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William Purpura (umbrella stand) is El Chapo's lawyer, but may well have a bright future as a comedian. DON EMMERT / AFP / Getty Images
In the first six days of Joaquin El Chapo Trial of Guzman, Federal Attorney Gina Parlovecchio had more than 30 years of evidence and a significant witness, but the Mexican crime defense team clearly wins: the value of entertainment.
Other lawyers for William Purpura and El Chapo may need Cool Luke's HandStuntman to win this case, and they know it. During his cross-examination of a former cartel lieutenant Jesus Zambada GarciaPurpura was an outsider with the braggart of a champion.
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Purpura looked cowardly and seemed to speak as if nothing had happened. More than once, he joked about his bad pronunciation of names. During the interrogation, he paced the room so much that he was asked to wear a lapel microphone. "I seem to be misplacing," Purpura said with a smile. he attacked Zambada's memory in his statements about older events with a powerful charisma. "Do you remember what you ate for your birthday 17 years ago?" He asked with laughter.
He also attacked Zambada's credibility by separating from statements made to the US government after its capture in 2008, many of which targeted other members of the cartel. "No mention of Chapo when the information was fresh in your mind, is not it?" Purpura questioned confidently.
Purpura has sought to reorient Zambada's testimony from El Chapo to El Mayo (Zambada's brother and former trading partner). "In fact, my brother was the very head [of the Sinaloa Cartel]Lut Purpura drew another quote from his mass of paperwork.
It is difficult to make the blood money show interest-free drugs, but this team of prosecutors has sometimes managed to do so. The aggressiveness and emotion of Purpura were a counter-project to the pursuit, which sometimes seemed robotic, reading the questions as if they were instructions for the construction of an Ikea chest of drawers. Most of the questions were about places and numbers (Zambada being an accountant) rather than murders that ruffled the hair.
"If I were in the jury, I'd be bored to death," said Arturo Hernandez, a defense lawyer for 35 years, who recently helped represent Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez (another cartel member). high ranking) after the first day of questioning. "It's not as easy as reading a novel to the jury."
One of the highlights was focused on the mode of drug penetration, including the extensive network of tunnels, Chapo's preferred method of bringing drugs to the US border and bringing in money and weapons. However, during a period of increased US security – when preferred tunnels can not be used – the cartel also sent "small compartment cars" to blend in with the border traffic, Zambada said, making difficult for the authorities to capture them.
These tunnels and cars would not be possible without cartel bribes at all levels of government, starting with lower-ranking police officers and then by the federal highways police, the PGR (Mexican version of the FBI). , the Attorney General and even by INTERPOL Zambada said. It took $ 300,000 a month to secure Mexico City, which was under the control of Zambada. "More or less," he said.
Bribes in cartels have even reached the highest positions. Zambada admitted to having bribed Garcia Luna, Mexican Secretary of Public Security, in 2006, with $ 3 million in a briefcase.
This stylistic battle, in which the prosecution did a theoretical job of working methodically in the scriptures while the defense was more searching for an emotional appeal, continued long after the opening statements. Adam Fels, the federal prosecutor, spoke with care and deliberation. His statements sounded like the promotion of a Netflix documentary that promised texts, videos and recorded conversations. The defeat of Chapo would take place "with his own words" with witnesses who promise to "break through" the restricted circle of the drug tycoon.
As a reply, Jeffrey Lichtman, the man who fired John Gotti, Jr., promised to give the "ugliest side of this story". He sometimes lowered his hand to emphasize the importance, while imploring the jury to "open your mind."
In a case with so many unknowns, the main issues are centered on the jury and ultimately what he thinks about. It looks like they could have been randomly selected in an A train, but that's all we can see. They take notes in silence and sometimes rub their eyes as the trial progresses.
One thing is certain: during the cross-examination of Purpura, viewers were more engaged, sometimes laughing and panting. It was so noisy that Judge Cogan had to remind everyone: "This is an audience room" after lunch.
