In a court document filed late Friday, federal prosecutors vigorously defended the conviction of former Gov. George Ryan, arguing that allegations of juror lies and misconduct “do not come anywhere close to justify setting aside the verdict in this six-month trial.”
The prosecution’s 150-page filing, signed by Assistant U.S. Atty. Laurie Barsella, argued that U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer fairly and properly governed the trial, including the hotly contested jury matters.
In particular, they argued that Pallmeyer correctly decided to reconstitute the Ryan jury with alternates after two of its members were dismissed from deliberations for concealing a history of arrests and convictions.
Prosecutors also attacked arguments by attorneys for Ryan and his co-defendant Lawrence Warner that members of the final, reconstituted jury also lied about their pasts on jury questionnaires.
“These ordinary citizens have been put under an intense microscope, and their every statement, every response, every action, has been construed by the defense in the most cynical, negative light possible,” the filing stated.
Prosecutors requested that Pallmeyer deny a defense motion to interview all jurors in the case, calling it an effort “to continue trolling the water for more misconduct claims.”
Ryan and Warner were convicted in April of a wide-ranging racketeering scheme that involved Ryan steering lucrative lobbying contracts and plum state leases to his longtime friend.
Jury deliberations in the marathon trial were seriously disrupted when the Tribune revealed two jurors misrepresented a history of convictions or arrests on written juror questionnaires filled out before the trial began. Pallmeyer dismissed jurors Evelyn Ezell and Robert Pavlick for concealing information about their pasts and ordered the remaining jurors to begin deliberation again with alternates.
In their filing, prosecutors also argued that the verdict was not tainted by a juror who allegedly shared outside legal research with the rest of the jury.
Juror Denise Peterson did not share extraneous legal research. Instead, she shared with fellow jurors “a handwritten note about her thoughts,” prosecutors argued.
The defense has argued that Peterson researched juror misconduct on the Internet and read her findings to the rest of the panel to intimidate Ezell into finding Ryan guilty.
Prosecutors also addressed allegations that jury forewoman Sonja Chambers lied to Pallmeyer about improperly discussing the case with an outside party. Pallmeyer questioned Chambers after learning that a caller to a talk radio show said a juror had discussed deliberations with him.
The caller, Dennis McLaughlin, was summoned to court and identified Chambers as the person who spoke to him. Chambers denied it, and Pallmeyer accepted her word.
Prosecutors argued that, even if Pallmeyer were to accept McLaughlin’s account over Chambers’ word, “there would be no grounds for a new trial.”
“There is no indication that McLaughlin tried to persuade Chambers in any direction or offered any opinion on the trial,” the filing stated.
In conclusion, prosecutors lashed out at the defense and praised Pallmeyer for giving Ryan and Warner a fair trial.
“[N]o matter how strained, how trivial, how inaccurate, or how overwrought the defense accusations were, this Court thoroughly considered each one,” the filing stated.
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rrbush@tribune.com
