US court upholds conviction of Mexican drug lord El Chapo
A U.S. appeals court has upheld the conviction of the notorious Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The conviction of the notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was upheld Tuesday by a U.S. appeals court that praised the trial judge for his handling of a case that drew international attention.
The decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected claims that Judge Brian Cogan made rulings allowing a jury to hear faulty evidence at Guzman’s 2019 trial.
Cogan “conducted the three-month trial with diligence and fairness, after issuing a series of meticulously crafted pretrial rulings,” the ruling by the panel concluded.
Guzman, 64, was sentenced to life behind bars for a massive drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades.
On appeal, his lawyers had argued that the guilty verdict was tainted because some jurors reportedly sought out news accounts about sex abuse allegations against him that were barred from the trial, and that Cogan erred by not ordering a hearing on the reports.
“The decision seems like it was decided and written before the argument even occurred,” one of Guzman’s lawyers, Jeffrey Lichtman, said in a statement Tuesday. “How can there be justice here when the jury was exposed to scurrilous claims against Mr. Guzman which were not part of the government’s case?”
The appeals court found that Cogan was to correct in finding “that the jury was not prejudiced by any extraneous information to which they might have been exposed.” It added:. “Any possible prejudice was harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence of Guzman’s guilt.
Before the trial in federal court in Brooklyn Guzman had attained near-mythical status by escaping from prison twice in Mexico, the second time through a tunnel dug into the shower of his cell. He was recaptured and sent in 2017 to the United States and put in solitary confinement.
At trial, Guzman the defense argued he was the fall guy for other kingpins who were better at paying off top Mexican politicians and law enforcement officials to protect them.