On Monday, Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez saw his criminal trial suspended for an entire week, only five days after opening statements.
The court attributed the delay to flooding and a malfunctioned elevator.
Someone reportedly left the courthouse’s faucets running over the weekend, and on Monday, the jurors arrived at an assembly room full of soaked carpeting.
The jurors began moving to a new assembly room, when they became stuck in an elevator for several minutes, according to the judge.
Judge Sidney H. Stein called a 10-minute, late-afternoon break… only to see it last about 30 minutes amid the elevator woes.
The judge called a weeklong break after that. He warned the jurors on their way out, “Don’t all get into one elevator.”
By Monday, prosecutors had slowly been trying to build their case against the New Jersey senator. They’ve accused Menendez and his two co-defendants of taking bribes in the form of cash, cars, and — most infamously — gold bars.
Prosecutors have accused Menendez of taking a bribe to allow one codefendant a lucrative monopoly on meat inspection.
The senator has pleaded not guilty, and his defense team has described these interactions as normal politics, not part of a criminal enterprise. He’s also accused his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, of accepting the gifts without his knowledge.
Arslanian Menendez saw her trial postponed due to a medical issue, and she’s set for a court date this summer.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.