NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A federal judge in New York City Wednesday denied Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's bid for a new trial of his drug trafficking case.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan declined the motion, saying in a written ruling that any rational jury would have found Guzman guilty based on the "mountain range of evidence" against him.
Guzman's defense team requested a new trial in March, citing a report published on the U.S. website Vice News on Feb. 20, in which a juror claimed that at least five fellow jurors violated the judge's orders as they consulted media coverage of the case during the trial and lied to the judge.
Cogan said such claims lacked "extremely prejudicial conduct" which is required for a new trial.
"There is no indication that this news coverage was prejudicial to defendant in any way -- and prejudice is the key factor in any new trial motion," he wrote.
He also rejected an evidentiary hearing to determine juror misconduct.
Defense attorney Jeff Lichtman said in a statement Wednesday that the ruling demonstrated the trial "was more of an inquisition, a show trial, than an exercise in true American justice."
The former head of the world's largest drug-trafficking organization was convicted on all 10 criminal counts on Feb. 12 including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and international distribution of drugs. He is expected to be sentenced to life imprisonment on July 17.
