Although this juror's probation had been terminated after a probation violation in one of the cases, since she was ultimately discharged from probation, her rights were restored.

Could Cellini argue that because the juror lied to the Court about her past convictions, she was not "of fair character" or "of approved integrity?" Courts in Illinois have held that the question of fair character and integrity should be decided on a case by case basis. But this was a federal trial and federal law prohibits service only by those felons whose rights have not been restored by the state.

After the issue came up in the trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, some federal judges began ordering background checks on jurors in high profile cases. [More...]

After the Ryan debacle, Chief Judge James Holderman assigned the federal court’s probation and pretrial services offices to conduct criminal background checks on jurors for certain high-profile cases — but only when approved by the trial judge.

Some judges, though, don’t like the background checks, considering them an invasion of jurors’ privacy. No checks were performed for the Cellini c