REUTERS/Handout
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is “having psychological problems” that could impede his ability to fight the charges against him, his wife and lawyer claimed Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We have noticed that his mental state has deteriorated, not just his memory but...the way he understands things,” attorney Eduardo Balarezo told reporters at Brooklyn federal court. Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, claims she has not been able to see her husband, who is being held in solitary confinement, since he was turned over to U.S. authorities in 2017. Prosecutors claim that the conditions are necessary because Guzman has been able to control his drug empire from behind bars in the past and has escaped prison twice. “My worry is his health because I know that he is in bad shape psychologically,” Coronel said. “It worries me how is he going to start the trial if he's not in good health.” Guzman claims that he has headaches, vomits regularly, and is unable to “focus to study the evidence in my case...It is torture 24 hours a day.”