A hung jury. Excellent! Even if they retry him it’ll be months down the road and by then Chrispie will be out of office. I don’t have any feelings about Menendez either way, but I sure as hell don’t want fat asshole naming his replacement.
You beat me to it. If Menendez should steps down, it should be after the new governor is sworn in.
I looked it up. The new governor gets sworn in on 1/16/18. And Menendez is up for reelection next year. He should probably go spend more time with his family.
I never could understand this “Go back and try again to reach a verdict” order. The judge is in effect telling the jurors “You each individually have reached a decision based on your understanding of the evidence. Forget that, your duty is to get a unanimous verdict, even if it means voting against what you believe to be right.”
More good news Monday. No Senate appointment for Christie (had he considered appointing himself?)!
Evidently, he has considered it. Too bad.
Neither the will of the voters nor the rule of law should be subverted. I have a sneaking suspicion Menendez is guilty as shit, but his alleged crime should not alter the makeup of the Senate.
Frankly, I think governors ought to be required to appoint a replacement selected by the state representatives of the removed individual’s party.
This is the state of the law of bribery in this country. You have to prove a specific quid pro quo. The fact is Menedez was this rich guy’s pet senator. I have a hunch he isn’t the only rich guy’s pet senator in the United States Senate.
On the one hand, trials cost a lot of money. It is in our interest that we don’t multiply the number of them that we have to hold. The judge is in charge of doing what he can.
On the other hand, people change their minds about things. People have new thoughts about things;new ways of looking at things. If you have an important decision to make, it is never a bad idea to hear additional opinions, and to give your thought process a little more time.
I recall an interview with Bill Clinton when he was POTUS, in which the interviewer asked Clinton about the fact that large donors seem to enjoy much better access to him than the hoi polloi. Clinton started to respond, saying that it was only natural that big donors were more likely to get a hearing.
Then, in a flash, he realized that he was about to speak a truth that everyone knows, but that should never be acknowledged publicly. You could see the look on his face as the light dawned. He was skilled enough to turn on a dime, and say that all American citizens should be able to address their concerns to their elected officials, etc., etc. Great recovery.
and I agree, he should step down, once the new governor is in office. If he doesn’t, the rest of his state party should turn up the pressure. No one should get a pass on this kind of garbage.
Our judicial system would be a mockery without them. It’s a far from perfect system, but what can you do?
Agreed - 100%.
Looks like that is a bridge too far.
After the McDonnell ruling, this was pretty much a done deal. The gov’t’s evidence was fairly weak, because it’s hard to distinguish what Menendez received as a clear inducement for actions taken. The kind of stuff that Menendez received didn’t seem to far out of the ordinary for a lot of ppl in gov’t. It wasn’t a Swiss bank account or slush fund or a 6000 sq foot house sold below market. That type of shock and awe evidence was missing here.
Hey, that’s just the “go back and deliberate some more, okay?” charge. It looks like he hasn’t yet given them the "dynamite charge." Not one judges like to give, even though the Supremes approved it.
Well, maybe not. Sometimes an initial judgment can be viewed in a different light after hearing from others. I was once the sole juror voting “guilty”; after deliberating further with the others I concluded my doubt could be more reasonable than I had first thought.
Yes indeed. If he’s guilty I want a Democrat to appoint his successor.
What a mess! Still, it’s good news that they won’t be able to convict him any time soon (if ever). It would be even better news if he decided to not run again. Any Democrat other than Menedez should have a good shot in New Jersey next year. Whether or not he’s ever found guilty, though, Menendez reeks of corruption.
I hope this isn’t an omen of the difficultys the Mueller team will have in convicting their guilty partys.