DAY THIRTY-FOUR

Twelve jurors will return to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday morning to resume deliberations in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.  The jury went three hours on Friday and seven hours today without reaching a verdict.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  In a democracy, you only need 8.3% of the vote to win a hung jury. 

DAYS SINCE THE INDICTMENT: 296

DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S LAST CRIMINAL TRIAL ENDED: 2,431

DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S CURRENT CRIMINAL TRIAL BEGAN: 64

MISSED VOTES: 45
Due to the Republican National Convention, there are no votes scheduled for this week.

To refresh your recollection: in Bob Menendez’s 2017 corruption trial, the jury deliberated for four days before declaring themselves a hung jury.  Ten of the twelve jurors (83%) thought Menendez was innocent.  The judge declared a mistrial, the Justice Department dropped the charges, and eleven points re-elected Menendez against an opponent who put nearly $40 million of his own money into the race. 

And in case you’re keeping track: it’s been 43 years and 73  days since a United States Senator from New Jersey was last convicted of accepting a bribe.

WHAT DID MENENDEZ SAY: “It is obvious the government’s case is not as simple as they made it out to be.”

NOTES FOR SIDNEY
— No verdict after second day of deliberations in Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial from New Jersey Monitor’s Dana DiFilippo: “Jurors sent three notes to Judge Sidney H. Stein Monday with brief questions.  They asked whether a not-guilty verdict on a single count requires unanimity and whether counts 11 and 12 of the 18-count indictment covered Menendez’s alleged intervention in the federal bank fraud case of Fred Daibes, one of his five co-defendants. The answer was yes to both.  In a third note, they requested a 10-minute fresh-air break on the courthouse’s eighth-floor balcony.”

ANSWERS FROM SIDNEY
— Jury finishes 2nd day of deliberations without a verdict at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial from News 12’s Chris Keating: “After conferring with attorneys for the defense and prosecution, Judge Stein answered, ‘Yes, only if the jury concludes the government proved each element of 11 and 12 beyond a reasonable doubt.’”

WHAT THE STAR-LEDGER IS WORKING ON
— Stanley has a new Quencher tumbler color drop coming and it’s an artistic masterpiece from NJ.com’s Dawn Magyar: “While it’s been a hot minute since Stanley dropped a new Quencher Tumbler color, it’s (sic) next release is truly a piece of art. Stanley has teamed up with Asian-American illustrator and muralist Stevie Shao on a brand new Quencher design that will drop on July 16 at 12 p.m. ET for $45. The vivid illustrative design is a departure from Stanley’s usual bold tumbler drops with images inspired by folklore and nature from Shao’s childhood. The brilliant garden motif and logo design is set against a black backdrop in Stanley’s 40 oz Quencher Tumbler size for $45.”

* Jurors in Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial in deliberations for 2nd day

* Jury in Sen. Menendez corruption trial to resume deliberations Tuesday

* Jury finishes 2nd day of deliberations without a verdict at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial

SENATOR ON TRIAL:  DAY ONE | DAY TWO | DAY THREE | DAY FOUR | DAY FIVE | DAY SIX | DAY SEVEN | DAY EIGHT | DAY NINE | DAY TEN | DAY ELEVEN | DAY TWELVE | DAY THIRTEEN | DAY FOURTEEN | DAY FIFTEEN | DAY SIXTEEN | DAY SEVENTEEN | DAY EIGHTEEN | DAY NINETEEN | DAY NINETEEN (AND A QUARTER) | DAY TWENTY | DAY TWENTY-ONE | DAY TWENTY-TWO | DAY TWENTY-THREE | DAY TWENTY-FOUR | DAY TWENTY-FIVE | DAY TWENTY-SIX | DAY TWENTY-SEVEN | DAY TWENTY-EIGHT | DAY TWENTY-NINE | DAY THIRTY | DAY THIRTY-ONE | DAY THIRTY-TWO | DAY THIRTY-THREE

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A third person has been arrested in connection with a shooting in Jersey City Heights in April in which one man died and two people were wounded.

This past Thursday, July 11, Freddie Castro, 21, of Union City was arrested in Kissimmee, Fla. by members of the United States Marshals Service Florida/Caribbean Division in coordination with the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, said Hudson County prosecutors.

Castro was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault, and weapons charges. He will be detained at the Osceola County Corrections Department pending extradition to New Jersey, prosecutors said.

At approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 7, 2024, the Jersey City Police Department was notified of shots fired in the area of Central Avenue and Bowers Street. Upon arrival, officers located two victims with apparent gunshot wounds and both were transported to Jersey City Medical Center.

Freddie Posey, 25, of Jersey City was pronounced dead shortly after 9:30 p.m.

A 30-year-old Jersey City female was treated for a non-life threatening injury. A third victim, a 24-year-old Jersey City male, self-transported to University Hospital in Newark with a non-life threatening injury, prosecutors said.

Two additional defendants were previously arrested in connection with the shooting. READ MORE: Fugitive Arrested After Triple Shooting In Jersey City Heights

The shooting came after a party that night, a Jersey City councilman said. READ MORE: Jersey City Heights Shooting Came After Party

“I have been in constant contact with the officials so as to ensure the residents of the Heights are safe, that we have all the resources needed in Ward D, and that the suspects are brought to justice,” said Councilman Yousef Saleh at the time.

Ever heard of the State Wildlife Action Plan – or its more common name, “SWAP”? The same way a budgeting app lets you know you’re spending too much and should start saving now so you don’t starve later, a SWAP compels state leaders to compile a list of species whose ranks are thinning, and to make a plan to do something about it. The idea is the same: act now, stave off dire consequences later.

Every state, plus a few territories and Washington, D.C., has a SWAP. A coordinated effort to craft them got liftoff in 2000, when Congress recognized that there’s value, economic and otherwise, in proactively addressing the needs of species before they’re officially labeled threatened or endangered. SWAPs have since become our nation’s blueprint for keeping an eye on wildlife species that are declining but not yet classified as in trouble.

There’s now a chance to weigh in on a 2025 revision of New Jersey’s SWAP. Last year, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish and Wildlife division opened a bid for public comments on our SWAP’s list of animals that fit the category of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). Until July 12, they’re accepting public input, via their website, about plant and fungi species they’ve identified as SGCNs. What they’re looking for: Insights on species that might have been overlooked and thoughts on how we can better conserve the plants and fungi that need conserving (general comments are also welcome). So far, Fish and Wildlife has combed through more than 50 such comments, said Kim Korth, Fish and Wildlife’s SWAP coordinator.

You don’t need to be a biologist, conservationist, or even a nature lover to understand why gathering a wide swath of input on New Jersey’s vulnerable flora and fauna matters. A meticulously crafted SWAP, with input from stakeholders from a range of backgrounds, is good for people and business as well as plants and other animals.

Recovering a fish species by restoring a wetland, for example, not only benefits that species but can improve local water quality, protect the nearby community from flooding, and create jobs. On the other hand, if a species is in such bad shape it qualifies for the emergency room measures of the endangered list, it’s more difficult, and more expensive, to recover.

Fish and Wildlife’s callout in May for input on plants and fungi is its third public appeal for suggestions for the 2025 SWAP, and it won’t be the last. Korth expects the next opportunity for public comment to be announced on the division’s website this fall. The final draft will likely be shared with the public for comment by May 2025, she said. The timing of these callouts isn’t random. Next year, states are required to submit their revised plans to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a precondition for receiving funds from the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program.

The appeal to the public to get involved reflects the scope of the current revision. “It’s pretty major,” Korth said. “We’re putting into play comments we’ve been receiving since 2018,” when the last big revision was submitted. Since then, “there’s been a lot of feedback about what needs to be improved.” Another reason the revision is weightier than in past years: Until now, plants and fungi have been excluded from the SGCN list!

Their addition to the revised SWAP has been in the works for years. “It was a vision we wanted to include in the last revision,” Korth said, but the department lacked the resources. Now, “more states, especially in the Northeast, are adding them. We’ve gotten better at this.”

In 2025, animals like the bog turtle and the Eastern box turtle — both dwindling, both critical parts of their ecosystems —will be joined by 100 vascular plant species (Pickering’s Morning Glory, Hirst Brothers’ Panic Grass, the rare orchid Small Whorled Pogonia, Broom Crowberry, Bog Rosemary, and Wild Bleeding-heart are examples), 17 non-vascular plant species (such as Florida Largeleaf Peat Moss), and 11 species of fungi.

Korth and her team will address what she called “actions” to protect the SGCNs as the SWAP revision rolls on. “We’re focused on habitat improvement and threats to habitats,” she said. For example, crabbing is a threat to diamondback terrapins, so Fish and Wildlife might ask for input from recreational and commercial crabbers. “And illegal poaching and collecting is a threat to all our turtles, so there will be an action that manages that.” One more action she’s looking forward to implementing is connectivity. “Basically, animals need to move, and for that they need connected habitats. That’s a huge issue for us in New Jersey.”

The implementation of the new SWAP could be huge for New Jersey. “If this revision can help us focus the efforts of our conservation partners, and if we can collectively focus our time, money, and talents on actions that will make a difference, we can really improve the outcome for these species in the next 10 years,” Korth said.

To find out more about New Jersey’s SWAP, and to get updates on calls seeking public comments, go to https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/news-2024-05-21-njdep-fish-and-wildlife-seeks-public-comment-on-the-list-of-rare-plant-and-fungi-species-of-greatest-conservation-need-sgcn/#:~:text=NJDEP%20Fish%20%26%20Wildlife%20(NJFW),costly%20to%20protect%20or%20restore.

And for information about preserving New Jersey’s land and natural resources, visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org.