Newark federal Judge William Walls told a deadlocked jury overseeing the bribery trial of Sen. Robert Menendez to keep de𓆏liberating — and suggested he might not let them go without a verdict anytime soon.
“Take as much time as you need to discuss things,” the famously ornery judge said. “There is no hurry. This is not reality TV. This is real life.”
Walls made the comments after a newly formed jury in the case — following the dismissal last week of a juror for a long-plann🃏ed vacation — said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on any of th𝓡e charges.
The jury made the comment Monday after just a few hours of deliberating. It was the latest sign of tension in the jury room following comments last week from the dismissed juror, Evelyn Arroyo-Maultsby, who predicted a deadloc𓃲k on her way out of court.
“It looks like a hung jury,” Arroyo-Maultsby, 61, told reporters Thursday🍨 after three days of deliberations.
She was replaced by an alternate juror before deliberations began anew Monday — but that didn’t appear to resolve the jury’s inability to come to a consensus.
On Tuesday, Walls reminded the newly formed jury that they’re not the first to butt heads. He told them to discuss their views with one another — but also to stand by their convictions.
“I realize you’re having difficulty reaching a unanimous agreement, but that’s really not unusual,” Walls said before sending the panelists to the jury room around 10 a.m.
“It’s your duty, as jurors, to consult with one another and to deliberate,” he said. “But do not surrender your honest conviction … solely because of the opinion of your fellow jurors or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict.”
Menendez stands accused of engaging in a years-long bribery scheme with his rich eye doctor pal Salomon Melgen.
He faces decades in prison♏ if convicted and could be voted out of the Senate as well.