Ryan Trial Grinding On

This was our fear all along:

• Former Gov. George Ryan's jury completed its first four-day week of weighing the evidence at his racketeering and fraud trial Thursday and went home amid indications they may be having a tough time understanding the thick batch of instructions they were given.
  

And we're sure it is exactly what Dan Webb was counting on. If you bury a jury in enough BS, they're going to get confused, bored and eventually, simply eager for the whole thing to be over. We've read the Channel 7 report and even if most of the facts about the jury notes are accurate, this jury is extremely confused and that is NEVER of good thing in a Federal trial, especially one that relies on a lot of detail.

Here's what they should be concentrating on - (1) how the heck did Ryan survive on less than $700 dollars over so many years and (2) where was he getting the cash? Once they can agree that something illegal was going on, then they can fill in the other counts of influence peddling and racketeering, which is where the government accountants can really do their damage. Hopefully, our 01 January prediction comes true and Ryan is found guilty and will rot in prison. But right now, it's a coin toss.