NEWARK -- A prosecutor's line of questioning Monday afternoon in U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's ongoing federal corruption trial focused on the lavish amenities at a high-priced resort.
The "number one" rated golf course in the Caribbean. Miles of sandy beaches and blue ocean. A spa, and a hotel that charges as much as $1,500 a night. Andres Pichardo Rosenberg, the president of the Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, revealed the highlights of the resort under questioning from the prosecution.
Among the resort's features, Pichardo Rosenberg also noted numerous restaurants, a marina and pheasants -- raised from eggs to be shot for sport.
Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Democratic senator's co-defendant in the case, owns a villa on the resort's 7,000-acre property. The two men traveled together to the resort frequently, which prosecutors allege was part of an improper relationship between the two.
Villas near Melgen's, the executive said, "theoretically" range in value from $1.1 million to $2.5 million. Condos in the resort range in value from $500,000 to $40 million.
Prosecutors have accused Menendez of using his political influence to help Melgen, who was convicted in April in a separate Medicare fraud case in Florida, after accepting lavish gifts and large campaign donations from the doctor.
Testimony about the resort made for a light-hearted back-and-forth in court Monday, as presiding Judge William H. Walls urged attorneys on both sides of the courtroom not to go into excessive, unnecessary detail when questioning witnesses.
"I'm sick and tired of listening to this," Walls told the lawyers earlier in the day, indicating he felt prosecutors had wasted too much time asking repetitive questions, and the defense attorneys spend time harping on questions that have already been asked.
In court Monday, Walls abruptly interrupted testimony, sent the jury out of the courtroom, and reprimanded the attorneys, saying he is going to crack down on such lines of questioning.
The lawyers' actions, Walls said, were "insulting not only to the court, but the jury."
"There is too much insulting of the jury being done by both sides in this case."
Heeding Walls' warning, Abbe Lowell -- Menendez's lead defense attorney -- continuously objected to the government's questioning of Pichardo Rosenberg, arguing the detailed descriptions may have been tantalizing to the jury, sitting in a courtroom in New Jersey, but irrelevant, since there is no proof that Menendez used the spa, golf course, or any other amenities while he was there.
When asked directly by defense attorneys about what Menendez did while at the resort, Pichardo Rosenberg could not specifically say the senator actually used any of the expensive perks prosecutors detailed.
A second hotel executive, Alberto Abreu of the Puntacana resort, also testified about a stay Melgen, Menendez and Melgen's wife made at the Tortuga Bay hotel in September 2010. Prosecutors displayed a photo of palm trees along a sandy beach as an example of the view the three would have seen from their two-bedroom "ocean view" suite.
Albreu said that stay was comped by the president of the resort, who had invited Melgen as a guest at his son's wedding. But he testified he couldn't be sure who in the doctor's party was responsible for incidental charges billed to the room, which included rounds of golf and a spa treatment.
The trial continues Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Newark.
Click on the circles in the photos to learn more about the charges in the federal corruption trial.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached by email at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.
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