Supreme Court Gives George Ryan Hope For Early Release

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 1, 2012 6:20PM

The U.S. Supreme Court gave former Gov. George Ryan a slight glimmer of hope for an early release from prison Monday when it told the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to re-examine his appeal to see if he could benefit from the high court's 2012 ruling that struck down portions of the "honest services" law.

The main argument in that case was brought on by former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, whose attorneys questioned whether the statute requires proof of personal gain. SCOTUS ruled the law was too vague in this regard. The statute had been used to convict former Sun-Times owner Conrad Black and was going to be used to indict former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Ryan's attorneys have been seeking to have his conviction overturned based on SCOTUS' ruling, but the 7th Circuit Court ruled they failed to object to jury instructions during his trial and therefore it was too late to object now.

The Supreme Court last week ruled unanimously in the case of Wood vs. Milyard that appeals courts may sometimes ignore the fact that a defendant didn't object in a timely manner, granted Ryan's appeal and sent the case back down to the 7th asking “for further consideration in light of Wood vs. Milyard."

Former Gov. Jim Thompson broke the news to Ryan and called it Ryan's first win in the case in six and a half years. Ryan, who's been in prison since November 2007, is scheduled for release in July 2013. His wife Lura Lynn Ryan, died last June. He was granted a special request to be at her side for her passing.