The jury in the historic corruption case of former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke has begun deliberating after five weeks of testimony that included nearly 40 witnesses, more than 100 secret recordings, two COVID-related delays and about 16 hours of closing arguments.
The jury of nine women and three men sat through about four hours of jury instructions before beings sent back at about 2:15 p.m. to begin their discussions.
“Now you can talk about the case!” U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said to the panel as they filed out.
The instructions read aloud by Kendall ran some 350 pages. For the record, that’s longer than the 310 pages of Burke’s 1996 book “Inside the Wigwam,” a history of national political conventions held in Chicago, which was referenced several times during the trial.
The jury’s first job will be elect a foreperson. They’ll then go about sorting through the 19 counts in the case, which include 14 counts against Burke and a combination of other charges involving his two co-defendants, longtime ward aide Peter Andrews Jr. and real estate developer Charles Cui.
Though tedious, the legal instructions will be crucial in determining how the panel reaches its verdict, including making findings on everything from what constitutes official misconduct to whether Burke and his co-defendants acted “knowingly” when committing certain acts.
After three days of closing arguments wrapped last week, Kendall sent the jury home for the weekend. With Christmas week looming, Kendall told the panel they should not feel rushed in their discussions, particularly after a six-week trial, so if there is no verdict by Friday, they would not come back until after the New Year.
“I don’t want you to think I’m going to be Scrooge if you want to take a long time,” the judge said. “I’m not going to make you sit Christmas week. I don’t want anybody to be stressed that you can’t be with your families.”
[ Ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
Burke, 79, who served 54 years as alderman before leaving the City Council in May, is charged with 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
Andrews, 74, is charged with one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
Cui, 52, is facing counts of federal program bribery, using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and making false statements to the FBI.
The racketeering charge alleges Burke used his significant City Hall power to try to get business for his private law firm from developers, including the New York-based team tackling the $600 million renovation of the Old Post Office.
The indictment alleges Burke and Andrews conspired to extort the Texas-based owners of a Burger King in his Southwest Side 14th Ward, and in a separate scheme, Cui is accused of hiring Burke’s firm, Klafter & Burke, because he was desperate to win a pole sign permit for a Binny’s Beverage Depot in Portage Park.
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Burke is also accused of threatening to block an admission fee increase at the Field Museum to retaliate against officials who failed to give a paid internship to a daughter of one of his longtime City Council allies.
At heart of the case were more dozens of wiretapped phone calls and secretly recorded meetings made by Daniel Solis, the former 25th Ward alderman who turned FBI mole after being confronted in 2016 with his own wrongdoing.
In closing arguments last week, prosecutors put up on large video screens a series of now-notorious statements made by Burke on the recordings. Among them: “The cash register has not rung yet,” “They can go (expletive) themselves,” and “Did we land the tuna?”
Assistant U.S Attorney Sarah Streicker told the jury that Burke’s words were their ticket into his real frame of mind.
Burke’s attorneys, meanwhile, argued that the entire case is the product of overzealous government agents and their puppet, Solis, whom even prosecutors did not trust enough to put on the witness stand themselves. Instead, he was called by the defense and grilled about his motivations.
“The fact alone that they didn’t call Danny Solis in their case creates a reasonable doubt,” Burke attorney Joseph Duffy said. “Why did we have to bring Danny Solis in here? That should give you pause, the fact that they ran an investigation on Mr. Burke for 30 months with a star witness Danny Solis undercover and they didn’t have the decency to bring him here.”