By: Mark Fitzgerald The judge who has presided over the 5 1/2-month federal corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan faces a big decision Monday morning because of revelations in the Chicago Tribune that two jurors apparently lied about past felony arrests or convictions.
Observers in numerous press accounts said U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer risks a mistrial or opens the door to appeal if she dismisses the jurors, or if she does not.
In court Friday she said that she expected the jury, which has been deliberating for eight days, would "resume deliberations, I hope, at around 11 a.m. Monday." She then said authorities were "investigating media reports."
She was referring then to a report in Friday's Tribune that a male juror appeared to be a man with a felony conviction for driving under the influence. The man had had his drivers license revoked during a time when Ryan was secretary of state, the office that handles drivers licenses. Ryan is accused, along with lobbyist Lawrence Warner, of steering state contracts -- including many awarded while he was secretary of state -- to Warner and other friends in return for gifts, free vacations, and other largesse.
Even as Pallmeyer spoke, though, the Tribune was about to report on its Web site that its reporters had identified another juror, a woman this time, who also apparently lied on a juror questionnaire about whether she had ever been arrested. The story said the woman could be linked through public records to a woman alias who was arrested, though not convicted, on felony charges of drug possession and misdemeanor drug neglect.
The apparent hidden arrests and convictions were discovered by Tribune reporters Ray Gibson, Matt O'Connor, and David Heinzmann. Other reporters who wrote or contributed to the stories were Rudolph Bush and Michael Higgins.
After discovering the public records Wednesday night, the Tribune said, it took the information to the chief judge of the U.S. District Court. That judge, in turn, informed Pallmeyer, the trial judge.
The story posed some reporting problems beyond the initial investigation, as this paragraph from the first report indicates: "The Tribune is not naming the juror because it is the newspaper's standard practice not to name a sitting member of a jury. The Tribune did not contact the juror for comment because doing so could violate a court order not to communicate with jurors during a trial."
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