home

Defense Gives Closing in "El Chapo" Trial

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Jan 31, 2019 at 02:40:42 PM EST
Tags: El Chapo (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

The Government gave an all day closing argument yesterday in the trial of el Chapo. Shorter version: We're not asking you to like our 13 dirty snitches, most of whom will get visas to stay in the U.S. permanently, we're asking you to presume they are telling the truth and find El Chapo guilty.

Jeffrey Lichtman, the most bombastic of El Chapo's lawyers, is giving the defense closing. Three themes:

1. Where is Mayo, why isn't he here? While Chapo was being "hunted like an animal," El Mayo was "sitting on his ass, sunning himself, smoking a cigar."

2. Would you want to be put away based on the testimony of 14 lying, thieving snitches, some of whom are admitted murderers and all of whom are being paid for their testimony with promises of leniency for their own misdeeds?

3. It's the corruption. "He's paying everybody from the local beat cops up to the president." Mayo's sons get sweetheart deals, Mayo stays free, and the universe falls on El Chapo to take the blame. [More...]

The Indictment began with 85 drug violations in one count (continuing criminal enterprise) and some substantive offenses. The Government dismissed more than 50 of the drug violations before trial, and then added a few that the Grand Jury hadn't considered (by way of a Bill of Particulars). The Government did such a bang-up job of re-numbering that it's very difficult to follow what he's charged now with. I did my best to show the changes here. I also made a copy of the Indictment with dismissed counts struck in red and remaining counts highlighted in yellow. (Here is the Government's Verdict Form as of 2/1/9).

After the defense finishes, the prosecution gets one more bite at the apple, because they have the burden of proof.

There will be no court tomorrow, and deliberations will begin Monday. The defense wants the jury to find Chapo not guilty of being a principal administrator of an organization that made more than $10 million in a single year. That is what carries a mandatory life sentence. (That's why his lawyers wanted the stipulation that was entered this week that El Chapo said he was $20 million in debt from 2007 to 2013.) The verdict form requires the jury to determine:

Has the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the enterprise received $10 million o