NEWARK – It is Day 8 of jury deliberations in Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial, and jurors are back at it for the third day since they declared the panel deadlocked.

Judge William Walls’ instructions to jurors who assembled in his courtroom shortly after 10 a.m. today were simple, and devoid of the desired defense instruction that a hung jury was permissible.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” Walls said. “I ask that you resume your deliberations.”

The jurors then filed back into their chamber, exiting the courtroom even before all of them had made it into the jury box.

Yesterday brought no notes or requests from jurors, some of whom emerged looking worn out at the end of the day. They have deliberated without any word to the judge since a note they were deadlocked, sent at 2 p.m. Monday.

If there is no decision today, it is unlikely jurors would return Friday. Their trial schedule only ran Monday through Thursday, and jurors rejected a request to sit on a Friday for closing arguments two weeks ago.

Menendez and his legal team were in court to watch the jury assemble, then quickly left. The senator has been spending time at his nearby Newark office while the jury deliberates.

His friend and co-defendant Dr. Salomon Melgen was convicted of Medicare fraud in Florida earlier this year and has been in federal custody throughout the trial. Melgen spends the day in a holding cell, emerging when court is called back into session with a wide grin on his face and a wave toward his family seated in the gallery.

*The picture above is of Menendez Defense Attorney Abbe Lowell joking around with reporters after yesterday’s session.