Jurors deciding the fate of the man accused of killing federal intern Chandra Levy deliberated for nearly six hours Wednesday without reaching a verdict before they broke for the night. While the jury met, the judge and attorneys in the case discussed exactly what evidence the jurors could see.
Ingmar Guandique faces two counts of first-degree felony murder in connection with Levy’s death.
The jury of nine women and three men sent one note Wednesday to D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher, asking for a photograph that a former girlfriend of Guandique, Iris Portillo, said she took of him in Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Prosecutors say Guandique attacked Levy in the park that same month.
Most of the attorneys’ debate Wednesday centered on what sections of grand jury transcripts mentioned at trial could be admitted as evidence.
It’s not unheard of for parties in a case to continue discussing evidence even after jury deliberations begin. “It happens,” said Joe diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for D.C. But he said evidence in a trial is usually admitted at the end of the prosecution’s case, at the end of the defense’s case and at the end of the rebuttal case ?– all before the case goes to the jury.
The 2001 disappearance of 24-year-old Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Levy dominated national headlines until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in large part because of her affair with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. Condit was initially considered a suspect in the case.
A man walking his dog found Levy’s remains in Rock Creek Park in 2002. There was no DNA evidence recovered from her remains because of decomposition.
Prosecutors’ case against Guandique, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, is built largely on testimony from a jailhouse informant and two women Guandique was convicted of attacking in Rock Creek Park around the time of Levy’s death.
Armando Morales, one of Guandique’s former cellmates, testified that Guandique confessed to attacking Levy but did not know she was dead.
The two women described their attacks and prosecutors in closing arguments stressed the similarities between those assaults and Levy’s slaying.
Jury deliberations are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
Examiner intern Anna Waugh contributed to this report.
