Connect with us

New Jersey

Jury selection starts in Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption trial • New Jersey Monitor

Published

on

Jury selection starts in Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption trial • New Jersey Monitor


Eight months after federal authorities indicted Sen. Bob Menendez in a wide-ranging corruption scheme, his trial got off to a slow start in Manhattan Monday, with the federal judge excusing almost a third of the 150 potential jurors called.

U.S. Judge Sidney Stein warned them the trial could last into the first week of July and briefly summarized the accusations in prosecutors’ 18-count indictment against New Jersey’s senior senator. Prosecutors say the senator accepted gold bars, cash, a luxury car, and more as bribes from three businessmen to disrupt several criminal probes and prosecutions, steer military arms and aid to Egypt, help one land a lucrative deal with a Qatari investor, help another gain a monopoly on meat imports to Egypt, and conspired to cover it all up as investigators closed in.

When the judge subsequently asked which potential jurors had substantial reasons they could not serve, dozens of hands shot up, and they were called one by one into a separate room for questioning by Stein and two members each of the prosecution and defense teams.

Some of those who sought an out cited scheduling conflicts, travel plans, and work or family obligations, while others told Stein they could not be fair. Some had very specific excuses. One juror told Stein he has an extreme fear of heights (Stein’s courtroom is on the 23rd floor, with windows overlooking the city).

Advertisement

Another said she has a trip scheduled to Europe later this month and plans to see Bruce Springsteen in Spain.

Stein noted that Springsteen recently announced new tour dates.

“You could catch him, probably in Giants Stadium,” he said.

Another potential juror told Stein she’s a housing attorney who gets “worked up” when she hears about public corruption and called the case “triggering.”

Another said she recently became a children’s librarian in Greenwich, Connecticut, and fretted about a lengthy trial’s impact on her job, as she hasn’t passed her probationary period there. That prompted Stein to rhapsodize about being a children’s librarian in another life.

Advertisement

“I’m telling you, that’s what I would do, children’s librarian,” he said.

Back in the courtroom, Menendez sat alone at a defense table and stared forward silently, his fingers steepled in front of him in the hushed courtroom. His co-defendants, businessman Wael Hana and real estate developer Fred Daibes, sat beside their attorneys at a separate table.

By mid-afternoon, Stein had excused 38 jurors from an initial pool of 100 and called another 50 people in for questioning. About a dozen are expected to be excused from that last batch when the initial round of questioning wraps up Tuesday.

It was an anticlimactic start for a trial that promises plenty of drama, given the more salacious parts of prosecutors’ indictment and the details that have emerged since — that the bribes typically went to and through the senator’s wife, Nadine; that he probably will blame her; that he used his powerful position as head of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to act as a foreign agent; and that he may explain his hoarded riches as a trauma response to his father’s suicide and his family’s refugee experience.

The senator, his attorneys at his side, breezed past a mob of photographers and television journalists Monday morning on his way into the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse, just two blocks from where former President Trump’s trial is unfolding.

Advertisement

He wore a navy suit with his Senate pin on the lapel and went through security like everyone else, doffing his belt before walking through the metal detector. In the courtroom, he smiled and chatted with his attorneys as they waited for proceedings to start.

Before calling in prospective jurors, Stein scolded attorneys who filed a flurry of briefs and motions over the weekend.

“There’s been too much gamesmanship here, and I want it to end now,” he barked. “Everybody has to operate in good faith here. I’m not sure I’ve seen it.”

The trial resumes Tuesday morning, with attorneys expected to pick a jury from the remaining 100 or so potential jurors by interrogating them further on everything from their understanding of halal food to their thoughts on keeping cash at home instead of in a bank account to their perceptions of New Jersey residents, politicians, wealthy people, immigrants, Coptic Christians, Egypt, and more.

Advertisement

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Advertisement



Source link

New Jersey

Dan Levy’s new Netflix comedy ‘Big Mistakes’ was filmed at these New Jersey locations

Published

on

Dan Levy’s new Netflix comedy ‘Big Mistakes’ was filmed at these New Jersey locations


Filming Big Mistakes in New Jersey was no mistake at all.

The Netflix comedy series, which debuted earlier this month, has already hit the streaming service’s Global Top 10 English TV List, making it one of the most-watched shows out right now.

As per Netflix, the comedy series co-created, executive produced, written and starring Emmy winner Dan Levy, follows Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega), two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organized crime. Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle. The dark comedy, which has only eight episodes, has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes so far. 

RECOMMENDED: Where was ‘Beef’ season 2 filmed? Behind the locations of the dark Netflix comedy

Advertisement

Set in the fictional New Jersey suburb of Glenview, the series was fittingly filmed primarily in numerous towns and cities in New Jersey, including Caldwell, Cranford, Franklin Lakes, Irvington, Jersey City, Union, Warren and Weehawken for a total of 40 filming locations. (The cartel storyline in Episode 7 was shot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where its coastline and architecture doubled as Miami’s waterfront, luxury estates and yacht life.)

“I’ve really enjoyed shooting in New Jersey,” location manager Mia Thompson said. “We have quite a number of recurring locations that have all just been wonderful—not only the home owners, but the business owners, the towns, the local police, the local fire departments, the town clerks. It’s been a really great experience.”

More than 300 cast and crew and 500 vendors took part in the production. Ortega, who plays Morgan, is actually a New Jersey native and was surprised to film in her backyard.

“It was surreal getting to film in my home state,” she said. “I grew up in New Jersey and was obsessed with film and television and never thought I’d be returning home for such a major project and moment in my life.”

The show filmed the scenes at Morelli’s Hardware, run by Nicky and Morgan’s mom (Laurie Metcalf), at Edison Millwork & Hardware, a more than 50-year-old, family-owned hardware store in Edison.

Advertisement
Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes filmed at a mom-and-pop hardware store in New Jersey

“It’s one of the few mom and pop hardware stores that are left anywhere, really, so it was really great to find this location that fits very perfectly with our story,” Thompson said.

The show was also filmed at Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn—the backdrop for Nicky’s day job as a pastor and his living space. 

Big Mistakes filmed at a real church in New Jersey. Dan Levy is pictured behind the camera in his pastor costume
Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes filmed at a real church in New Jersey

“We’ve utilized every inch of space of that church inside and out,” said Thompson. “They’ve enjoyed the experience just as much as we have.”

Other spots they filmed at include Deerfield School, Essex County Airport, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Hatfield Swamp, Springfield Municipal Building and the Crystal Inn in Eatontown.

Big Mistakes on location at the inn
Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes on location at the inn

“One thing about New Jersey is that it’s so diverse. The various neighborhoods offer different kinds of looks and aesthetics,” said Thompson. “You have everything that you could ask for.”

See Jersey in all eight episodes, streaming now on Netflix.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

New Jersey

ACLU featured at Bruce Springsteen No Kings show in New Jersey

Published

on

ACLU featured at Bruce Springsteen No Kings show in New Jersey


play

There will be No Kings at the Monday, April 20 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at the Prudential Center in Newark but the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey will be there.

The group will be the “featured organization” for the New Jersey stop of the band’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour.

Advertisement

“We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen to advocate for the rights and freedoms that all people deserve,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha in statement. “This moment requires all of us, and we are grateful to Bruce, who is using his platform to fight against authoritarianism and for our rights. We share a love for New Jersey and a desire to make the Garden State safer and freer for everyone who calls it home. Our team is thrilled to connect with everyone who shares our mission to protect and defend civil liberties, and who knows the power that art and music have to change the world.”

Springsteen said the American Dream is under attack by “our wannabe king and his rogue government” when he announced the tour on Feb. 17. Promotional posters for the tour features the phrase “No Kings,” a reflection of the national anti-President Donald Trump protests that have taken place in the last year.

The tour kickoff was March 31 at the Target Center in Minneapolis and it included 27 songs over three hours. The show also featured some direct talk from Springsteen on the state of the country. The setlist included the newly composed “Streets of Minneapolis,” written after the fatal shooting by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti of Minneapolis in January.

Advertisement

ACLU-NJ representatives will be at the Prudential Center to talk to concertgoers about its work. The American Civil Liberties Union previously released an ad with the Springsteen classic “Born in the U.S.A.” featured on the eve of the Supreme Court case where the ACLU is challenging the President Trump’s executive order attempting to overturn the current interpretation of 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ legal status.

Visit www.aclu-nj.org for more info on the ACLU-NJ.

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

New Jersey

NJ Lottery Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Sunday, April 19

Published

on


The New Jersey Lottery offers multiple draw games for people looking to strike it rich.

Here’s a look at April 19, 2026, results for each game:

Pick-3

Midday: 8-7-3, Fireball: 9

Advertisement

Evening: 5-0-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick-4

Midday: 4-7-7-9, Fireball: 9

Evening: 5-9-7-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Advertisement

Jersey Cash 5

20-25-35-38-45, Xtra: 35

Check Jersey Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Millionaire for Life

32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Quick Draw

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

Advertisement

Cash Pop

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the New Jersey Lottery drawings held?

  • Pick-3: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-4: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Jersey Cash 5: 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-6: 10:57 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Jersey Sr Breaking News Editor. You can send feedback using this form.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending