El Chapo trial: Joaquín Guzman joked about arming infant daughter with AK47 in texts to wife, court hears
Trial of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzman is expected to last four months
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The trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo“ Guzman continues in Brooklyn, New York, and is expected to last into early 2019.
This is the first time a major Mexican drug lord has been tried in a US court and pleaded not guilty. The trial has become increasingly tense in recent days, as Guzman’s attorney seeks to undermine testimonies from major drug traffickers.
Guzman, 61, faces a 17 count indictment that covers nearly three decades of alleged criminal activities. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Follow updates form the trial as they happened
Agencies contributed to this report
A cart loaded with weapons was wheeled into the courtroom Thursday as evidence, including a slate of AK-47s and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, which was encased.
Jurors appeared to be tuned in as the weapons were demonstrated by an ATF firearms expert. Prosecutors first confirmed there was not any live grenades or ammunition included in the weapons.
While the jury appeared energized by the discussion surrounding the massive weapons supply, the judge reportedly appeared skeptical about its relevancy to the ongoing case.
Chapo’s wife removed the couple’s seven-year-old daughters from the courtroom once the weapons were wheeled out.
That's all from today's coverage of the El Chapo trial in New York. The trial will be on break until 3 January, at which point we will likely learn how the weapons supply was linked to the notorious drug lord. Be sure to tune into The Independent's coverage then. Happy holidays!
We are back with the El Chapo trial this morning. Overnight, prosecutors released a draft of the instructions they want the judge to give the jury when they start to deliberate.
It suggests they may be nearing the end of their case.
It looks like things will be intensive for the jury though. There are 11 charges and a decision has to be made on each of them.
The main element is a "continuing criminal enterprise" charge that contains 29 alleged violations. The jury has to conclude that he committed at least three of them.
The jury also has conclude if they find El Chapo guilty of that charge that he worked in concert with five individuals and that he was an organiser or supervisor of that group
Chapo does not have to be been the main leader, just someone who was in charge.
Seemingly to try and battle the defence's contention that El Chapo is being framed for the alleged crimes by leading members of the cartel, the prosecution want to remind the jury they should "draw no inference" from fact others are not on trial.
As for the defense, it is unclear exactly what will be part of El Chapo's lawyers plans bar the main theme discussed below.
El Chapo may yet testify himself, but it appears unlikely.
There was some interesting testimony from a witness yesterday, that told the court that a hitman allegedly hired by El Chapo kept a room for cleaning up messy kills.
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