美國紐約：因陪審員被困電梯，參議員Bob Menendez受賄一案休庭一周

由于陪審員被困電梯，對參議員Bob Menendez的審判暫停一周

　　紐約(美聯社)——周二，對參議員Bob Menendez受賄一案的審判進入了為期一周的休庭，此前一天，聯邦法院的陪審員們在聽取控方關于賄賂案的陳述后，因溢水被迫撤離會議室，而后被困在電梯里。

　　法官Sidney H. Stein說，原本預計僅需十分鐘的午間休息，卻因電梯故障導致陪審員被困，整個過程持續了近半小時。

　　電梯故障發生時，陪審員們正乘電梯前往另一間會議室，因為原定周一使用的會議室因周末忘記關閉水龍頭，導致會議室的地毯被浸濕。在陪審員獲救后，Stein法官幽默地提醒他們：“下次別再擠在同一部電梯里了。”

　　在這一意外發生之際，檢察官正逐步通過證據構建對這位民主黨參議員的指控，力求說服陪審團認定Menendez及其兩位共同被告——兩位新澤西州商人——有罪。檢方聲稱，這兩名商人向Menendez行賄，包括金條、數十萬美元現金和一輛豪車。

　　現年70歲的Menendez來自新澤西州的恩格爾伍德懸崖(Englewood Cliffs)，他與兩位商人的辯護律師均堅稱Menendez無罪，并指責政府企圖將政治家與其支持者之間的正常互動定性為犯罪行為。

Trial of Sen. Bob Menendez takes a weeklong break after jurors get stuck in elevator

　　NEW YORK (AP) — The trial of Sen. Bob Menendez grinded to a weeklong break on Tuesday after federal court jurors who were treated to a brick-by-brick build of the prosecution’s bribery case got stuck in an elevator a day after they were forced from their usual assembly room because of flooding.

　　Judge Sidney H. Stein said jurors were trapped in an elevator for several minutes during what was supposed to be a 10-minute late-afternoon break that lasted almost a half hour.

　　The elevator breakdown came as jurors were shuttled between floors to an assembly room because carpeting in their usual assembly room just outside the courtroom was found to be soaked on Monday after somebody left sink faucets on over the weekend. As jurors left for the day, Stein humorously warned them: “Don’t all get into one elevator.”

　　The mishap came on a day when prosecutors slowly tried to build their case against the Democrat with evidence they hoped would score points with jurors against Menendez and his two co-defendants — two New Jersey businessmen who the government claims paid him bribes consisting of gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a car.

　　Lawyers for Menendez, 70, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and the businessmen say their clients are not guilty and that the government is trying to turn common interactions between a politician and his constituents into crimes.