be months away.

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“I don’t expect that to take place, at the earliest, this fall or next winter,” former federal prosecutor Christopher Hotaling said.

Hotaling explained there are a lot of things that need to happen beforehand, including months of post-trial motions by the defense.

“Then, we go into the actual sentencing phase. Speaker Madigan will go through what’s called a pre-sentence investigation interview by a probation officer. A pre-sentence investigation report will be prepared,” Hotaling said.

Madigan was convicted on just 10 of the 23 counts contained in the 117-page criminal indictment on which the government tried him. The jury found him guilty of bribery and conspiracy in some instances, but were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on racketeering, the overarching charge that accused the former speaker of running his offices like a criminal enterprise designed to enrich himself and his allies.

“It was 11-1 and we did ‘not guilty,’ and it was because of the language in the jury instructions. He fulfilled some of the requirements, absolutely, but didn’t fulfill 100% of the requirements. That happened on a lot of these counts. We couldn’t see a pattern. You know, when we had certain counts that were unanimous, we couldn’t link them together,” juror No. 2 said.

It was those same instructions, that this juror said prevented them from reaching a unanimous verdict on the counts in which Madigan’s co-defendant, Mike McClain, was charged. It wasn’t until after leaving the courthouse that she and others found out McClain has already been convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan at a separate trial.

“There was a couple of us who went to lunch down the block, and we started googling everything we could. And, wow did we learn a lot, Anytime there’s big decisions, everybody has a doubt, but I stand firm in my convictions that we applied the evidence to the criteria for the charges. I truly stay with that statement because every person did,” juror No. 2 said.

While the jurors begin to settle back into their lives, Madigan will be back in court on May 5, when what is known as a forfeiture hearing will take place.

The government is seeking to have the former speaker not just imprisoned for his crimes, but also to relieve him of up to $2.8 million, in what they believe were ill-gotten gains.