Daywatch: Ex-Ald. Ed Burke’s bid for a retrial
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Good morning, Chicago.
Six months after ex-Chicago Ald. Edward Burke’s landmark corruption conviction, his lawyers will be back in court today in a long-shot bid for a retrial on some counts and an outright acquittal on others.
Burke, 80, was convicted by a jury in December of racketeering conspiracy and a dozen other counts for using the clout of his elected office to try to win private law business from developers. He was acquitted on one count of conspiracy to commit extortion related to the redevelopment of a Burger King.
The nearly clean sweep of guilty verdicts capped a stunning fall for Burke, the former head of the city Finance Committee and a Democratic political machine master who served a record 54 years in the City Council before stepping down months before his trial.
Burke is scheduled to be sentenced June 24. Before that, however, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall must deal with a motion by Burke’s attorneys to toss out the jury’s decision and acquit the former alderman on almost all counts.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jason Meisner.
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