NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Attorneys for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez say federal prosecutors in his corruption case filed a “lurid, one-sided” brief that could make filling out the jury difficult.
Defense attorney Raymond Brown wrote Wednesday in a letter to Judge William Walls that prosecutors’ document was unsolicited by the court.
Brown says the filing was aimed at getting “adverse” publicity for the New Jersey Democrat.
He says the filing will make it harder to fill an additional jury spot after one juror was excused over financial hardship.
The fraud and bribery trial of Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen is scheduled to begin Sept. 6.
The document doesn’t raise new details beyond the April 2015 indictment but says prosecutors don’t plan to raise a separate conviction of Melgen’s.
Both men dispute the allegations.