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State Week: Testimony begins in Madigan's trial

State Week 23 logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois

With a jury finally seated, opening statements happened early in the week and prosecutors began presenting their case. Michael Madigan, the former longtime Illinois House Speaker, is on trial for racketeering and bribery. His confidant, Michael McClain , is being tried at the same time.

Some of the first witnesses included former state lawmakers and the jury heard the first of what is expected to be dozens of wiretap conversations.

The trial is expected to last at least until December.

Host Sean Crawford is joined by Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and Capitol News Illinois reporter Hannah Meisel.

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Hannah McCarthy is the Couch Fellow at NHPR. She will spend a year working as a reporter in the newsroom, and as a producer on "Word of Mouth," and "Outside/In." Hannah received her M.A. in journalism from New York University, where she studied longform non-fiction writing and audio production. While in New York, Hannah worked as a reporter for Bedford + Bowery and interned at WNYC's "Death, Sex and Money" podcast.