FILE – In this Jan. 8, 2016 file photo, a handcuffed Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City. Guzman was tried in New York and found guilty on drug smuggling charges. Claims of jury misconduct arose after a juror told VICE News in February 2019 report that several jurors followed media accounts of the three month-long trial. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors are opposing a longshot bid for a new trial by the convicted Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo.
The federal government said in papers filed on Monday that defense claims of jury misconduct at the trial of Joaquin Guzman (hwah-KEEN’ goos-MAHN’) were invalid.
Defense attorneys argued that jurors improperly followed media coverage of the case. They cited a Vice News report alleging jurors were aware of potentially prejudicial claims that were excluded from the trial.
Prosecutors said the allegations are contradicted by the trial record and “do not meet the stringent standard” for a hearing.
Guzman’s attorney Monday said it “was a show trial from the beginning.”
Guzman was convicted in February of murder conspiracy and drug-trafficking charges.
He faces life in prison at his June sentencing.
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