Drug kingpin 'El Chapo' appeals conviction, argues jury bias and conditions in 'modern dungeon'

Attorneys representing notorious Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera handed down oral arguments on Monday in the appeal of the Mexican drug kingpin’s U.S. conviction.

Beginning just before noon, Fernich argued that Guzman’s conviction should be sent back to lower courts for further evaluation or overturned completely and that his client should be given a new trial. He argued there were two reasons for appeal, one being the conditions and his treatment inside the now closed Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York – or, in Fernich’s words, Guzman’s "indefinite pre-conviction solitary confinement in a modern dungeon." 

For his second reason, Fernich cited a news report that during deliberations jurors were exposed to salacious claims that were barred from the trial, including that Guzman sexually abused girls he referred to as "vitamins" that gave him energy.