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Jurors resume deliberations in Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial for third day
Washington — Jurors in New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial will meet for a third day Tuesday to deliberate the fate of the New Jersey Democrat, who is accused of accepting bribes from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for using his political influence to their benefit.
The jury began deliberations Friday afternoon and carried on through Monday without reaching a verdict.
Leaving court Monday, Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, said that “it is obvious the government’s case is not as simple as they made it [out] to be.”
His comments followed the jury of six women and six men asking the judge for two clarifications — “Does a not guilty verdict on a single count require unanimity?” and “Does intervening in the federal prosecution of Daibes in New Jersey fall under counts 11 and 12 in the indictment?”
The judge responded to the first question, saying “Your vote — whether guilty or not guilty — must be unanimous as to each count and each defendant.”
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The note sheds little light on the potential verdict, but it indicates that jurors are divided on at least one of the 18 counts in the indictment. Menendez is charged with 16 counts, including obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion and honest services wire fraud.
The two counts referenced by the jury charge Menendez and real estate developer Fred Daibes with bribery. They allege Daibes gave Menendez and his wife gold bars and thousands in cash. In return, Menendez allegedly tried to use his influence to nominate a federal prosecutor who he thought could make a bank fraud case against Daibes disappear. They also involve Menendez making public statements in support of Qatar and introducing Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family who invested in his real estate project.
“Intervening in the federal prosecution of Daibes falls within counts 11 and 12, only if the jury concludes that the government has proven each of the elements of counts 11 and 12 beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Sidney Stein wrote back to jurors.
Daibes and Wael Hana, who owns a halal certification company, are on trial with Menendez and have pleaded not guilty.
Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife, was also charged in the alleged scheme, but Stein on Monday postponed her trial indefinitely as she recovers from breast cancer surgery.
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
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