GETTING 'HUNG' UP
Fresh start is no help for struggling Menendez jury
After just one day of deliberations that started anew with an alternate replacing a juror who was excused, members of the jury in the bribery trial of Sen. Robert Menendez said they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the charges — raising the specter of a hung jury.
The judge handling the case told the 12 Newark federal jurors to continue their deliberations — and reminded them that any verdict must be unanimous — before sending them home to “clear” their heads.
“I want you to cease deliberations, go home and have a good meal and a good sleep,” Judge William Walls told the jury before dismissing them at around 2:30 p.m.
“You only began your deliberations as of 11. Go home and get a breath of fresh air and clear your heads.”
But the jury’s note expressing frustration with the case comes days after a juror dismissed last week due to a planned vacation revealed conflict within the jury room.
“It looks like a hung jury,” Evelyn Arroyo-Maultsby, 61, told reporters Thursday.
The jury has been in court for eight weeks of trial and another week of deliberations over three days. With the replacement of the departing juror, the judge had ordered them to start all over again on Monday.
Arroyo-Maultsby said she wanted to acquit the Garden State Democrat on all counts — but not everyone agreed.
“If I would have stayed [on the jury], he would have been ‘not guilty’ on every charge,” the Hillside, NJ, resident said.
Arroyo-Maultsby also complained that her attempts to send a note to the judge were thwarted by her fellow jurors — leading the defense on Monday to complain of juror “misconduct.” The judge disagreed. “If you are suggesting this is the genesis of a mistrial, you are off target, way off target,” Walls warned on Monday morning. “No way on God’s green earth this judge is going to grant a mistrial.”
Menendez stands accused of engaging in a years-long bribery scheme with his rich eyedoctor pal, Salomon Melgen. He faces decades in prison if convicted and could be voted out of the Senate as well.
According to ArroyoMaultsby, the jury was ready to acquit on all counts — except one for falsifying documents — as of late Wednesday.
On Thursday, she changed her mind about the one count and decided Menendez should not even be found guilty of hiding gifts from Melgen on his Senate financial-disclosure forms.
Her fellow jurors disagreed, and that’s when ArroyoMaultsby attempted to send a note to the judge — but the other jurors blocked her from doing so, she said.
On Monday, the judge read the note, which said in part, “I find it very unfair that after nine weeks, this jury refused to present a verdict that was reached on Wednesday.”
That led to cries of “misconduct” by the defense.
Making matters worse, four of the 12 members of the jury and three alternates admitted to being exposed to press coverage of the case — including the released juror’s remarks — over the weekend.
After questioning the exposed jurors, Judge Walls dismissed the defense’s concerns of misconduct and told the newly formed jury to begin deliberations anew.
Menendez made it clear on his way out of court on Monday that he is gunning for an acquittal.
“Clearly, there are jurors who believe in my innocence,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.
“I would hope that at the end of the day, after they finish tomorrow, that those who continue to believe in my innocence will stand strong and that at the end of the day no juror will be coerced into a decision.”