Lawyers for former House Speaker Michael Madigan have asked a federal judge to exclude a laundry list of potentially prejudicial evidence from his upcoming racketeering trial, including details about controversial gaming legislation, Madigan’s influence over hiring at Metra, and payments made to a political operative who was accused of sexual harassment.
In a 41-page motion filed Monday, Madigan’s legal team said extensive pretrial publicity — including the Tribune’s ongoing series on Illinois’ “Culture of Corruption” — is already undermining Madigan’s right to a fair trial, and that adding “irrelevant” evidence about sensitive or peripheral topics would only make it worse.
“It is irrelevant and highly prejudicial propensity evidence masquerading as ‘enterprise evidence,’” the defense motion stated. “If admitted, admission of this evidence will violate Madigan’s right to a fair trial, and result in speculation, confusion, and cajole the jury into finding guilt for improper reasons.”
Madigan, 82, is charged in a 23-count indictment alleging he participated in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 aimed at using the power of his public office for personal and political gain.
Also charged was Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain, 76, a former state legislator and lobbyist who was convicted last year of orchestrating an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison. McClain’s sentencing in that case is pending.
Madigan and McClain have each pleaded not guilty and the trial is set for October.
In a pair of pretrial filings earlier this year, prosecutors revealed they want to introduce evidence of a secret plan to funnel money to ex-aide Kevin Quinn, who was ousted from Madigan’s 13th Ward organization for sexually harassing a campaign worker. The Tribune first reported in June 2019 that the feds were looking into the Quinn payments, which came from McClain and a series of Madigan-connected ComEd lobbyists.
Among the recordings prosecutors want to play is one where McClain allegedly tells a former top Madigan aide he wants to keep the circle of people who knew about the plan “real small” because “the more people that know … it’s too easy for people to babble.”
In their motion to exclude the evidence, Madigan’s legal team said both the Quinn evidence and testimony in general about the sexual harassment scandal that engulfed Springfield is irrelevant to the charged conduct and would unfairly paint Madigan in a bad light.
“The risk of unfair prejudice is staggering,” the motion stated. “… Injecting sexual harassment allegations into a trial post-MeToo is certainly one of the most efficient ways to elicit an emotional response and irreparably prejudice the jury against defendants.”
Prosecutors also are asking to play a recording of Madigan talking to McClain about getting a job for the wife of a state representative, identified only as “Public Official E,” who had gone to Madigan because he needed money. The state representative, whom the Tribune has confirmed is Jaime Andrade, a Chicago Democrat, was later recorded thanking McClain for their efforts, which resulted in his wife landing a spot with the Illinois secretary of state’s office, according to the filings.
The defense argued Monday, however, that the evidence is only “marginally probative” because recordings don’t show whether Madigan was aware or not that Andrade’s wife, a competent attorney, was qualified for a position.
It would be prejudicial, the defense added, to have the jury speculate on guilt based on efforts by McClain and Madigan to find people jobs that are not directly charged in the indictment.
Other evidence the feds want to introduce deals with efforts to pass a comprehensive gambling bill. State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, is cooperating with the investigation and has already testified at two related trials that McClain put him in charge of overseeing the gaming legislation at Madigan’s behest — a situation prosecutors said shows McClain took marching orders from the speaker.
Madigan’s lawyers, though, say any value the evidence has is outweighed by the public’s generally negative views of gambling, whether it’s legal or not.
“Vices like gambling are usually associated with prostitution, drugs, violence, pornography, money laundering, etc.,” the defense stated in its motion. “… Consequently, the evidence will be inescapably intertwined with inflaming the prejudice of potential jurors who hold religious, moral, and/or personal beliefs that gambling is immoral or associated with degeneracy.”
The same rules should apply to evidence about a secret 2014 report by the legislative inspector general about Madigan’s moves to help political allies with government positions at Metra, the suburban commuter train service, according to Madigan’s defense team.
The report, which was discussed in emails sent to Madigan’s inner circle by then-political director Will Cousineau, explained in detail how Madigan navigated the intersection of public business and ward-style patronage through his Southwest Side office and Illinois Capitol suite, the Tribune has reported.
While widely reported in stories about Madigan’s influence, the so-called Metra scandal “is not a feature of this case,” and should be excluded, the defense wrote.
“The government never alleged Madigan’s purported requests to Metra’s governmental affairs department were a part of some quid pro quo or that there was any supposed corrupt intent,” the defense wrote.
Madigan’s trial is expected to last up to three months and represents perhaps the greatest blow against the old Democratic political machine that held sway in Illinois and Chicago politics for generations.
The Tribune’s “Culture of Corruption” series, which launched Sunday with a deep history of self-dealing in Illinois and the environment that fosters it, includes Madigan in a list dubbed the “Dishonor Roll,” featuring some 200 Illinois public officials who have been indicted, convicted or otherwise accused of wrongdoing going back more than a century.
“Madigan features, of course, in this overwhelmingly negative publicity,” his attorneys wrote dryly in a footnote in Monday’s filing.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
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