As El Chapo's trial finally came to a close, his lawyers tried to convince the jury that the parade of cooperating witnesses who testified against him were all liars.
Joaquin Guzman's defense attempted to poke holes in the prosecution's case during closing arguments at the Mexican drug lord's Brooklyn trial on Thursday.
'These witnesses were not only lying every day of their miserable selfish lives, but they lied in this courtroom,' Jeffrey Lichtman told the jury.
'They expect you to ignore the dishonesty of their witnesses. They expect you to ignore all the problems in their case.
'If you don't believe the cooperators who've testified against him, then you can't convict Mr Guzman.'
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El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro, 29, arrived at Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday, as her husband's lawyers argued that the prosecution's witnesses were all liars
Joaquin Guzman's defense attempted to poke holes in the prosecution's case during closing arguments Thursday. Pictured is Guzman and Coronoel looking on during the trial on Thursday in a courtroom sketch
Lichtman said the cooperators have 'lied to your faces' as they took the witness stand during the trial, which could send Guzman to prison for life if he is convicted.
The jury will deliberate 10 separate charges, including criminal enterprise, use of guns, drug money laundering, and internationally distributing more than 40 tons of cocaine, after closing arguments are finished on Thursday.
The three-month trial has included testimony about how Guzman ordered countless murders, buried people alive, and ran an unimaginably violent drug enterprise for decades in Mexico.
On Thursday Lichtman specifically took aim at the claim that Guzman, 61, had paid a $100million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to call off a nationwide manhunt for his capture.
Lichtman claimed that Guzman couldn't have possibly paid the hefty bribe because he was $20million in debt at the time.
These witnesses were not only lying every day of their miserable selfish lies, but they lied in this courtroom,' El Chapo's attorney Jeffrey Lichtman (seen in a courtroom sketch on Thursday) told the jury
On Thursday Lichtman (pictured walking into court) specifically took aim at one claim that Guzman, 61, had paid a $100million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto
'How is a guy who owes $20million going to whip out his wallet and pay Peña Nieto,' Lichtman told the court, according to the New York Post.
Lichtman claimed the bribe was actually paid by Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who El Chapo's defense have claimed is the true leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
'Who do you think paid that bribe? The man hunted like an animal for years or the man who has never been arrested?' he added.
Guzman, who escaped prison twice, was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2017 and extradited to the US to face drug-trafficking charges.
Lichtman claimed the bribe was actually paid by Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who El Chapo's defense have claimed is the true leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
Guzman, who escaped prison twice, was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2017 and extradited to the US (pictured) to face drug-trafficking charges
The bribe allegation was made by Guzman's former secretary Alex Cifuentes, a Colombian trafficker who Lichtman said could not be trusted.
'You cannot trust the Cifuentes,' he told the jury. 'Would you buy a used car by a Cifuentes? Would you let your kid be babysat by a Cifuentes?'
'The car would break down as you left the lot and your kid would be sold for a kilo of cocaine.'
Lichtman's closing argument followed Assistant US Attorney Andrea Goldbarg, who pleaded with the jury to accept what she called an 'avalanche' of evidence against El Chapo and put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Standing in front of a table piled with trial evidence including assault rifles and bricks of cocaine, Goldbarg walked the jury through the charges against Guzman one by one.
Meanwhile, El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro looked on in the courtroom.
Goldbarg, who had sensed Lichtman's defending argument, admitted that her witnesses 'were criminals'.
'The government is not asking you to like them,' she added.
However, she continued, their testimony was corroborated by intercepted phone calls, text messages and letters from Guzman, as well as accounting ledgers seized in a raid on one of his safe houses.
'You know these cooperating witnesses are telling the truth because you heard the same thing from the defendant's own mouth,' Goldbarg argued.
Coronel was lightly dressed for New York's frigid temperatures as she arrived on Thursday
She sported a casual outfit of jeans and a cotton blazer, opting to hold her peacoat in her arms
The intercepted communications showed El Chapo plotting drug shipments, dealing with corrupt government officials and, sometimes, ordering his adversaries killed.
Goldbarg invoked the graphic testimony of one witness, who described how Guzman shot two men in the head and threw their bodies on a bonfire after beating them and swearing at them for working for a rival cartel.
'The cartel's engines were corruption and violence,' she said, arguing that Guzman was able 'to impose his will on anyone who got in his way'.
'He's the one who decides who lives and who dies,' she added.
Despite the fact that her husband could be sent to jail for life in a matter of days, Coronel was all smiles as she walked into the courtroom
Coronel has been at court every single day of the three-month trial. Her two daughters with El Chapo are being taken care of in Mexico
Goldbarg also dismissed the defense's argument that Guzman was not the main cartel organizer.
'The government does not have to prove that he was the boss, or the only boss, or even one of the top bosses,' she told the jury, before adding that Guzman was 'one of the top bosses without a doubt'.
Goldbarg asked the jury why, if Guzman was truly innocent, did he have a mile-long tunnel dug to break out of prison or hide out in the Sinaloa mountainside.
'Why didn't the defendant want to get caught? I submit it was because he knew he was guilty,' she said.
'The questions could go on and on. The answer is common sense.'
Goldbarg's summation capped an exhaustive government case that spanned 10 weeks of testimony from more than 50 witnesses.
Meanwhile, El Chapo's defense team took just 30 minutes to make their case on Tuesday before the jury was sent home for the day.
They called just one witness - a retired FBI agent who they questioned about a report he wrote on a debriefing of one of the cooperators who testified against Guzman.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating Guzman's face on Monday.
Assistant US Attorney Andrea Goldbarg points to El Chapo in this courtroom sketch during his trial on Wednesday
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https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/01/el-chapos-defense-argues-the-us-governments-case-is-based-on-the-testimony-of-liars/
Main photo article As El Chapo’s trial finally came to a close, his lawyers tried to convince the jury that the parade of cooperating witnesses who testified against him were all liars.
Joaquin Guzman’s defense attempted to poke holes in the prosecution’s case during closing arguments at the ...
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Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/31/19/9242842-6654487-image-a-18_1548964784276.jpg
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