Washington – The US Attorney’s Office today announced its rejection of the request of the lawyers of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo, to repeat the trial in which he was convicted in February.
This request responded to journalistic information that points out that several members of the jury violated the prohibition to inform themselves in social networks and media about the process of which they were forming part.
In his brief filed today, the deadline set by the judge, the prosecutors argued that this information, published by Vice, is not demonstrable, so the trial should not be repeated.
They argued that Chapo’s petition “is based solely on an article with an anonymous source published without corroboration”: “There is no indication that any member of the jury lied to the court to hide any bias on the accused.”
“As Vice’s article does not raise the problem that the accused is innocent and that the jury has wrongly condemned him, a new trial is not justified,” they added.
One of Chapo’s attorneys, Jeffrey Lichtman, said the prosecution is “desperate to avoid a hearing that includes testimony from jurors.”
“They know perfectly well that it will reveal that the jurors systematically lied to the judge about not following media coverage during the trial.” The Chapo case has been nothing more than a glorified Inquisition and the Government’s refusal to simply listen to jurors. it shows, “he added.
Chapo Guzmán was convicted in February of 10 drug crimes by a jury that he deliberated for six days, in a process that lasted almost four months.
During that process, the magistrate recalled that the jurors could not inform themselves about the case against the Mexican drug trafficker through the press or social networks so as not to contaminate themselves at the time of deliberation, which some would have done according to the interview under anonymity. published by Vice.
The reading of the sentence against Chapo is scheduled for next June 25. (EFE)
