Emily PalmerVerified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
Emily Palmer Retweeted Alan Feuer
Five of the six full witness testimonies requested by the jury were translated from English to Spanish. If we conservatively half the time that's still 7 days of testimony to read through. (Witness by day below. More on the length of deliberations in
@alanfeuer's thread here.)
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Alan Feuer @alanfeuer
To recap: The jury got the case Feb 4 and immediately began asking for evidence in a way suggesting they are moving methodically through the government's presentation. That included something unusual: the complete testimonies of 6 govt witnesses or 1000s of pages of transcripts.
3:08 AM - 11 Feb 2019
Emily PalmerVerified account @emilyepalmer 2h2 hours ago
What the Chapo jury needs to read through (and the number of days it took the first go-around):
Nov: Ray Zambada: 4 days
Dec: Jorge Cifuentes: 3 days
Jan: Vicente Zambada: 3 days; Juan Aguayo, border patrol agent: v short; Alex Cifuentes: 4 days; Dámaso López Núñez: 3 days
Emily PalmerVerified account @emilyepalmer 16m16 minutes ago
Some movement from the Chapo jury, but still no verdict. They submitted three notes: asking for full (but short) testimony from two government agents (a DEA agent and a US Coast Guard officer) and a question: "Does a violation have to be proven or not proven unanimously?" More vv
Emily PalmerVerified account @emilyepalmer 10m10 minutes ago
The jury's question about proving the 27 violations unanimously wasn't fully answered by the judge, who referred them to the instructions. (At least three of the violations must be proven for Chapo to be found guilty of the first count.) The jury likely still must answer all 27.
Emily PalmerVerified account @emilyepalmer 7m7 minutes ago
The judge had two clerks read aloud the DEA agent's testimony regarding four cocaine seizures in the 2000s. (I'd like to make a belated
@TheAcademy nomination for their joint performance.) To save time, the judge sent back a transcript from the U.S. Coast guard. More on each vv
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 8m8 minutes ago
Day 5 of jury deliberations at the Chapo trial is headed toward an end. Still no verdict.
The jury asked for yet more testimony--from a DEA agent and a Coast Guard officer involved in three maritime seizures totaling more 35 tons of coke from 2004-2007.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 10m10 minutes ago
#BREAKING @vicenews El Chapo's trial is headed for a sixth day of jury deliberations. Jury just requested additional testimony to review and
asked to be excused at 4:15pm ET.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 9m9 minutes ago
The jury asked for testimony from two law enforcement agents who were involved in cocaine busts at sea. Those were the "Juanita" shipments between Chupeta and El Chapo, which the jury asked about at the end of the day on Thursday.
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 6m6 minutes ago
They also asked if they must decide unanimously when considering the 27 sub-counts in Count 1 of the indictment, the top charge of continuing criminal enterprise.
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 3m3 minutes ago
The testimony request suggests, again, jurors are looking at the heart of the govt's coke case against Chapo: several boatloads sent from Colombia by his main supplier, Juan Carlos "Chupeta" Ramirez. One load was 12 tons, another 10, a third 15. Also: a 4.7 ton load on a sub.
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 1m1 minute ago
The question about unanimity in the 27 sub-violations suggests just how intricate the charges in this case are.
Jurors indeed must unanimously find Chapo guilty of at least 3 of the 27 subcounts--but only three.
Some of the violations are also separate counts in the indictment.
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 2m2 minutes ago
By asking about unanimity the jurors could be suggesting there is a holdout on one or more of the violations or they could simply be confused that they have to decide all 27 violations unanimously to convict on Count 1.
It's a level of complexity the govt itself chose to use.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 5m5 minutes ago
The jury also asked: "Does a violation have to be proven or not proven unanimously?" This refers to count 1 of the indictment, which includes 27 violations. The answer is yes, it must be unanimous, but just 3 violations must be proven for Chapo to be convicted on the charge.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 4m4 minutes ago
Some of the testimony was read back in court to the jurors. Tough to read the body language, but safe to say one or two were taking notes and paying close attention. Another two or three looked bored and frustrated — like it was a waste of time. Others seemed indifferent.
Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 3m3 minutes ago
In general jurors seemed more tired today than they've been so far. Some even looked a little glassy-eyed. Two were taking notes during the read back of DEA agent Scott Schoonover's testimony. The other testimony--of Coast Guard Officer Clifton Harrison--was sent back to them.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 6m6 minutes ago
The question about the violations suggests the jury is still mired in count 1 of the indictment. That's the "Continuing Criminal Enterprise" or CCE. If Chapo is convicted of this, he faces a mandatory life sentence. The other 9 counts hinge on the 27 violations within the CCE.
Keegan HamiltonVerified account @keegan_hamilton 3m3 minutes ago
If the jurors are asking whether they need to be unanimous to find Chapo guilty of the CCE violations,
it implies they are currently not unanimous. And that's not a great sign for the government.
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