Before court: The line to enter Room 8D, where the trial is being heard, starts to form at 7 a.m. But the courtroom doesn’t open until 8:30 a.m., leaving plenty of time for idle conversation.
Naturally, most of that concerns the trial itself. Standing in the hallway with cups of snack-bar coffee, we often go over favorite moments: for example, when Mr. Guzmán’s former personal secretary described surviving a hand grenade attack in jail by hiding behind his toilet. Or that time a bald defense lawyer joked with a witness about how he liked his hair plugs.
We also play a kind of parlor game, trying to determine which secret witness might next appear in court to testify against Mr. Guzmán. From well before the trial began, the government has gone to great lengths to protect the witnesses’ identities, concerned that one of Mr. Guzmán’s allies in the Sinaloa drug cartel might find a way to silence them. Public court records have provided clues, but it has largely been a guessing game. Sometimes our suspicions have been right; sometimes we’ve been totally surprised.
During court: The trial begins each day at 9:30 a.m. — after another hour-long wait. The most dramatic moment is when a group of federal marshals brings Mr. Guzmán into the courtroom from his secure holding area. He tends to wear a suit and tie these days, though once, during jury selection, he appeared in court with his shirt unbuttoned to his sternum, “Scarface”-style. He invariably gives a little wave to his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, who has shown up every day to support him.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/reader-center/el-chapo-trial.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.