Trial enters its seventh week today, jury could get the case Monday afternoon or Tuesday
NEWARK -- In what's expected to be the final day in the George Washington Bridge lane closure trial against two former Gov. Chris Christie allies, federal prosecutors and defense attorneys will have one more chance to make their case to jurors.
Michael Critchley, who's representing Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, is slated to start Monday morning with his closing argument. Part of the evidence against Kelly was an email released in January 2014 -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" -- that rocked Christie's administration.
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Critchley, who has argued his client was duped by the prosecution's star witness, David Wildstein, will be the last person jurors hear from who will offer a counter-argument to the government's case against Kelly and Bill Baroni, the former Port Authority executive.
Then, prosecutors will have one more chance to make their case before jurors begin deliberations.
The final day comes after prosecutors spent most of the day Friday going methodically through the dozens of emails, texts and voluminous testimony at the trial charging the pair with conspiracy and fraud in connection with the 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
Michael Baldassare, who represents Baroni, focused his closing arguments almost entirely on Wildstein.
"They built their case around him," he declared, telling jurors that Wildstein took the stand and admitted from the start that he lied. Baldassare claimed Wildstein would say anything to stay out of jail.
"All you have is his words," he said.
The witnesses jurors never got to hear
Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Kelly, who served as a deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie, are accused of plotting to shut down two out of three local access toll lanes at the bridge to deliberately cause massive traffic backups in Fort Lee. Prosecutors say the plan was intended from the start as political retribution to punish Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor of the borough, over of his refusal to endorse the Republican governor for re-election. At the time, Christie was also seeking to launch a presidential bid and was seeking widespread bi-partisan support.
Wildstein, a GOP operative who was hired to a $150,000-a-year patronage job at the Port Authority, admitted he was the one who came up with the plan.
In all, prosecutors called 21 witnesses to testify against Baroni and Kelly. Defense attorneys put 14 people on the stand, including Kelly and Baroni.
After today, seven women and five men will decide the fate of the pair.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter.