Judge Declares Mistrial In Bob Menendez Bribery Case

“We cannot reach a unanimous decision," the jury said in a note just before lunch on Thursday. “Nor are we willing to move away from our strong convictions,” the Washington Post reported.


WaPo described the mistrial as a “major victory” for a senator who had to fight 18 counts of alleged corruption, and a setback for the Justice Department, whose efforts to combat public corruption have been curtailed by a recent Supreme Court decision that help exonerate former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
After receiving Thursday’s note, U.S. District Court Judge William Walls decided to interview the foreman and at least one other juror in chambers, in the presence of the lawyers on the case.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to issue a clarifying instruction to the panel, telling jurors they could reach verdicts on individual counts in the indictment, even if they can’t find agreement on all the counts. Judge Walls rejected that suggestion, saying to do so would be “going down the slippery slope of coercion.’"
He added: “There’s no point doing something just to say you’ve done it."
Menendez defense lawyer Abbe Lowell told the judge, “I think we have to declare a mistrial."


As WaPo notes, the DOJ will likely put Menendez on trial again because of the precedent they’d risk setting by letting him go.

While mistrials are generally considered wins for defense lawyers and losses for prosecutors, the Justice Department will likely feel significant internal pressure to put the senator on trial again, because recent Supreme Court decisions have raised questions about how much legal authority prosecutors still have in pursuing corruption charges involving payments not explicitly and directly linked to official acts.

Some legal experts have warned that a defeat for the government in the Menendez case could make prosecutors more reluctant to pursue public corruption cases in the future.

This is a travesty, juries are now politicized...This Country is so doomed.