Damning evidence

CHICAGO (ap) -- Jurors who convicted former Illinois Governor George Ryan (Republican-Kankakee) for commuting the state's death sentences said that the smoking gun in the case was a pair of photos introduced by prosecution and made available exclusively on the Daley Show.

The first shows Ryan, 72, on a shopping spree in a swank neighborhood in Paris.

"How can any self-respecting, red-white-and-blue blooded American travel to that county in a time of war?" one of the jurors mused. "They wouldn't even support our righteous invasion and occupation of Iraq, and there he is, spending his hard-earned bribes and tax-free graft on wine and cheese and snails."

In what is seen as ironic justice, Ryan faces the death penalty for the crime of halting executions in the state after 13 death-row inmates were exonerated. He also pardoned four condemned inmates and commuted the sentences of 157 others.

"I hope this case begins the end of the bleeding heart liberalism that seems to have been evident in the state of Illinois, and begins the resurrection of honest public executions,'' Robert Grant, special agent-in-charge of the Chicago office of the FBI, said at a news conference after the verdict.

The second photo that swayed jurors was of a scooter accident on a busy street in Paris that caused a traffic jam. Prosecutors surmised that the driver "probably got his driver's license in Illinois" while Ryan was secretary of state.

"That was enough for me," another juror said in a post-verdict interview. "How embarrassing. After a grueling test of patience waiting in line at the DMV, one should have the proper skills to navigate any vehicle around a concrete street marker."

Ryan attorney Dan Webb said he will file motions seeking to overturn the judge's SUV and will file an appeal if the motions fail.