El Chapo lawyers say harsh prison conditions affect his mental state
90,000 pages of evidence released by feds
A Brooklyn federal judge approved a mental evaluation on Wednesday for Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman after his defense team alleged harsh prison conditions were leading to his slipping memory.
Guzman has been under tight security at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center since January, with a frigid 10-by-5 cell, constant artificial lighting, dirty sheets and hardly any contact with anyone but his lawyers.
“I’m alleging that the conditions … are affecting him,” Guzman’s attorney Eduardo Balarezo said. “He’s not remembering certain things. He doesn’t remember names, dates … I want to fix that.”