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El Chapo Case

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Charged for drug trafficking, money laundering, and involvement in 12 murder conspiracies Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman awaits trials in a court at Manhattan. His extradition occurred January 20, 2017 after several months of a dispute between his lawyers and U.S authorities. He was not physically present for his first court meeting with federal court Judge Brian Cogan. The judge expressed that he expected the first hearing to be “brief and non-substantive” therefore he was “inclined to have defendant present by video transmission only in order to minimize the disruption from physical transportation”. (Keshner, 2017). However, El Chapo has claimed that he wants to be physically present to his upcoming court date, and for every future court date in his case. After his two past prison breaks in Mexico, Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan (Keshner, 2017); he is currently held in solitary confinement due to his high profile risk. His lawyers, Michael Schneider and Michelle Gelernt of the Federal Defenders of New York, argued that his client had “a right to understand how the case would unfold and see the judge handling the case” (Keshner, 2017). …show more content…

While in Mexico, El Chapo’s lawyers fought against the Mexican government the legality of the extradition request. Once El Chapo was put on a U.S bound plane, his Mexican lawyers were unaware of his client’s sudden departure and were actually waiting to meet with him. Schneider and Gelernt argued that their client’s presence in court is necessary to ensure his faith in the fairness of the American judicial process. After their motion was filled on Monday, Judge Cogan gave the prosecutors a Wednesday deadline to answer the defense

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