‘El Chapo’ is facing life in prison. Here’s why he may get a new trial.

By Deanna Paul February 22 at 5:50 AM

At the start of every jury trial, it’s standard practice for the presiding judge to give jurors a set of preliminary instructions.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan took it a step further during the high-profile trial of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Trial transcripts recount that Cogan gave three directives to the jury just before 5 p.m. on Jan. 30, immediately after the prosecutor concluded the closing argument. They were the same rules he had repeated most, if not all, days during the three-month trial:

“Stay away from any media coverage.”

-snip-

Any judge would be loath to overturn a conviction, or order a new trial, in such a high-profile case (particularly where extraordinary government resources were brought to bear, partly during the month-long government shutdown).

But if true, the claims of widespread misconduct pose a viable threat to the conviction secured by federal prosecutors a week ago.

-snip-