Levy Suspect's Lawyers Note Lack of Hispanics in Jury Pool

Lawyers request names of summoned jurors

Attorneys for the man charged in federal intern Chandra Levy's slaying are seeking access to the names of summoned jurors in D.C.

Defendant Ingmar Guandique's lawyers wrote in a court filing this week that there is a statistically significant under-representation of Hispanics in D.C.'s jury pool.

Guandique is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. His attorneys say D.C. juror surveys show only 2.3 percent of those who answered questions about race said they were Hispanic, while census numbers show 4 percent of D.C.'s Hispanic residents are eligible to serve.

Judge Gerald Fisher has said many factors, including citizenship and grasp of English, could affect the proportion of Hispanic jurors.

Guandique's lawyers said there is no evidence of efforts made to increase Hispanic jury participation.


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