Ken Whyte to speak up for Conrad Black in Chicago trial

Ken Whyte, the publisher and editor of Maclean's, is up on the stand in Chicago next week was on the stand as a character witness in the criminal trial of tattered tycoon Conrad Black yesterday.

Black's defence team made the surprising announcement that it would take only a day (actually, two half-days) of testimony to rebut about 11 days of prosecution witnesses. Lord Black himself will remain silent.

In addition to Whyte, there will be defence testimony from Joan Maida, Black's longtime personal assistant and Jennifer Owens, a New York lawyer who defended Black in several civil cases involving Hollinger.

A story by Paul Waldie in the Globe and Mail says that Whyte probably would be asked about the working relationship of Black and former partner David Radler, a prosecution witness:

Edward Greenspan, one of Lord Black's lawyers, declined to comment on what Mr. Whyte will tell the jury. However, he will likely testify about Lord Black's involvement in the Post. That could help back up a key defence theory that Lord Black and his former partner, David Radler, had different roles at Hollinger. Lord Black's lawyers have argued that Mr. Radler, who has pleaded guilty in the case, ran the company's U.S. operations, where the alleged criminal misconduct occurred.

Whyte owes his prominence in Canadian magazines to Black, who picked the young editor to take over Saturday Night when he acquired it in the mid-90s and later put Whyte in charge of launching the National Post.