In an exclusive interview with VICE News, a juror in the trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán claimed that at least five fellow jurors violated the judge’s orders by following the case in the media during the trial, which ended in a guilty verdict Feb. 12. Judge Brian Cogan routinely admonished the jurors to avoid news coverage and social media, and to refrain from discussing the case with each other, so that the verdict could be decided only on evidence from the courtroom. Those rules were routinely broken, according to the juror: “You know how we were told we can’t look at the media during the trial? Well, we did. Jurors did.”
If multiple jurors were indeed reading about the case in the media, the defense team could seek a new trial. “Obviously we’re deeply concerned that the jury may have utterly ignored the judge’s daily admonitions against reviewing the unprecedented press in the case,” said defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, who also noted concern that jurors may have seen “prejudicial, uncorroborated and inadmissible allegations” about Chapo during the trial. “Above all, Joaquin Guzman deserved a fair trial.”