Attorneys for former Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez criticized the government’s handling of evidence in his corruption trial on Monday, following a mishap.
The mishap occurred when federal prosecutors unintentionally displayed nine exhibits with unredacted content during deliberations, which had been erroneously uploaded from a laptop used to manage evidence files, according to The Hill. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein, Menendez’s legal team described the incident as “deeply troubling.”
Despite prosecutors acknowledging the error to the court, they argued that it should not affect Menendez’s conviction or warrant any corrective measures, The Hill reported. Adam Fee, Menendez’s lawyer, expressed concern over the government’s attempt to minimize the issue.
“The government’s effort to downplay its recent discovery raises more questions about the government’s conduct than it answers,” Menendez attorney Adam Fee said. Fee revealed that the defense was kept in the dark about the error until nearly two weeks after prosecutors became aware, only learning about it through a letter from the prosecution last Wednesday.
‘Could Very Well Be A Death Sentence’: Jonathan Turley Says Bob Menendez Faces Long Prison Stay After Conviction pic.twitter.com/tUwZiFyAtJ
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Menendez’s defense further claims that the prosecutors failed to conduct a thorough check of the thousands of exhibits shown to jurors and did not preserve the original state of these exhibits, the outlet reported. Instead, they allegedly erased the laptop containing the evidence after the trial.
In his communication with Judge Stein, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni admitted that neither the prosecution nor the defense detected the mistake initially and downplayed the likelihood that the unredacted information swayed the jury’s decision, The Hill said. Monteleoni argued against a retrial and called it unnecessary, given the slim chance that jurors noticed the mistake.
Following the discovery of the evidence mishandling, Menendez accused the prosecution of manipulating evidence and told The Hill that this error proves they “cannot be trusted.” His legal team has requested Judge Stein to set a briefing schedule to delve deeper into the ramifications of this prosecutorial error.
Menendez resigned from the Senate in August after being convicted on multiple charges, including bribery and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. He remained adamant about his innocence. Menendez plans to appeal his conviction, with his sentencing scheduled for Jan. 29.
A federal court in July convicted Menendez of engaging in actions that favored the Egyptian government for bribes, such as advocating for U.S. military aid to Egypt and sharing sensitive U.S. Embassy personnel details. Authorities discovered more than $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash concealed in the former senator’s residence.
Featured Image Credit: Senator Bob Menendez
