BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
Former Gov. George Ryan was found guilty by a federal jury Monday of all 18 counts against him, ending an historic, marathon public corruption trial that started more than six months ago. The six-man, six-woman jury reached one of the most awaited verdicts in recent history after 10 days of deliberations and after U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer reconstituted the panel, swapping two dismissed jurors with alternates. After court, Ryan's lawyer, Dan Webb, vowed to to get the verdict overturned, citing the "unusual developments that occurred in the past five weeks of jury deliberations."
Ryan said he was disappointed in the verdict. "I believe this decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service that I provided to the people of Illinois for over 40 years," Ryan said moments after the verdict. "And needless to say I am disappointed in the outcome." [...]
I'm sorry it came to this, but I can't say that I'm at all surprised by the outcome -- well, except that there was one. After all this time, I fully expected the jury to report that it was irretrievably hung. But I did think that if there was a verdict, he'd be found guilty. Based on what leaked out of the trial, there didn't seem to be any way that he could be found not guilty.
At least he did one good thing, with the death penalty ban that still holds in this state, for now. Of course, it's an open question as to whether or not the corruption in his office led to the deaths of several children in one family, when a driver who should never have received a license hit their car. Lives for lives, in a very strange way.
And George Ryan continues the grand tradition of Illinois governors convicted of crimes. Four others have been charged and found guilty of various crimes, while two were charged and eventually acquitted.
Sad. Really, very sad.
Posted by iain at April 17, 2006 07:35 PM
