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New York NY, Judge Sidney H. Stein, of the Southern District of New York slated to oversee the bribery trial involving U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, has rejected the defense’s plea to postpone the commencement of jury selection from May to July, as reported by the Associated Press on Thursday.
According to Judge Stein’s directive, the trial is set to commence on May 5 in Manhattan. The New Jersey Democrat, Menendez, will be tried alongside his wife and three businessmen from New Jersey.
The defense had submitted a request for a delay on December 20 through Menendez’s attorneys, Adam Fee and Avi Weitzman. They wrote a letter to the judge seeking a postponement of the trial to “early July 2024” due to the alleged complexity of the case and the substantial volume and timing of the government’s disclosures. The defense claimed they needed additional time to adequately prepare for the trial, citing the receipt of over 6.7 million documents, equivalent to 15 million pages.
However, their request was denied by Judge Stein, who pointed out that prosecutors had forewarned the defense about the substantial volume of evidence when the trial date was originally set in the fall.
Stein concurred with the prosecution, asserting that the amount of evidence provided to the defense aligns with the government’s earlier projections for the trial.
Menendez, along with his wife Nadine and one of the businessmen, faces charges related to an alleged conspiracy involving the illegal use of Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian government.
All five individuals involved in the case are charged with participating in a bribery conspiracy that allegedly provided Menendez and his wife with a luxury car, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold bars and cash. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to these charges.
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