Photo: Jane Rosenberg / EFE
The lawyer of Genaro Garcia LunaCesar de Castro, asked Judge Brian M. Cogan to postpone the date again to continue with the next steps of the judicial process until the sentence, since he says in a letter sent to the judge that he has additional evidence provided by Mexican and US agents in favor of his client that includes audios, documents and videos, according to our colleague Jesús García.
If the judge authorizes this new postponement, García Luna’s defense must present the motion first and the judge will decide if the sentence will not take place in September, as already scheduled.
Genaro García Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, asks to postpone the date to submit the motion to Judge Cogan, since he has additional evidence provided by Mexican and US agents on behalf of his client: audios, documents and videos. pic.twitter.com/PYlAAVxPBT
– Jesus Garcia 🐦 (@JesusGar) June 30, 2023
In the letter signed by the lawyer César de Castro to Judge Cogan, it was reported that New Findings From Former US and Mexican Law Enforcement Officerswhich will make it possible to obtain evidence in favor of García Luna if the dates for submitting a motion and sentencing are delayed next year.
Garcia Luna’s lawyer explained in his letter to Judge Cogan that: “In addition, in the last month, we have received thousands of pages of material, audio and video files potentially relevant to the case that we have never seen before and are diligently reviewing.”
Among the difficulties that the new evidence represents to justify an extension of the judicial process are cited in the letter that most are in Spanish, so they are required to be reviewed by people with a command of that language, which lengthens their review.
That is why Genaro García Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, asks that the deadlines be extended to the defense’s post-trial motions on December 15, 2023, the government’s opposition to January 19, 2024, the repetition of the defense for February 2, 2024 and the sentence for March 1, 2024.
It remains to be seen whether or not Judge Cogan will accept the new proposal to postpone the trial of Genaro García Luna, when he had previously agreed to delay it until September 2023.
On February 21, García Luna was found guilty of five charges against him related to drug trafficking: leading a criminal organization for a long period, three for conspiring to traffic cocaine and one for lying to the immigration authorities in his naturalization process.
The former official of the governments of Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón faces 20 years to life in prison for his ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, from 2001 to 2012.
Keep reading:
– Mexican judge orders the arrest of García Luna’s wife and brothers
– Prosecutor who led a team against Genaro García Luna now works at the DEA
– Judge postpones sentence to Genaro García Luna; The defense claims to have evidence in favor in the case of links with the Sinaloa Cartel