US prosecutors are planning a second trial for Senator Robert Menendez on charges of bribery and corruption following a mistrial due to a hung jury, the Department of Justice said in a court filing on Friday.
“The United States files this notice of intent to retry the defendants and requests that the Court set the case for retrial at the earliest possible date,” the filing signed by Acting Justice Department Public Integrity Chief AnnaLou Tirol said. “The first trial ended in a mistrial with a deadlocked jury.”
Menendez is accused of accepting lavish gifts from co-defendant Salomon Melgen, a physician, in exchange for political favors — charges that the defense denied throughout the ten-week trial that ended in November.
At the time, one juror told reporters that the jury was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal, saying the prosecution had not proved its case, according to published reports.
Menendez is campaigning for a third, six-year term in the US Senate, with elections slated for November 2018.