Face of the trial "El Chapo" Monday that could cost him his life in prison

The test of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán begins this Monday in a federal court of New York, confronted with two different visions of a man considered by the prosecution as one of the the criminals the most dangerous of modern history.

Guzmán Loera, 61, is rather presented by his defense as a man whose danger has been increased by the media, which has not led to criminal organization and whose accusation is based on testimony of subjects incited to please the prosecution.

With 11 counts against him, adjusted after the 17 counts to which extradition from Mexico in January 2017, Guzmán Loera He pleaded not guilty. In his last capture in Mexico he claimed that he was only a farmer.

The defense of "El Chapo", consisting of lawyers representing the head of the criminal's family Gambino, John Gotti Jrand drug dealer condemn Alfredo Beltrán LeyvaThey did not express the total innocence of their client, but they tried to downplay the evidence against them.

The lawsuit maintains that Guzmán Loera imported and distributed in United States thousands of tons of cocaine and others drug addicts, and to support the position that he was directing the criminal organization of Sinaloa Cartel He assures that he ordered the execution of "thousands" of his rivals.

Specifically, the prosecution attributed 33 murders to "El Chapo", in order to support the most important indictment that weighs on the accused, which consists of "continuing criminal enterprise"The penalty for this charge is mandatory life imprisonment.

The lawyers Eduardo Balarezo and Jeffrey Lichtman, supported by William Purpura, argued on the basis of the evidence presented by the prosecution itself that Guzmán Loera he was not the head of the Sinaloa Cartelhe never had the power to order executions.

In a letter sent last June to the judge of the case, Brian Cogan, Balarezo argued that the information provided by the prosecution itself would mitigate the role of Joaquín Guzmán in the so-called plots, it contradicts the allegations of the so-called "federation" (cartels) or "completely exonerates Guzmán".

So the defense strategy could be similar to the one used Lichtman avoid being sentenced to prison Gotti Jr, which according to prosecutors inherited the emporium of his father's illegal businesses.

In the decade of the year 2000, Lichtman he did it Gotti Jr was acquitted of a charge of extortion while four lawsuits for illicit enrichment were declared void after the jury failed to reach an agreement on the verdict. The government gave up pursuing in 2005 Gotti Jr.

The defense might not look so much that Guzmán Loera was found innocent, but only that the evidence was not strong enough to unanimously convince all members of the jury of their guilt.

In this sense, the defense tried unsuccessfully that the charge does not bind Joaquín Guzmán with murders. Finally, none of the charges he faces Guzmán Loera in the district court of the east New York he is linked to violent crimes; they refer to drug trafficking, money laundering and possession of weapons.

The defense had the Judge Cogan order the prosecution to reduce the number of alleged murders Guzmán Loera in order to speed up the trial. The prosecution would try to present evidence concerning only a dozen murders.

In addition, during his initial appearance as a lawyer last September, Lichtman told the press that Guzmán Loera at this point, "he has become a mythical figure", but in the books written by exaggerations, which are attributed to him, they admit to not knowing for sure "what is real and what is not ".

He said that all the witnesses who cooperate in this case "have an interest in lying because everyone gets something out of it, they do not do it because of the kindness of their heart or because they want to free the world of illegal drugs. They do it because they want something: money or freedom. "

The defense has also succeeded in inserting into public opinion the notion that "El Chapo" He faces a judicial system that has not been impartial. The lawyers pointed out that the defendant is kept in "one of the worst and most restrictive conditions" of United States.

Indicate that such conditions have caused "a marked deterioration of your mental state". They also complained that the number of documents was too high to be examined in time, so that their proper defense would be "impossible".

The strategy envisaged up to now aims to characterize Guzmán Loera as a sort of scapegoat who faces the powerful mechanism of the judicial system of United States in very unequal conditions.

The selection of jurors begins Monday and the trial itself, Tuesday, November 13. To the twelve members of the jury, chosen among a thousand residents of New YorkThey will be the ones who will have to turn to prosecutors and lawyers.

The work of the defense will be fraught with difficulties. In the end, they defend a man on whom the prosecution has accumulated evidence for nearly three decades, backed up by the testimony of at least 40 witnesses, who will describe the "wars" that hundreds of 39, hired assassins engaged under the orders of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.