U.S. LEGAL NEWS FEBRUARY 20, 2019 / 2:23 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

'El Chapo' lawyers may challenge conviction over juror remarks

Brendan Pierson
3 MIN READ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman may file a motion challenging his conviction on 10 criminal counts, after a juror told Vice News that jurors read media coverage of the case and discussed it with one another while the trial was going on, one of Guzman’s lawyers said on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had instructed jurors not to read media coverage of the case or discuss it with one another at the end of every day during the nearly three-month trial that led to Guzman’s convictions in Brooklyn federal court last week.

“The jury clearly ignored the judge’s daily admonitions against not only looking at the press but also had inappropriate communications with each other,” said lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman. “We’re researching the issue now and will make any appropriate motions for relief. Joaquin Guzman deserved a fair trial.”

Guzman, 61, was found guilty last week of running a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, conspiracy and using firearms as leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which became one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations during the 1990s and 2000s.

Despite the judge’s instructions, an anonymous juror in an interview with Vice News published on Wednesday said that he or she and multiple other jurors routinely looked at Twitter posts from journalists covering the case.

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