Ed Burke is asking for a new trial — with sentencing less than 3 weeks away

Former Ald. Edward M. Burke returned Wednesday to the courtroom where a jury found him guilty of last winter, and where he may learn the consequences of his conviction in a few short weeks. But for now, his lawyers are making a long-shot pitch for a new trial. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall listened to nearly three hours of arguments from defense attorneys and prosecutors Wednesday before she told each side she plans to hand down an order “shortly.”She said she’s been working on it “for a while.”Kendall gave few hints on how she might be leaning, save for questions about Burke’s attempted extortion of the Field Museum. Burke when they failed to respond to his recommendation of the daughter of ex-Ald. Terry Gabinski (32nd) for an internship.It’s unusual for a judge to hear lengthy oral arguments on a routine motion. Requests like Burke’s are rarely granted, so his legal team has a very high bar to clear. And if they don’t succeed, the 80-year-old Burke faces significant prison time at sentencing, set for June 24.That’s when Burke could become the most significant Illinois politician to be sent to prison since a judge gave former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert in 2016.Former Ald. Edward M. Burke and his wife, Anne, walk out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Wednesday. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-TimesA jury last December found Burke guilty of 13 counts that included racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. It took nearly five years for prosecutors to take Burke to trial. But apart from their request for a new trial filed in February, Burke’s lawyers have made no move to delay his sentencing hearing.Prosecutors are expected to reveal Monday how much time they think Burke should serve. Burke’s defense attorneys are also expected to make a recommendation, and they will likely make public the they say they’ve received on Burke’s behalf.The involved schemes related to the Field Museum, the massive Old Post Office straddling the Eisenhower Expressway, a Burger King in Burke’s 14th Ward and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.In addition to threatening the Field Museum, Burke tried to squeeze developers involved with the Burger King, Old Post Office and Binny’s for business for his private tax appeals law firm, Klafter & Burke.Burke attorney Chris Gair began Wednesday’s arguments by insisting Burke’s request was “not a run-of-the-mill, throw-everything-up-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks” motion for a new trial. For example: Burke’s lawyers did not challenge any convictions relating to the Burger King.But they did take aim at the Field Museum convictions. And they argued that certain convictions related to the Old Post Office and Binny’s ran afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 decision involving the tossed conviction of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell. That opinion defined “official acts” by public officials such as Burke.Gair conceded that Burke threatened Field Museum official Deborah Bekken during a September 2017 phone call. Gair added, “it was an empty threat. But more importantly, it was not a threat to get anything.“There is not one word in the Bekken call in which Mr. Burke asks for anything,” Gair said. During that phone call, Burke explained that he was “quite … disappointed … and surprised” that he didn’t hear back from the museum after recommending Gabinski’s daughter.Former Ald. Edward M. Burke (right) speaks with defense attorney Chris Gair as they walk from the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after a hearing on Burke’s case on Wednesday.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times“So now, you’re going to make a request of me?” said Burke, then the longtime chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee.When Bekken tried to explain, Burke said, “I’m sure I know what you want to do, because if the chairman of the committee on finance calls the president of the park board, your proposal is going to go nowhere.”Gair argued Wednesday that “an at-will job is not property for the employee,” meaning Burke did not seek to extort “property” as required under the law.That argument prompted multiple questions from Kendall, who at one point noted that the Field Museum only wound up offering Gabinski’s daughter a job interview as a result of Burke’s threat.“The interview gives you the property,” Kendall said at one point as she pondered the issue. “You’ve got an attempt to extort, but then you have an interview. … What if the interview doesn’t get you the job?” In response to Gair’s other claim that Burke’s actions did not meet the “official act” definition laid out by the Supreme Court, Kendall replied that, “in order to conclude the way that you are arguing, I need to conclude that the facts do not support the jury’s conclusion.”Gair agreed and said, “I think you can.”Prosecutors told the judge that jurors last December carefully considered the evidence and followed instructions from the judge — including on the question of “official acts.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker told the judge, “there is no error here.”“The fact is, Mr. Burke made his case to the jury, and the jury rejected it,” she said.