Trial for “El Chapo” Guzmán's extradition adjourned for time being

The legal protection case filed by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera's team against his extradition to the U.S. has been adjourned for the time being.

The protection hearings in relation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' recent authorization to extradite Guzmán Loera to the U.S. were held on Monday.

In accordance with Mexican Law, judges may hand down a ruling on a legal protection case on the same day as the trial. However, this usually doesn't occur in practice since in addition to reviewing the reports and evidence put forth in a case, judges need time to thoroughly analyze the case at hand. As a result, judges may take anywhere between a few hours and up to several months to hand down a final ruling on a particular case. This is exactly what happened on Monday in Guzmán Loera's case.

In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, Guzmán Loera's attorney, José Refugio Rodríguez, said that all the reports and evidence put forth have already been reviewed by the judge, but a ruling has yet to been handed down.

“The legal protection trial has already been held, but the judge has yet to hand down a final ruling on our request. This is what we're waiting for. For a final ruling to be handed down,” said Refugio Rodríguez.

“According to Mexican law, a ruling must be handed down on the day of the trial, but in practice, it usually takes up to 2 or 3 months for this to happen. The judge can hand down a ruling tonight at midnight; we really don't know,” explained Refugio Rodríguez.

EL UNIVERSAL reports that even if Guzmán Loera loses his legal protection case, his attorneys will exhaust all options, including international ones, to strike down the extradition order against their client.