NEWARK, N.J. _ Defense attorneys for two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie asked a federal judge on Wednesday to reconsider a jury instruction they say is critical in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure case.
In order to find Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni guilty of conspiracy, their attorneys said in a motion filed Wednesday, jurors must find that the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants intended to punish a mayor when they allegedly caused massive traffic jams near the bridge in September 2013.
Michael Critchley Sr., Kelly's attorney, filed the motion a day after U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton instructed jurors that they could convict Kelly and Baroni of conspiring to misuse Port Authority resources without also finding they were "intentionally punitive toward" Fort Lee Mayor Sokolich.
"This is not a murder or kidnapping case, in which it matters not why the defendant committed the crime provided it is proven that he did do so," Critchley wrote. "Rather, it is a misapplication case, in which to prove the crime required the government to prove the improper purpose of punishment."
The grand jury indictment of Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Baroni, Christie's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, says the purpose of the conspiracy was to "misuse Port Authority property to facilitate and conceal the causing of traffic problems in Fort Lee as punishment of Mayor Sokolich."
Prosecutors say Kelly, Baroni, and former Port Authority official David Wildstein conspired to punish Sokolich for his refusal to endorse Christie's re-election campaign. Wildstein pleaded guilty last year.
Wigenton has twice ruled in favor of the government that the alleged purpose of the crime _ punishment _ is a matter of motive that prosecutors do not need to prove.
Neither the government nor Wigenton had responded to Critchley's motion as of late Wednesday afternoon.
Jurors left the courthouse around 2 p.m. on the second day of deliberations and are expected to resume Thursday. They heard testimony for six weeks.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys walked in and out of Wigenton's courtroom at least a half-dozen times but declined to speak with reporters.
Security guards refused to allow reporters or other members of the public to enter the courtroom.
A spokeswoman for the judge said that attorneys were "dealing with a legal issue" and that their discussions were under seal.
