As jury selection resumed Tuesday in the Brooklyn courthouse hosting the trial for the notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, a federal judge had already dismissed 17 potential jurors on Monday who said they were afraid for their lives if they served on the jury, according to CBS News.
Guzman was the alleged leader of the infamous and brutal Sinaloa cartel for decades as it became the largest drug trafficking organization in the world.
U.S. prosecutors claim Guzman oversaw hundreds of murders, kidnappings, and other acts of brutality along with helping facilitate millions in money laundering.
Guzman has been under intense security measures after already breaking out of two Mexican prisons but slept on Monday night in the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, which has become a virtual fortress as anyone entering the courthouse needs to go through an initial security screening before another is established just before entering the courtroom hosting his trial.
Guzman wore a suit and a shirt with an open collar and was not handcuffed as he faced the pool of potential jurors who could decide his fate.
The jurors will receive additional security and anonymity, with precautions that are usually taken for high-profile cases including U.S. Marshals escorting them to and from the courthouse every day.
CBS News also said the names of any potential jurors are going to be kept a secret to foil any attempts at blackmail, bribery, or threats.
"These jurors are going to be protected in a way that is highly unusual," legal analyst Rikki Klieman said. "No one will know their names. They won't know their addresses, their occupations. This will not become information for the public or certainly not for the Sinaloa drug cartel."
One potential juror even cited she was afraid Guzman's associates "will come after jurors and their family."
Another juror described being nervous.
The judge dismissed one woman after she described having watched the popular Netflix show about drug trafficking "Narcos."
Guzman's lawyers argued the increased security measures are creating an unfair impression of their client and have argued the witnesses testifying against him are even more dangerous, even though he is facing 17 counts of drug smuggling and money laundering.
"He's a mythical figure at this point. And if you read the books, the many books that have been written about him, even by the agents in the case, they even discuss it – they don't know what was real and what wasn't real," said Guzman's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman.
U.S. Marshals also shut down portions of the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday to transport Guzman from his Manhattan pre-trial prison cell to the courthouse.
"No one wants to take the chance that something out of a 'Mission Impossible' movie happens, where suddenly a helicopter comes down and people come out of the water, and the next thing we know is that 'El Chapo' is gone. That is not going to happen during this trial," Klieman said.
Jurors for the trial, which is expected to last for several months, will likely be sequestered.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Bebeto Matthews
