Judge rejects new trial for former Sen. Menendez over tainted laptop

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected claims by former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez that his conviction should be thrown out because the jury was given a laptop containing material that was supposed to be excluded from the trial.

Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan said in a written opinion that it was “extraordinarily unlikely” jurors were even aware of the materials given that nobody referenced them during Menendez’s trial. The Democrat was convicted in July of 16 charges, along with two New Jersey businessmen who prosecutors said bribed him with gold and cash.

A request for comment was sent to Menendez’s lawyers, who recently wrote in court papers that their client had “suffered financial and professional ruin” since the charges were lodged against him in 2023.

Menendez, 71, faces sentencing next week for his conviction on charges including bribery and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. Prosecutors are recommending a 15-year prison sentence, while defense lawyers say he should receive less than the two years in prison that they believed sentencing guidelines would recommend.

Several weeks ago, prosecutors discovered material on a laptop provided to jurors included some language in exhibits that the judge had excluded from the trial. Prosecutors made the discovery while preparing to use much of the same evidence from Menendez’s trial in the upcoming case against his wife, Nadine Menendez.

Stein rejected the defense’s argument that the error should translate into a new trial for their client or an opportunity to further investigate how the mistake was made.

“At the end of the day, there is no question that this trial was fair to all defendants,” Stein wrote.

The judge said the material on the laptop was “extra-record information,” not a statement made in open court by any attorney, He concluded that it was “extraordinarily unlikely” the jury was even aware of the material.

“The extra-record material was a few phrases buried in thousands of exhibits and many thousands of pages of evidence,” Stein said.

He also said defense attorneys were as responsible as prosecutors for ensuring that only proper exhibits were sent to the jury room.

“And while all three teams of defense counsel reviewed the jury laptop, they failed to object,” Stein said.

Menendez was charged after a 2022 FBI raid on his home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, during which authorities discovered nearly $150,000 worth of gold bars and $480,000 in cash, mostly in stacks of $100 bills, stuffed stuffed in boots, shoeboxes and jackets. Prosecutors said the gold, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible found in the garage were bribes.

Menendez, who began his political career in 1974 when he was elected to the education board in Union City, New Jersey, was elected to the U.S. House in 1992. He became a U.S. senator in 2006 before stepping down after his conviction.