Attorneys for the former Port Authority executive repeatedly told jurors they would hear directly from the defendant.
NEWARK -- After four weeks of testimony, Bill Baroni took the stand Monday to refute charges that he used the the world's busiest bridge as a tool of political retribution.
The former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, Baroni, 44, is accused of using his position to shut down several local access toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge to cause massive traffic jams in Fort Lee in a scheme to punish Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich over his refusal to endorse Gov. Chris Christie for re-election.
Wearing a blue suit and a green tie, Baroni was the first witness of the day. He began his testimony by speaking about his Irish birth mother giving him up for adoption in Jacksonville, Fl. He continued with testimony about growing up in Hamilton, N.J.
Baroni is charged along with Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, with nine counts of conspiracy and fraud in connection with the unauthorized toll lane closures that led to nearly total gridlock on Fort Lee streets over a four-day period in September 2013.
David Wildstein, a high-level patronage appointee to the Port Authority and admitted mastermind of the apparently rogue political operation, has already pleaded guilty.
Attorneys for both defendants in the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal had repeatedly told jurors they would hear directly from Baroni and Kelly.
"By the way, just so we're clear, and as you hear what the evidence is going to show, Bill Baroni is going to testify in his own defense," said defense attorney Michael Baldassare on the first day of the trial. "I guarantee you 100 percent, I'm saying it here in open court, Bill is going to sit in that witness box and tell you what happened."
Jurors have already sat through eight days of testimony by Wildstein, a one-time political blogger and Republican operative who served as Baroni's deputy at the Port Authority. He directly implicated Baroni and Kelly.
Wildstein said he knew that the elimination of several toll lanes at the bridge service local traffic coming out of Fort Lee would back up traffic, causing massive gridlock. He said he saw it as a "leverage point" that could be against Sokolich.
They have also already heard from Baroni himself as well, after prosecutors rested their case by showing a video of his combative November 2013 testimony before a legislative committee investigating the lane closures, claiming it was all part of a traffic study examining the "fairness" of dedicating special toll lanes just for Fort Lee traffic.
That video came on the heels of testimony from the mayor of Fort Lee who said his repeated calls to the Port Authority were never returned. Wildstein told the jurors that he instructed Baroni to respond to any queries about the traffic with "radio silence." He also said it was Baroni who came up with the idea of scheduling the lane closures on the first day of school.
Defense attorneys, however, have attacked Wildstein as a habitual liar, and say he was the one pulling the strings. Baldassare told jurors that Wildstein was sent to the Port Authority to keep an eye on Baroni.
"He was known as the enforcer," he said.
Christie has denied any involvement in the scheme, which came to light as the governor was preparing his ill-fated run for president.
Baldassare has sought to portray Baroni as too busy and too trusting of Wildstein, who he has repeatedly characterized as a "mean, vicious guy" who was put at the Port Authority to carry out the governor's agenda.
Baroni, a one-time rising star in the Republican Party who served seven years in the Legislature, was named by Christie in February 2010 to represent New Jersey's interests at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the metropolitan region's mass transit, major airports, river crossings and seaports.
When the governor announced the $289,667-a-year appointment, he told a Statehouse news conference that he wanted leadership there.
"I need someone I can count on to make sure we deal with all the complex transportation issues and the significant opportunities for funding projects in the state of New Jersey," said the governor.
Staff writer Mark Mueller contributed to this report.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.