El Chapo Already Has A Jury

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

After three days of selection in which a hundred candidates were questioned, the prosecution and the defense of Joaquín el Chapo Guzmán finally found this Wednesday the 12 juries who, over the next few months, will judge the Mexican capo, once the most wanted man on the planet.

The 12 chosen, in addition to six substitutes, will remain anonymous for the duration of the process and will be escorted daily by federal bailiffs on their way to and from the Brooklyn federal court where the trial will take place starting next Tuesday..

What is known is that there are seven women and five men, according to the five journalists who were allowed to attend the selection process that took place without an audience in Judge Cogan's room on the eighth floor of the court..

According to the report of these informants, most of those selected said during their questioning at the hands of the defense, the prosecution and the judge that they had heard about El Chapo in the news. One of the selected women burst into tears knowing that she would have to serve in this trial, one of the most important in the history of the fight against drug trafficking.

But Judge Cogan refused to dismiss her despite her reaction and that the woman told her that her coworkers had imagined that the case to which they had called her was that of the Mexican drug trafficker. "I don't consider it a sufficient impediment," he said.

The defense shared the judge's decision on the grounds that it would set a bad precedent if the woman was ruled out for crying.

There are four juries who speak Spanish, three are immigrants and several have ties to the security forces and bodies, including one who is a retired prison guard.

Among the potential jurors who did not pass the selection there is one who asked for an autograph of the accused, another who could be easily identified as being a Michael Jackson impersonator and another who claimed to know El Chapo because a sandwich from an establishment near his work carries that Name.

Six others were left out after expressing fear for their safety, despite the fact that the judge assured that the necessary measures have been taken to prevent anything from happening to them.

According to the journalists present in the room, Guzmán was encouraged during today's session and held conversations with his lawyers. You may have been encouraged by your lawyers' request that you allow him to hug your wife, Emma Coronel, when they meet during the trial. Judge Cogan has yet to rule on this request.