George Ryan case: Mistrial?

This will be the major story next week in Illinois. Nationally it'll be big too, considering former Ill. Gov. George Ryan is well known for his commuting all Ill. death penalty to life-in-prison in 2003.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

The allegations against the juror are that he lied on a questionnaire about whether he or a close friend had ever been convicted of a crime, and as CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports, the fallout from that allegation has thrown the trial into an uproar.

There is a question of whether defense attorneys might now ask for a mistrial. They cannot comment on the subject due to a gag order in the case, but defense attorneys were overheard saying the word "mistrial" as they went into a closed-door meeting Friday.

But juror consultant Theresa Zagnoli said, "I think the safest thing the judge can do is dismiss the juror."

Ryan’s defense attorneys are extremely upset that a juror apparently lied to the court during jury selection about convictions of felony drunken driving conviction and weapon possession.