Former New Jersey senator Bob Menendez has been denied his request for a new trial, with a judge deciding his conviction of bribery will continue to stand.
Menendez made the request in late November arguing the development was warranted after prosecutors revealed they inadvertently gave the jury information they shouldn't have.
Concretely, prosecutors said in a letter that a laptop given to the jury had incorrect versions of nine exhibits. Neither the lawyers nor the prosecutors noticed the errors when inspecting the laptop at the time, the latter said.
They argued the mistake was not enough for the former senator to get his verdict thrown out as there was no "reasonable likelihood any juror ever saw any of the erroneously less-redacted versions."
Menendez's lawyers, however, told U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein that the matter was a "serious breach" and a new trial was "unavoidable" because some of the material disclosed was protected by the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, which details that lawmakers "shall not be questioned" for "any speech or debate" in any chamber of Congress.
The judge disagreed, saying that the "guilty verdicts were readily supported by the extensive witness testimony and extensive documentary evidence admitted at trial, and there is no manifest injustice requiring a new trial."
Menendez was found guilty on all 16 counts against him, including bribery and acting as a foreign agent. He stepped down from his post in August after the jury determined he had accepted cash, gold bars and other perks from New Jersey businessmen in exchange for official favors that benefited them as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
He always maintained his innocence and even attempted to run for re-election as an independent in the November election, but ended up dropping out as polls showed his chances of success were slim-to-none. Democratic candidate Andy Kim ended up winning, becoming the first-ever Korean-American to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
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