Jurors have begun their first full day of deliberations in the racketeering case of ex-Ald. Edward Burke, the longtime City Council powerhouse charged with abusing his substantial clout for his own personal gain.
The panel sent its first note to the judge Tuesday morning less than an hour after resuming its talks, asking for clarification about a count charging co-defendant Charles Cui with using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
The jury instructions reference Burke accepting property from Cui “that he was not authorized by law to accept” and accepting “a fee or reward which he knows is not authorized by law.” In their note, jurors asked for a definition of the phrase “not authorized by law.”
After lengthy arguments from prosecutors and Burke’s attorneys, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ultimately sided with Cui’s lawyers, who asked her to tell jurors only that the answers are in the instructions they already received.
The question reflects just how complicated some of the jury’s findings have to be. And it was a reminder that, while the count at issue charges only Cui with a crime, Burke’s alleged actions and his status as alderman underlie everything about the case.
[ Ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
Deliberations are expected to last for days. The charges against Burke and his co-defendants are substantial and complicated; it took U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall nearly four hours on Monday to read the jury instructions alone.
After that, jurors spent less than three hours deliberating before being excused for the evening.
They must sort 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.
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.”
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.
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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.
Burke is also accused of threatening to block an admission fee increase at the Field Museum to retaliate in retaliation against officials who failed to give a paid internship to a daughter of one of his longtime City Council allies.
At the 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.