Hundreds of reporters from Canada, Britain, continental Europe and the U.S. began arriving in Chicago on Tuesday for the opening of the trial of former media magnate Conrad Black on Wednesday morning.

Conrad Black, shown in September 2006 media scrum, says in a recent article that he's confident he'll be cleared of criminal charges.
(Canadian Press)

The case of the United States versus Black will get underway in Everett M. Dirksen federal courthouse with jury selection. Twelve jurors will be selected from a pool of candidates who have already filled out a lengthy questionnaire.

Opening arguments aren't expected until Friday or the following Monday.

Black goes into the trial publicly exuding confidence that he will be cleared of all charges.

"As I know the facts and believe in the fairness of 12 randomly selected Americans, I am confident of the outcome," he wrote in a piece that appeared last weekend in the National Post — a newspaper he founded.

Black, 62, is accused of 17 criminal charges ranging from racketeering, to mail fraud and tax evasion. Conviction could land him in a U.S. jail for the rest of his life.   

The main allegation against Black revolves around the U.S. government's assertion that he defrauded Hollinger's minority shareholders of millions of dollars by illegally diverting money from the sale of newspapers to himself, rather than to all of the shareholders of Hollinger.

Black has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. Black's legal team will likely argue that their client relied on others to advise him. Three other former Hollinger executives were also charged, and are being tried along with Black.

They are:

• Former chief financial officer Jack Boultbee.
• Former vice-president Peter Atkinson.
• Mark Kipnis, a Chicago lawyer and accountant who resigned from Hollinger in 2003.

But it is a fourth former executive who may cause Black the most difficulty.

David Radler, shown in September 2005, is expected to testify against Conrad Black, his former business partner.
(Charles Rex Arbogast/ Associated Press)

David Radler, Black's former business partner for more than three decades and the ex-chief operating officer of Hollinger International, is expected to testify against Black. He struck a plea bargain with prosecutors that would see him serve a reduced sentence of 29 months.

The trial, scheduled to last three months before Judge Amy St. Eve, is likely to hear from many prominent individuals. Former American diplomat Henry Kissinger and real-estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump, among others, are possible witnesses.

And Black's trial will be closely followed in Canada and Britain, where he took on a larger-than-life presence. His wealth, power, tough business dealings, love of legal battles, and his former ownership of many big newspapers resulted in many appearances on the news, business and society pages.

All major media organizations in Canada have sent reporters to Chicago. The same holds true in Britain, where his long ownership of the Daily Telegraph newspaper made him prime media fodder. The BBC is planning an hour-long profile of him on its BBC Two TV channel Tuesday night.

Defence plays down lifestyle

On the streets of Chicago, on the other hand, Black is almost unknown.   

In a country that routinely sends corporate wrongdoers to jail for decades, defence lawyer Edward Greenspan knows the stakes for his client are high.

"The climate has clearly moved us into hysterical times," he told CBC News. "The sentencing is really quite outrageous."

His job, along with Chicago defence lawyer Edward Genson, will be to convince 12 average Chicagoans that Lord Black of Crossharbour was victim, not villain — that Radler's testimony is tainted by his plea deal and should not therefore be believed. 

His defence team has already tried to limit references to Black's wealth and lavish lifestyle, knowing that will do nothing to endear their client to a jury likely to be largely middle class. But that will be difficult.

Among the charges Black faces are abusing corporate perks by using a company jet for a private holiday in the South Pacific and spending $50,000 of company funds on a birthday party for his wife, Barbara Amiel.

It isn't known yet if Black will take the stand to testify in his own defence.