CHICAGO (Reuters) — The start of Conrad Black’s criminal fraud trial was delayed until today after his lawyers complained that publicity about a key witness against the former media baron might have tainted the jury.Judge Amy St. Eve of the US District Court agreed yesterday to quiz each potential juror in a final group of 20 after Black’s lead attorney, Edward Genson, told her he had “real concerns” about Black getting a fair trial.

“It impacts what we want, and what everyone wants in this case, which is a fair trial,” Genson told the judge.

St. Eve later delayed swearing in the jury and the start of opening statements until today. In addition to the questions raised by Genson, there was a glitch when one member of the jury group failed to show up in court because of a miscommunication, a lawyer involved in the case said.

The question posed by Genson involved two settlements made within the past three days by Black’s former partner, David Radler, and whether the jurors might have been exposed to publicity about them.

Radler, who was instrumental in expanding Black’s global publishing empire through Hollinger International Inc. over more than three decades, has pleaded guilty in the case and is the key prosecution witness.

On Friday Radler, 64, agreed to pay $28.7 million to settle a separate civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that accuses him and Black of diverting funds from Hollinger between 1999 and 2003.

And on Sunday the Sun-Times Media Group Inc., as Hollinger International is now known, said it had settled claims it made against Radler and his companies. He and the firms agreed to pay $63.4 million to settle existing and potential claims related to backdated stock options.

Black is charged with fraud, racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice — charges that could result in a maximum prison sentence of 101 years, plus millions in fines and $92 million in possible forfeitures.

Three other former associates are also on trial though they face lesser charges. Radler made a plea agreement more than a year ago under which he will pay a $250,000 fine and serve 29 months in prison, likely in Canada where he is a resident of Vancouver.

The judge completed jury selection last week after quizzing prospective panelists about any bias they might hold about executives who amass tens of millions of dollars, arrange transactions to avoid taxes and hold honorary titles.

Black was appointed a member of Britain’s House of Lords in 2001, renouncing his Canadian citizenship in the process.

He is also charged with misusing company funds to pay for a vacation trip on the company plane to the South Pacific, and for entertainment and luxuries such as a birthday party for his wife, conservative columnist Barbara Amiel Black.

The trial was recessed until early afternoon and Black left the courthouse.

Radler’s credibility will likely will be a central issue during the trial, which is expected to last four months.

Prosecutors are expected to highlight how Black and Radler bought up and later sold hundreds of newspapers and magazines from the 1970s until they were ousted from Hollinger in 2003 and 2004. They will tell jurors that Radler will explain how Black and other top executives of Hollinger schemed to siphon off $84 million from the corporate coffers.

Defence lawyers are likely to argue that Radler brokered the deals and has betrayed his former boss, and was willing to lie about Black and the others fleecing Hollinger because of his plea deal with prosecutors.

“This witness is problematic for this defense because he is so at the center of all these transactions, and there was so much money involved, and he was so trusted by Black,” said trial observer Hugh Totten, a lawyer who has defended executives.