They met back in the days when Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were on the lookout for an “October surprise.”
They’ve spent three months together — as a captive audience. They got to know each other as Election Day passed, and then the holidays. Snow began to fall and a new year began.
All the while, 12 jurors and six alternates returned, day after day, to a 12th-floor courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse to hear the historic racketeering conspiracy case against ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. No one has left the panel since the trial began.
Now, they’re the target audience as prosecutors insist in closing arguments Wednesday that they’ve proven Madigan guilty of leading a criminal enterprise — and as defense attorneys argue the feds have fallen short.
Only a dozen members of the panel will ultimately make that call. For now, that group is made up of eight women and four men. But there’s still a chance that alternates could move up before the verdict is delivered. To reach them all, the attorneys are likely thinking back to the two-week jury selection process that began Madigan’s trial.
Madigan’s jury is made up of ordinary Illinoisans whose lives have likely been affected by the former speaker, given his record-breaking 36-year tenure as the leader of the Illinois House of Representatives. They’ll soon hold his fate in their hands.
The jurors have appeared engaged and attentive throughout most of the trial. They’ve suffered through some particularly dry evidence, but they also got a front-row seat to marquee testimony from the likes of Madigan and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis.
Many of the jurors appear to have taken careful notes all along the way.
U.S. District Judge John Blakey decided ahead of Madigan’s trial that the jurors’ names would not be disclosed until after they deliver their verdict. So, while they answered some questions about themselves in open court, their identities have not been revealed.
One woman on the panel said she grew up in the 13th Ward, Madigan’s Southwest Side power base. She said she has nothing but typical childhood memories of her time there, though. She said she’s now an educator, working with teachers to implement best practices.
There’s also a man who works for Amazon. He caused concern for defense attorneys when he said during jury selection that he viewed lobbying as “bribing other people in order to get a response.” He acknowledged that it’s legal, though, which Blakey took as a sign the man could follow the law.
Another man said he lives in the 19th Ward, knows Ald. Matthew O’Shea and has several friends who are Chicago police officers. He told Blakey and the attorneys — plainly — that he didn’t want to be on the jury.
Other members of the panel include a nurse who enjoys Marvel movies, a woman who works at a Goodwill donation center, and another woman who has worked in catering — including for an event tied to the recent Democratic National Convention.
One woman works for Aramark, another is a painter who works in acrylics and hopes to move to Ireland soon, and another listed “The Office” and “Game of Thrones” among her favorite TV shows.
One woman, chosen as an alternate, explained that her job involves measuring analytics for TikTok, the app that’s been at the center of national debate over its Chinese ownership and briefly went dark over the weekend.
A particularly memorable anecdote came from another juror, who told the courtroom about her longtime friend and lunch companion, “Becky.”
The juror explained that, when she was summoned for jury duty, Becky correctly surmised that she had been called to serve in Madigan’s trial. But as it turns out, Becky is no fan of Madigan. So Tom Breen, one of Madigan’s attorneys, decided to get right to the point.
“How bad did Becky trash Mr. Madigan?” he asked.
“She said, ‘If you get on the jury, vote guilty,’” the juror told him.
The juror described Becky as “a Trumper,” though. She said she and her friend “don’t have the same political views.”
“She really hates all Democrats,” the juror said of Becky. “Except me, maybe.”
Regardless, Breen decided to leave the juror with a few words of warning.
“Watch what you eat with her.”