Thread: Defense team for man held in Chandra Levy killing can't see

Defense team for man held in Chandra Levy killing can't see jury pool names
12 Comments


By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 21, 2010

Attorneys for a Salvadoran immigrant charged with killing federal intern Chandra Levy may not examine the last names of potential jurors to determine whether the pool is likely to include Hispanics, a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

The ruling was a setback for the lawyers representing Ingmar Guandique, who have argued that their client cannot get a fair trial in the District if there are no Hispanics on the jury.

Guandique, 28, who is in the country illegally, was arrested last year and charged with six counts, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and sexual abuse, in connection with Levy's 2001 disappearance and slaying. Levy's remains were found in Rock Creek Park a year after she went missing.

Guandique's attorneys requested that court officials release the surnames of potential jurors so that they could be compared against the 2000 Census to determine whether the names are of Latino origin. They wanted to make sure that the pool of potential jurors included Latinos, and they were seeking the list of names the court generally uses before issuing jury summonses. That list is generated from various public records, including ones for driver's licenses, motor vehicle and voter registrations, and public assistance.

Prosecutors objected to the request, calling it a "delay tactic" and a "fishing expedition."

In denying the request, Judge Gerald I. Fisher said that releasing the names would not help identify qualified, Hispanic jurors. Also, he said, releasing the names would not help identify those jurors who are 18 or older, legal residents of the District, and able to speak and read English, all requirements for jury duty in the city.

Still, Fisher acknowledged that choosing a jury could be a challenge because the Levy trial was a "very unique case." The judge cited several problems, such as the trial potentially lasting more than five weeks. Finding jurors who could sit that long without a hardship could take a few days, he said.

Fisher also said that the case has received intense media attention and that finding potential jurors who have not heard about the case and formed some opinion will be challenging.

"Ethnicity" is also a factor, the judge said, acknowledging the defense attorneys' argument that Guandique's race and immigration status could make it difficult to find unbiased jurors.

Fisher further cited Guandique's gang affiliation. Guandique was a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and several witnesses who were with him in prison and are scheduled to testify were also members of gangs.


"How are we going to pull this off is the big question," the judge said to the attorneys.

To address some of the concerns, Guandique's attorneys, from the District's Public Defender Service, and prosecutors submitted potential questions for jurors.

For example, they discussed a question about whether jurors perceived members of gangs to be violent. Fisher said that just because a person was in a gang didn't mean that gang was involved in violent activity. He cited the character Spanky from the "Our Gang" series from the 1930s. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines argued that any member of the MS-13 gang was, in fact, violent. That question will remain part of the juror questionnaire.

The attorneys also raised arguments over questions that would elicit potential jurors' opinions of illegal immigrants or people with tattoos. Guandique has at least one visible tattoo, on his neck.


www.washingtonpost.com

August 20, 2010
Prosecutors, defense lawyers battle over jury pool in Chandra Levy case
By MICHAEL DOYLE
McClatchy Newspapers

Attorneys for the illegal immigrant accused of killing former intern Chandra Levy failed Friday in their efforts to aggressively seek out more Hispanic jurors.

Amid serious pretrial maneuvering, a judge rejected defense requests that potential Washington jurors be courted with special Spanish-language mailings.

"We do have a requirement for proficiency in English, so it seems a little counterintuitive to send out our summons in Spanish," District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher said.

In another blow to attorneys for accused killer Ingmar Guandique, Fisher said he would not order release of the names of Washington jurors from the past several years. Guandique's attorneys wanted the names to evaluate whether Hispanics are absent from D.C. juries.

"We have maybe the most inclusive system for summoning jurors in the country," Fisher said. "We are desperate to get people down here for service."

Instead of individual juror names from recent years, defense attorneys will instead be given their ZIP codes. This provides some demographic information without the risk of personal information being released publicly.

Guandique's attorneys, Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo from the public defenders office, had argued that there is a "statistically significant under-representation of the Hispanic population in the jury pool."

Of potential Washington jurors identifying themselves by race, the defense attorneys noted that only 2.3 percent were Hispanic. By contrast, Hispanics account for 4 percent of the D.C. population eligible to serve on a jury.

The unusually intense maneuvering over Hispanic jurors contributed to Fisher's calling the upcoming trial "a unique case" with multiple complications.

Prosecutors say Guandique killed Levy on May 1, 2001, in the midst of an attempted sexual assault in Washington's Rock Creek Park. Levy's remains were found a year later.

At the time of her disappearance, Levy had finished graduate school and a Bureau of Prisons internship and was reportedly planning to return to California. She was raised in Modesto, where her parents still live.

Largely because of revelations that Levy had been having an affair with then-congressman Gary Condit, and despite the passage of many years, the upcoming trial - now set to start Oct. 4 - remains what Fisher termed Friday "a very high publicity case."

In an effort to screen out the resulting bias, potential jurors will first answer roughly 50 written questions. The written questionnaire, which is rare in Washington trials, will cover topics ranging from attitudes toward illegal immigrants to attitudes towards gangs and tattoos.

Guandique entered the United States illegally from his native El Salvador. He is allegedly a member of the infamous MS-13 gang, and his skin abounds in prison tattoos.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Haines and Fernando Campomor-Sanchez successfully resisted, though, defense efforts to include some written questions including whether the potential juror has a child roughly the age of Chandra Levy when she died.

Guandique's attorneys are still trying to block prosecutors from using a "pre-sentence" report prepared July 19, 2001. The report dealt with a different crime for which Guandique had pleaded guilty.

"When I'm about to commit an offense, I tell myself to go ahead and do it, but afterwards I feel bad about it," Guandique said, according to the 2001 report. "Sometimes, I cannot control myself when I see someone alone in a secluded area with something of value."

The reporting officer added that Guandique "has transitioned from the role of victim to that of predator, and it is quite clear that he is becoming more psychopathic in his behavior."

Guandique's attorneys want this report suppressed, because he wasn't read his rights before talking to the officer. This conflict is one of several that still must be resolved before the trial begins.

www.kansascity.com

In another blow to attorneys for accused killer Ingmar Guandique, Fisher said he would not order release of the names of Washington jurors from the past several years. Guandique's attorneys wanted the names to evaluate whether Hispanics are absent from D.C. juries.

What a mess refusing to secure our borders and pandering to this group of people has caused this country! Atleast this judge has not bought into this insanity!

Amid serious pretrial maneuvering, a judge rejected defense requests that potential Washington jurors be courted with special Spanish-language mailings.

Great!

Most people in this country legally, and who would be eligible to sit on a jury speak English! Why do you need to send out spanish mailings! Illegal invaders cannot serve on a jury, which I can now see disappoints the defense team, since they are trying to make the argument these are the defendants’ peers!

Quote:
"Ethnicity" is also a factor, the judge said, acknowledging the defense attorneys' argument that Guandique's race and immigration status could make it difficult to find unbiased jurors.

"Fisher further cited Guandique's gang affiliation. Guandique was a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and several witnesses who were with him in prison and are scheduled to testify were also members of gangs."

Reply:
Well, G... forbid that anyone should harbor "bias" toward violent gang membership! Surely they're stretching the definition of "bigotry" too wide here except for the die-hard far left?

cannot get a fair trial in the District

He's obviously living in that District, therefore who ever is on that jury are his peers.

Dixie

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For example, they discussed a question about whether jurors perceived members of gangs to be violent. Fisher said that just because a person was in a gang didn't mean that gang was involved in violent activity. He cited the character Spanky from the "Our Gang" series from the 1930s.

The comparison between The Little Rascals and MS-13 is obvious I'm sure.

THIS IS JMHO, BUT I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD SEAT [url]ANY HISPANIC'S ON THAT JURY. BECAUSE IMO THAT THEY WILL MORE THAN LIKELY FIND HIM NOT GUILTY OR THEY WILL ASURE A MISTRIAL AT WORSE I SAY THIS BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE STICK TOGETHER AND THAT IS A GIVEN.

Originally Posted by LadyStClaire

THIS IS JMHO, BUT I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD SEAT ANY HISPANIC'S ON THAT JURY. BECAUSE IMO THAT THEY WILL MORE THAN LIKELY FIND HIM NOT GUILTY OR THEY WILL ASURE A MISTRIAL AT WORSE I SAY THIS BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE STICK TOGETHER AND THAT IS A GIVEN.

You shouldn't make statements like that, especially not in total caps.

Saying stuff like this and using phrases like "these people" makes it easy for the open borders traitors to call us racists. I share your frustration and anger with our situation, but it doesn't help the cause to make us look bad.

And I can tell you that what you're saying is not true to the extent that you're implying it is. Opinions on piecemeal invasion (illegal immigration) break down according to the different groups in the Hispanic immigrant population and their geographic locations in the United States:

* Immigrants from South America and Cuba, and their American-born children, generally want the illegal aliens gone. They do not support the invaders.

* Immigrants from Mexico and Central America tend to want amnesty and open borders.

* Hispanic immigrants living on the East coast, across the board, are more widely opposed to illegal immigration.

* Hispanic immigrants living in the American Southwest, across the board, seem to widely believe that those States belong to them and their countries of origin -- because many of these people ARE illegal aliens.

Perhaps you're wondering why Hispanic Americans are not speaking up? Intimidation, mostly. You can thank the La Raza and Reconquista movements for that.

Speaking for myself, I'm Hispanic, a naturally born Citizen of the United States. I stick with my people ... The American People. My allegiance is to this Republic and to the Constitution.

ReddHeretic wrote:

Perhaps you're wondering why Hispanic Americans are not speaking up? Intimidation, mostly. You can thank the La Raza and Reconquista movements for that.

I'm puzzled as to why Hispanic Americans would be intimidated by these groups mentioned. Do Hispanic Americans, as a whole, feel some sense of racial obligation to not speak out against this invasion? What methods would groups like la raza and the militant reconquista movement use to intimidate Hispanic Americans in order to silence them into submission?

If true, la raza sounds more like a terrorist organization than anything else.