The legal team for Dr. Salomon Melgen, the co-defendant in the bribery trial of New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, indicated Thursday morning it may to move for a mistrial.
The defense team Thursday attempted to call Perkins Coie attorney Marc Elias — who was retained for a Senate ethics inquiry into Menendez that began in 2012.
Lawyers wanted to put him up to help explain issues surrounding Menendez’s Senate disclosure forms, which prosecutors say failed to include years’ worth of free plane rights the senator took on a wealthy eye doctor’s private jet.
But the prosecution objected to the testimony as inadmissible hearsay and irrelevant, and Judge William Walls agreed after lengthy arguments.
Melgen’s defense attorney Kirk Ogrosky then told Walls he had not spoken to Menendez defense attorney Abbe Lowell, but they may be moving for a mistrial after having reviewed the record in this case and the preclusion of Elias.
“We’ve been precluded from defending the exact charges in this case, at every turn — prosecutors sought to put in trial by assumption and email and not allow us to put in facts where they know they are true,” Ogrosky said.
Prosecutors have accused Menendez of accepting free rides on private jets from Melgen, a wealthy ophthalmologist from Florida, and then failing to report the gifts as part of an effort to conceal their bribery scheme for years. Both men deny all charges.
Earlier Thursday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker testified as character witnesses for Menendez.