A D.C. judge is rejecting an argument by attorneys representing the man charged in intern Chandra Levy's slaying that the Superior Court employs a defective process of summoning jurors.
Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher said in court Friday that he won't allow defense attorneys access to the names of jurors summoned between 2007 and 2009. Defense attorneys for Ingmar Guandique sought those names in their effort to prove Hispanics are underrepresented on D.C. juries. They argued in court filings that the court could issue jury summons in Spanish to increase Hispanic participation in juries. Guandique is from El Salvador.
Fisher noted jurors are required to be proficient in English and said it seemed "a little bit counterintuitive" to use Spanish language materials to target jurors who must meet those standards.
