'El Chapo' jurors appear to focus on top U.S. charge; no verdict

[webfact 35,643]

'El Chapo' jurors appear to focus on top U.S. charge; no verdict

By Gabriella Borter and Jonathan Stempel

 

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers during a presentation in Mexico City, Jan. 8, 2016. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/File Photo

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The jury weighing the fate of accused Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman on Monday appeared focussed on the main charge against him, whether he engaged in a continuing crime spree that could land him in prison for life.

 

Jurors left the federal courtroom in Brooklyn after failing to reach a verdict in their fifth day of deliberations, which began on Feb. 4. They are expected to resume deliberations on Tuesday morning.

 

Guzman faces 10 criminal counts related to what prosecutors say is his trafficking tons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the United States as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, named for his home state in northwestern Mexico.

 

The defendant escaped twice from maximum-security Mexican prisons before his most recent capture, in January 2016. He was extradited to the United States a year later. Small in stature, Guzman's nickname means "Shorty."

 

On Monday, the jury reheard or were given testimony from two federal officials who testified during Guzman's trial, which began three months ago.

 

Jurors also asked the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan, whether they had to agree unanimously that the government had proven, or not proven, Guzman's criminal responsibility for individual drug shipments.

 

Cogan directed them to review his earlier jury instructions for an answer.

 

The requests suggest that jurors might be focussed on the first and most complex of the counts Guzman faces, whether he had been "engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise."

 

That count includes 26 different alleged drug violations, many involving tons of cocaine, and calls for jurors to decide whether Guzman was criminally responsible for three or more as part of a "continuing series of violations."

 

The defence has said Guzman was set up as a "fall guy" by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a Sinaloa drug kingpin who remains at large. Prosecutors have said Guzman and Zambada were partners.

 

More than 50 witnesses testified during the trial, including 14 former Guzman associates who agreed to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors.

 

The cooperators offered detailed accounts of the Sinaloa Cartel's inner workings and Guzman's purported role as boss, including his penchant for murdering his enemies.

 

(Reporting By Gabriella Borter and Jonathan Stempel in New York; additional reporting by Brendan Pierson; editing by Grant McCool)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-12

[catman20 4,141]

5 days hahaha i cant see how he can get a not guilty this little rat has been around dealing in drugs and killing innocent people for years. 

Edited February 12 by catman20

[Proboscis 683]

1 hour ago, catman20 said:

5 days hahaha i cant see how he can get a not guilty this little rat has been around dealing in drugs and killing innocent people for years. 

Yes, but can you prove it to a legal standard?

[Tug 2,502]

Guzman bribed big time big money he also killed many people in painful ways how would you like to be a juror think about it I’m sure that one way or another he has got to one or more jurors I’m thinking a hung jury

[catman20 4,141]

53 minutes ago, Proboscis said:

Yes, but can you prove it to a legal standard?

OK im all for a fare trial .................but come on the whole world knows hes guilty. i will tell you 1 more thing that man what every happens will never see the light of day outside a jail.

[Trouble 1,551]

It would not have taken me much more than an day to find him guilty.  He's one bad hombre.

[giddyup 11,579]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

5 days hahaha i cant see how he can get a not guilty this little rat has been around dealing in drugs and killing innocent people for years. 

If OJ can get off anyone can.

[catman20 4,141]

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

If OJ can get off anyone can.

555555555 forgot about him good point. 

[Liverpudlian 98]

keeps the forum knitting needles busy ey ! gotta thank him for that at least.

[TPI 1,071]

To think how he has survived, against who he manoeuvred against, the people who wanted him dead...the man, right or wrong, is a legend! 

[spidermike007 15,835]

The defense presented a 30 minute argument, and the jury is deadlocked for five days. I have been saying it for a long time, and I will say it once again. The judicial system in the US is broken, just like the government, the culture, many of the people, and many aspects of life. It is a rather sorry, and sad place, at this point in time. It is sad watching the end of an empire. There is no making America great again. Great slogan, though. 

[Prissana Pescud 578]

What a total joke US is. The world is so laughing at you guys.

Putin has better standards and he is lower than a centipede with no legs.

[Prissana Pescud 578]

5 hours ago, Prissana Pescud said:

What a total joke US is. The world is so laughing at you guys.

Putin has better standards and he is lower than a centipede with no legs.

After the scum rises to the top, it slowly sinks and pollutes. Yay USA

[Bluespunk 42,331]

20 hours ago, TPI said:

To think how he has survived, against who he manoeuvred against, the people who wanted him dead...the man, right or wrong, is a legend! 

He’s scum.