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Guzman, who once ran a murderous drug cartel in Mexico, was convicted in February of leading a criminal enterprise and other drug related charges. He will be sentenced on June 25.
In March, Guzman's lawyers asked US District Judge Brian Cogan to recall the 18 jurors at the hearing in order to determine whether there had been a breach by a juror and a judge. Organize a new trial.
Their concerns came after an article in the February issue of "News News" newspaper, which published excerpts from an interview with an anonymous juror stating that "at least five other jurors have violated the judge's orders by following the case in the media "and lied to Cogan when asked if they had been exposed to a press coverage, these detailed parts of the case were not the same. case were to be excluded from the trial.
In the case filed on Monday, prosecutors said the court's repeated instructions to the jurors, their diligence at trial and the overwhelming evidence against Guzman show that "the alleged exposure to the press did not prejudge # 39, accused ".
Prosecutors point out that the Vice News article raises no concern that the juror believes that Guzman is innocent and that the jury wrongly convicted him.
CNN asked Vice News to comment.
Prosecution: the circumstances do not justify a new trial
Sealed portions of the record deal with some of the jurors' answers sitting at the questionnaires that show that many of them knew Guzman well, but that each juror had confirmed that he would be able to keep the Open mind and to take into account only the evidence heard during the trial. .
The filing also mentions evidence that jurors took their oath seriously, including an incident in January when a juror "declared himself" to have been exposed to the media by the court.
The jurors deliberated for six days and referred 14 notes to the court during the deliberations, which, according to the prosecutors, shows that the jury "diligently examined and examined the evidence".
Prosecutors say that there are "no extraordinary circumstances justifying a new trial" and that Guzman's arguments in favor of a new trial and a new hearing to question the jurors are based on "anonymous, unsworn, unsubstantiated, heresy and double heresy" claims in the Vice News article, adding that they do not meet the strict standard for a post-trial hearing.
Reacting to the filing of the complaint, El Chapo's defense attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said the government "was desperately trying to avoid a hearing that would include the testimony of the jurors".
"They know very well that it will reveal that jurors have consistently lied to the judge regarding their claim to not see any media coverage during the trial." The Chapo Guzman case has always been nothing more than a glorified inquisition and the government's refusal to simply hear an anonymous juror, knowing very well that what he said to Vice News reporter could get him shut up, still grabbed the opportunity to tell the truth on the massive misconduct of the jury during the trial – and yet The government wants to bury his head in the sand, as well as justice and fairness, only to convict a man who, according to them, is the 39, one of the worst criminals on the planet, "said Lichtman in his statement.
"It's America and it's not good."
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