Judge to confer with attorneys ahead of closing arguments at Madigan trial

(The Center Square) – Jurors are expected to receive a long list of instructions from the judge at former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bribery and racketeering trial in Chicago.

Judge John Robert “Jack” Blakey said he planned to work on jury instructions over the weekend before meeting with prosecutors and defense attorneys.

With jurors not scheduled to return until Wednesday, the judge told attorneys he would review the instructions with them Tuesday afternoon at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

Taraleigh Davis, assistant professor of Public Law and Political Science at Bradley University, said the conference will be important.

“There’s a lot of discussion between the prosecution and the defense of, when we talk about ‘corrupt,’ does that mean wrongful or unlawful, like the

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