Bob Menendez Jury Asks Whether Unanimity Needed to Acquit

(Bloomberg) -- Jurors at the corruption trial of US Senator Bob Menendez asked the judge Monday whether they must be unanimous to reach an acquittal on any count.

“Does a not guilty verdict on a single count require unanimity?” jurors asked in a note to US District Judge Sidney Stein, who read it Monday in Manhattan federal court. The note didn’t specify which count or defendant may have divided the 12 jurors. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, is being tried along with two businessmen. 

The judge answered that the panel must be unanimous for each of the 18 counts against the three defendants. In his full legal instructions on Friday, Stein said they must be unanimous to convict or to acquit. 

The panel is weighing 16 counts against Menendez, 70, who is accused of crimes including bribery, extortion, and acting as an agent of Egypt. He’s on trial with Fred Daibes, a New Jersey developer, and Wael Hana, an Egyptian American who runs a business that certifies meat as compliant with halal standards for export to Egypt. 

Jurors later asked another question about one bribery count against Menendez and a related charge against Daibes. Those counts refer to actions Menendez took to benefit Daibes, including an attempt to influence a fraud indictment Daibes through the appointment of a US attorney in New Jersey.

The panel asked in a note if “intervening” in that federal prosecution of Daibes fell under the two bribery counts. Stein responded that it did, as long as prosecutors met their legal burden in proving the men guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Prosecutors also charge that Menendez corruptly helped Egypt to secure US military aid and sensitive information; tried to protect Hana’s monopoly on meat inspections; acted to sway New Jersey criminal probes of people close to a former insurance broker; and used his influence to help Daibes get a $95 million investment from a Qatari investment fund for a real estate project. 

FBI agents seized 13 gold bars, nearly $500,000 in cash and a Mercedes Benz at Menendez’s house in 2022 — evidence that formed the backbone of the trial.

Menendez, who didn’t testify at the trial, has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers claimed the senator’s actions were lawful and good for his constituents, while blaming Menendez’s wife, Nadine, for keeping her husband in the dark about her financial problems and gifts she received. She was also charged, but will be tried later because she’s being treated for breast cancer. 

The case is US v. Menendez, 23-cr-490, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with second question from jurors about bribe charges.)

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