so with the case nearing its close all eyes will be on the jury and the Mounds of evidence they must pour through to come to a decision more than two months of witness testimony and evidence plus 100 pages of jury instruction will be a lot to take in for the jury did the prosecution prove a quid pro quo and how soon could we get a verdict for more insight on what we can expect I'm joined by : Chris Gramiccioni assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey and former Mammoth County prosecutor Chris thanks for joining me great to see you again Raven all right Chris closing arguments have been intense they've taken hours menendez's team took about five hours telling the jury that the prosecution's case is thin is it normal for smmi to go this long and did the defense do enough in its closing arguments to persuade the jury of the Senator's innocence Not Unusual to see closing arguments like this especially considering how long the case took and that it's fairly complex charges as as to what the jury will do we'll have to find out I mean they're going to hear rebuttal from the the United States attorney's office that will directly challenge a lot of the claims and arguments that the each defense Council made and then it'll go to the jury from there you know Chris what do you think will be the key pieces of evidence and testimony that the jury will be focused on during deliberations well I think uh at before they deliberate they're going to be read a series of jury instructions which is basically the law and what has to be proven by the government uh explanations and definitions on certain terminology and certain uh language that's in the charges so they're going to be focused the most impactful evidence in this case as we've always said from day one is the wealth of of valuable things gold bars cash the payments things of values that the Menendez family allegedly received um so there's a big there's going to be a big focus on that the question is once the jury receives the instructions whether the government's been been able to make a connection Beyond a reasonable not to prove that it was the product of this quidd proquo this this illegal bribe scheme or Arrangement or conspiracy that in return for Senator Mendez and his wife getting things of value that Senator would exercise his in official influence or authority to benefit these these Co conspirators as a former prosecutor do you think the government proved a a quid proquo occurred or has the defense effectively argued it was merely the senator acting as a senator so I've been a trial lawyer long enough and I've done enough of these cases where it is not prudent for me to try to guess what a jury might or might not do jur juries are completely unpredictable whether whether people tell you they can or can't kind of anticipate what they're going to do I would tell them that there's a bridge to sell them in Arizona um but here's what I do think I think it's telling that the defense Council for the most part seem to argue the government hasn't met its burden of proving Beyond A Reasonable Doubt there wasn't a lot of specific discussion on granular elements that were not satisfied there wasn't a lot of discussion as I saw it about trying to establish legitimate reasons on why these actions were taken or why this these cash and gold was found in the home there were statements that regard and again the defense doesn't have that burden but I I think it's telling that they just attacked the legal standard I think you're going to see the government come back and just reass you know reassert all of the evidence and how it ties into this close Nexus to show a quid proquo you know Chris it's been a lengthy trial nine weeks 37 Witnesses took the stand with the massive amounts of testimony evidence in front of the jury in your experience how long do you think deliberations in a case like this will take I I I don't even think they're going to sit down and begin to deliberate until at least tomorrow like after the the if not the next not next Monday There's going to be probably a half day of jury instructions that are read so I I I see it going into late next week um perhaps even longer not a quick process at all thank you Chris Gramiccioni, I appreciate the Insight anytime talk to you soon have a good one [Music]