Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán calls for the review of his process

MEXICO CITY, 22 OCTOBER – The Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán has asked for a new trial after the ‘of the century’ trial in New York in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019. “The extradition to the Eastern District of New York was illegal. I should have been extradited to the Eastern District of Texas and the Southern District of California. There has never been a ‘specialty rule’ waiver signed by a magistrate judge.” , “El Chapo” wrote in the legal document requesting the review. According to the ‘specialty rule’ cited by El Chapo Guzmán, “a person cannot be subjected to criminal proceedings, convicted or otherwise deprived of liberty for any pre-surrender crime other than that for which he was surrendered.” Guzman, who is being held in Colorado’s maximum security prison, also noted that his “legal assistance was ineffective” at trial and on appeal. “My lawyers were not effective. They did not properly cross-examine witnesses and, as a result, I was found guilty. Nor did they fight to have certain evidence excluded from the trial,” the former Sinaloa Cartel boss added. Today ‘El Chapo’ is represented by the Puerto Rican lawyer Mariel Colón Miro, the same one who also defended his wife, Emma Coronel. During the ‘trial of the century’ in New York, however, his legal team was led by Jeffrey Lichtman, who now defends Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán López, two of Chapo’s sons detained in Chicago, Illinois. (HANDLE).