Will the Real George Ryan Please Stand Up?

By Amy Hart in News on Feb 15, 2006 3:00PM

When the George Ryan defense team got underway at his corruption trial earlier this month, we thought his attorneys, after damaging testimony from prosecution witnesses, would work hard to show that Ryan’s actions may have been sleazy, but not criminal.

Along those lines, the defense began by arguing Ryan’s well documented wads of cash came not from bribes, but from his employees. Ryan’s secretary would take the Christmas gifts of money from Ryan's workers and turn them into manageable wads of cash. While the idea of Ryan taking cash gifts from his employees is tacky and morally distasteful, it is not illegal.

After hearing the defense’s story of where Ryan’s cash came from, his attorneys then worked on discrediting some witnesses for the prosecution. Former Cook County State’s Attorney Jack O’Malley said he was never pressured to avoid investigating state employees. Ryan’s former Chief of Computer Operations testified Ryan’s choice of computer system for the state was the result of rational decision making, and not influenced by lobbyists.

Now, as the defense looks to wind up its case next week, Ryan’s attorneys are bringing out a wide array of character witnesses and trying to paint their client as a beloved friend to all.

The character witness parade started this week when a janitor testified he gave money to Ryan out of general affection towards his boss. On Monday Ryan’s pastor testified that the former governor is a man of “integrity, honor, and compassion.” The pastor also hinted at Ryan’s moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois, an issue from which the defense was warned to stay away. Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, told the court that Ryan is “a man of honesty and integrity.” We would guess that gay activist and State Representative Larry McKeon will say similar things when he testifies on Ryan’s behalf. And to bring a little Hollywood to the trial, M*A*S*H star and death penalty critic Mike Farrell will be saying good things about Ryan as well.

We’re not criticizing the defense here. Actually, we think it is pure genius. Get the bad stuff out of the way and then make Ryan look like a misunderstood saint of sorts, and hopefully the jury will have forgotten about all that pesky negative testimony. Either that or they’ll be so starstruck by Captain B.J. Hunnicut or so afraid of crossing a nun that they’ll let Ryan go free.

And the big question remains—will Ryan testify? The defense hopes doing so would make Ryan look like your mild mannered grandfather. Meanwhile the prosecution hopes that if Ryan takes the stand, they can make him go all Colonel Jessup and incriminate himself. It’s a gamble, but Ryan’s a gambling man, right?