Jurors on Tuesday began hearing evidence of the second of four criminal schemes the longtime 14th Ward alderperson was allegedly involved in — this one involving remodeling work at a Burger King restaurant that was located in Burke’s district.

The new statute forbids officials convicted of “a felony, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime” from holding local or state level elected positions.

The jury heard the first direct testimony from someone who prosecutors allege Burke sought to extort by weaponizing his powerful position as chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee and the longest serving member of the City Council. 

Federal prosecutors called their first witness Friday afternoon in the longtime alderman’s landmark corruption trial — Elmhurst College professor Constance Mixon, who gave the jury a crash course in the city’s political system.

While prosecutors said former Ald. Ed Burke was a “bribe-taker and an extortionist” who used his elected office to “line his pockets,” Burke’s attorneys said he was an “old school, hardworking public servant” devoted to Chicago and its residents.

After a weeklong delay after an attorney tested positive for COVID-19, a jury was picked Thursday to decide the federal corruption trial of former Ald. Ed Burke and his two co-defendants.

The court is weighing whether it is constitutional to impose lifetime restrictions on where a person can live after they’ve been convicted of a sex crime involving a minor.

Robert Crimo Jr. entered a guilty plea to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct last week in Lake County court. Crimo sponsored his underage son’s firearm application three years before the July 2022 attack in Highland Park, even though the teenager had recently threatened violence.

The inmate, Michael Johnson, argued that the deprivation of yard time – in the absence of a true security justification – violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and inhumane punishment.

It was expected that during the first week of the longtime 14th Ward alderperson’s landmark racketeering trial a 12-person jury would be seated, opening arguments would be given and witness testimony would begin. Instead, none of those things happened.

The four former Commonwealth Edison officials convicted this year for their efforts to bribe ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan are seeking to push back their sentencing dates, but federal prosecutors claim there’s “no good reason” to do so.

Officer Craig Lancaster, an active member of the Chicago Police Department, has reportedly been charged with aggravated battery following a May incident with 14-year-old JaQuwaun Williams outside Gresham Elementary School.

The racketeering trial of former Ald. Ed Burke is on hold for at least a week after an attorney in the case tested positive for COVID-19, the judge in the case said Thursday.

A federal judge this week sentenced 51-year-old Ayanna Nesbitt to one year and one day in prison after she entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.

The selection process, which began slowly Monday morning, has continued at a leisurely pace throughout Tuesday. No jurors have yet been officially seated to hear the case.

Former Ald. Ed Burke entered the Dirksen United States Courthouse for the first time since June 2019 accompanied by his wife, former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Burke, and a phalanx of attorneys.