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The trial judge Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera against drug trafficking Wednesday asked the jury to ignore the arguments of his lawyer that Mexican officials and the US government have unjustly distinguished the pillar of the drug. 39 accused or conspired to equate it at the beginning of the testimony on Wednesday in Brooklyn.
"It's not up to you to decide if the government has acted inappropriately, it's up to me to determine it," Judge Brian Cogan told the jury.
Guzmán's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said in his opening statement Tuesday that his partner, Ismail Mayo Zambada, Guzmán's partner in the Sinaloa cartel, was left alone because he bribed senior Mexican officials, while Guzmán's reputation was embellished and continued.
Prosecutors asked Cogan to intervene and strike out Lichtman's opening statement, stating in a paper: "Such speculation, independent of the evidence, is extremely inappropriate and the court must prevent it."
Cogan would not go that far, but told the jury that they should only look at evidence of Guzmán's alleged drug trafficking, and cautioned Lichtman to stop debating the government's misbehavior and selective pursuit of Guzmán.
"Your opening statement has distributed numerous promissory notes stating that your file will not be cashed," warned the defense attorney.
Guzmán, 58, was extradited from Mexico last year to face charges that he was responsible for the cartel's trafficking of 14 billion dollars in cocaine and the use of violence and violence. intimidation to keep control of his drug empire.
Lichtman's attack on the Zambada seemed to be strategic. His brother, who has been detained in the United States, is expected to be the first witness on the witness stand as soon as Wednesday afternoon. Overall, the government relies on approximately 16 informants. His sons would also be in detention in the United States.
After Cogan's warning to the jury, Mr. Lichtman ended his opening statement on Wednesday by quoting in open court half a dozen former drug dealers and Guzmán aides supposed to testify during the trial and denouncing them. like corrupt liars.
According to Lichtman, informants sometimes claimed that Guzmán was at the origin of transactions that would not be because his legend of almighty drug trafficker was so great. He then falsely claimed that he was the mastermind of the cartel for prosecutors because they considered it such a price.
"There are dozens of anti-drug organizations in South America and Central America," he told the jury. "But these co-operators must cooperate against a man to get out of prison – Chapo Guzmán."
Once Lichtman was finished, a customs officer began his testimony by explaining how a cross-border tunnel to Douglas, Arizona, was discovered in 1990 and that a ton of cocaine was seized. The government claims that such tunnels first put Guzmán on the map in the world of drugs because it could quickly carry large volumes of cocaine into the United States.
The trial resumes Wednesday afternoon. Cogan told the jury that it could last four months.
