MADRID, 22 Oct. (OCTOBER) –
The defense of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán Lorea, known as ‘El Chapo’ and sentenced to life in prison in the United States, has asked Judge Brian Cogan to dismiss the sentence and order his release, as well as to hold a new trial or a new evidentiary hearing to keep the case ‘alive’.
In the letter they have criticized the legal team that defended the accused and assured that “he was denied the right to effective assistance from a lawyer”, since those he hired in a personal capacity “did not give him effective assistance” for not requesting the review extradition paperwork at trial, not object to motions filed by the government, or explore the possibility of a plea deal.
According to ‘Milenio’, the extradition documentation was challenged in a district court that claimed it was not entitled to do so, so the defense estimates that the request “was contaminated by fraud by the US authorities.” They also allege that a later “incorrect” rule caused the trial to take place in Brooklyn instead of Texas or California.
They also point out that the lawyer’s decision not to demand the closed-door inspection of the documents presented in Mexico, prevented El Chapo from appealing and “making an adequate record in support of his challenge of resignation of specialty.”
In turn, they have argued that although “it was unlikely” that he would be acquitted, “the cumulative effect of the errors” made by this defense team deprived him of a fair trial.
However, according to the aforementioned media, in a previous appeal, the court already concluded that the lawyer “conducted the trial with diligence and impartiality”, after which he confirmed the sentence and the procedure carried out. The Supreme Court also denied the appeal in early June.
Although the document was presented eight weeks ago, at the moment no response has been obtained from the magistrate who led the process and to whom this new motion is addressed.
