Defense attorney for Bridget Kelly implored jurors to consider the character of David Wildstein, a guy he called a "maniac."
NEWARK -- And now it's in the hands of jury.
After six weeks and 35 witnesses, the defense and prosecution in the Bridgegate trial finished summations Monday, handing the case over to seven women and five men who will determine the fate of two former Christie administration insiders charged in a bizarre scheme of Jersey-style political retribution.
In a dramatic final day, defense attorney Michael Critchley decried the government's chief witness as someone with "a sick mind" whom he dubbed as the "Bernie Madoff of New Jersey politics."
At the same time, prosecutors, in their rebuttal, told jurors the evidence showed that "when they thought no one else was watching," the two defendants engaged in a scheme to punish a mayor over his failure to support Gov. Chris Christie.
On trial in federal court before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark is Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, along with Bill Baroni, the one-time deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The two are charged with federal crimes for their roles in the September 2013 lane closures that ground Fort Lee to a halt. David Wildstein, a GOP operative and political hire at the Port Authority who was the star witness in the case, said the scheme meant to punish the town's mayor, Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing Christie's successful 2013 re-election bid.
Chritchley, who represents Kelly, offered a full-throttled attack against Wildstein, imploring jurors to consider the character of the main source of the government's case.
"This guy is a maniac," Critchley declared.
At the same time, Critchley, in an impassioned last pitch to jurors, insisted New Jersey's governor was "a liar" who knew about the lane closures a month before the plan was put into motion. Christie, who he said was a "man with unbridled ambition," was protected by his long-time aides at a time when he was considered one of the top Republican presidential contenders.
"The inner circle has collective amnesia," Critchley said, referring to members of Christie's senior staff. "The inner circle, they know what the code is: Chris Christie knows nothing."
But his client knew otherwise, Critchley said.
"That means Bridget Kelly is dangerous," he said because she knew that senior staff also knew about the lane closures.
"Chris Christie, where are you?" Critchley yelled at one point, holding his hands clutched around his mouth to amplify his point.
"Cowards! Cowards!" he exclaimed, referring to the governor and his senior staff members who were never called to testify in the trial.
"Is it too much to ask for them to come in?" Critchley added.
After six weeks of testimony, Critchley hammered at Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to his role in scheme.
He reminded jurors how nearly everyone who testified at the trial who worked with him described Wildstein as a menacing figure, someone who forced Port Authority workers to give him access to their computers and who prompted another employee to have her office swept for bugs.
"Everyone he's dealt with had the same opinion," Critchley said. "He's dangerous (and) he's manipulative."
Wildstein is the admitted architect of the political revenge scheme who was described by Critchley as someone who was eager to please Christie so that he could work on the governor's campaign for president.
"In his sick mind, this is going to advance his cause," Critchley said.
But when the lane closure plan and its political implications became public, Wildstein panicked and reverted to what he knows best, Critchley said: Deception.
"Do you think him facing 15 years in jail is a motive to make this up?" he asked.
"He can't change who he is. He can't change his character. Look at the arch of his life, is it just one isolated incident?" Critchley asked. "(He's) a man who does not know what integrity is."
He added: "He's selling his words to buy freedom."
Critchley also accused Wildstein of having a selective memory.
In August 2013, the day before Kelly sent the now-infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email to Wildstein, he sent her an email. Wildstein wrote he had something to talk to Kelly about, referring to it as "weird, even by my standards."
Kelly told jurors the email was followed up with a phone conversation in which Wildstein laid out a plan to conduct a traffic study looking to increase mainline traffic flow on the George Washington Bridge. Christie could then take credit for faster commuter times into New York City, Kelly said Wildstein told her.
But when Wildstein was asked on the stand about what he meant when he sent Kelly that email, Wildstein drew a blank and said he couldn't remember.
"You think for one minute he doesn't remember? You think for one nanosecond he doesn't remember?" Critchley pressed.
Assistant U.S. attorney Vikas Khanna, in making the government's rebuttal case to the jury, argued that Critchley was trying to distract them from the core of the case.
"Why?" he asked. "Because the evidence against his client is devastating."
Khanna said the evidence presented in he trial was "more than sufficient" to prove Baroni and Kelly guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
He said Wildstein never minimized his own conduct and accepted responsibility for his actions.
The federal prosecutor reiterated arguments that Baroni lied to the legislature about the lane shutdowns, when he testified in November 2013 and claimed it was all part of a traffic study into the "fairness" of having specific toll lanes earmarked for Fort Lee.
"He was hiding the true motivation. That the lane reductions were punitive to punish Mayor Sokolich," Khanna said.
He called Kelly's testimony that she had told the governor and other high-level officials within his office about the traffic study as "just more fiction," and said her testimony was contradicted by six other witnesses, as well as Wildstein.
"Her testimony is just not believable," he said.
The jury spent less than an hour as court exhibits were delivered to the jury room, including iPads with copies of all the emails, texts and other documents. They will return on Tuesday morning as deliberations continue.
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.