Bob Menendez, the disgraced former U.S. senator who was convicted on federal corruption charges earlier this year, is seeking a new trial.
Menendez’s defense team on Wednesday filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that jurors were unfairly prejudiced against him after prosecutors allowed them to view evidence that should have been redacted. Using the same argument, two of Menendez’s co-defendants — businessmen Fred Daibes and Wael Hana — also filed motions for new trials.
The argument hinges on nine pieces of evidence that prosecutors allowed to be displayed on a laptop that was made available to jurors to review, even though those pieces of evidence should have been redacted.
Prosecutors disclosed the issue in court filings earlier this month. The prosecutors said they don’t believe the jury’s verdict was impacted and pointed out that defense lawyers had the chance to review the laptop before it was provided to jurors, and that they did not notice the mistake either.
Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, had her trial delayed after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Her trial is set to begin in January, but her attorney, Barry Coburn, has requested another delay because he is concerned about scheduling conflicts with an unrelated trial he is working on, which is set to begin in March in Washington, D.C.
