Ryan Trial Fix

By Amy Hart in News on Feb 27, 2006 5:38PM

Late last week a juror in the George Ryan corruption trial was dismissed “for personal reasons that were in no way related to the merits of the case.” Over the weekend rumors swirled that there was a big personality conflict between the dismissed juror and the rest of the jury, but Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer today said personality conflict had nothing to do with it. So now we can all sit around and wonder what the “personal reasons” were.

In response to the leak over the dismissed juror, Pallmeyer imposed a gag order today, an action requested by the prosecution last week after Ryan’s conspiracy theorist wife told the press the feds were going after her husband because of his stance against the death penalty.

Finally, a US Attorney that testified for Ryan is being called back to the witness stand after he may have received favorable treatment by Ryan’s attorneys in return for some pro-Ryan testimony.

Now closing arguments may not finish up until next week. We realize all the drama will make the TV movie of the George Ryan trial more entertaining, but we hope this case is finished up quickly. We need to focus on the primaries!