NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jury deliberations in the bribery trial of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez are scheduled to resume amid uncertainty over the fallout from comments made by an excused juror last week.
The juror told reporters on Thursday that although many jurors appeared to be leaning toward acquittal, she anticipated a hung jury. She was excused because of a previously scheduled vacation that the judge knew about during jury selection in August.
An alternate juror will take her place on Monday, and deliberations will start over. The judge could interview jurors individually to determine if any are aware of Evelyn Arroyo-Maultsby’s comments.
Prosecutors alleged Menendez and wealthy Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen engaged in a bribery scheme between 2006 and 2013 in which Menendez traded his political influence for luxury vacations and flights on the doctor’s private plane.
They each face about a dozen counts including bribery, fraud and conspiracy. Menendez also is charged with making false statements for failing to report Melgen’s gifts on Senate disclosure forms.
Both men deny the allegations. Defense attorneys have sought to show jurors that the two men are longtime friends who exchanged gifts out of friendship. They also contend Menendez’s meetings with government officials were focused on broad policy issues.
In Menendez attorney Abbe Lowell’s closing argument, he used the words “friend,” ”friends” or “friendship” more than 80 times.
In his rebuttal to jurors, federal prosecutor Peter Koski echoed the judge’s instructions that gifts given “both out of friendship and a corrupt intent” can be considered bribes.
Arroyo-Maultsby’s comments appeared to indicate at least some, and possibly a majority, of the jurors may believe the defense’s theory.
The jury has deliberated roughly 15 hours over three full days and part of last Monday. If the newly constituted panel fails to reach a verdict over the next several days, U.S. District Judge William Walls would have to weigh how long to let them continue before declaring a mistrial.
The government then would choose whether to retry the pair.
If Menendez is acquitted, it would reinforce the view that official bribery cases have become more difficult to prosecute, a trend traced to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the bribery conviction of former Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. That ruling played a significant role in how the jury was instructed in the Menendez trial.
Oops.
What the excused juror said should not complicate deliberations at all. They are either sequestered, in which case they would not know about them, or instructed not to view or read reports or comments about the case. And in my experience, especially in a high-stakes case like this, jurors take such instructions very seriously.
The judge has questioned the remaining jurors about whether they read the excused juror’s comments, so it is clear that they have not been sequestered. Also, 4 jurors and 3 alternates told the judge they had read or seen something about the case over the weekend.
I would agree with you that most jurors take seriously a judge’s instruction to avoid reading or viewing reports about the case on which they are sitting as jurors, but almost inevitably some (if not most) of them do in fact read or see/hear something about the case, even if it is only a headline or the intro to a story on TV/radio.
As much as I agree with many of Menendez’ positions on policy issues, it seems clear to me that his financial relationship with this doctor has been unethical, and also probably illegal. One of the clear frustrations that I have with politicians (of any party) is their willingness to get in bed with deep-pocketed donors for their own gain.
If we are to remain consistent, we should condemn Menendez, and/or vote him out when the next opportunity arises. Whether he is acquitted in court, or not, is irrelevant.
This settles the question (the only one I cared about here) as to whether lame duck and possibly the most unpopular governor in history Chris Christie will be able to name a Trump stooge to the Senate seat.
Not happening.