A handful of potential jurors were dismissed Wednesday morning in the jury selection in the Chandra Levy murder trial before individual questioning began.
Reasons for dismissal were potential jurors’ prior courtroom experience, such as one who was a courtroom interpreter, and biased attitudes toward Hispanics, gangs, tattoos and illegal immigrants.
One statement read from a potential juror’s notes mentioned the opinion that Ingmar Guandique — who is charged with killing Levy in 2001 and leaving her body in Rock Creek Park — was guilty and his tattoos proved he was guilty and a member of a gang. Several would-be jurors admitted to having an opinion against illegal immigrants.
“He is negative toward Hispanics and all illegal aliens,” prosecutor Amanda Haines said about one potential juror. “He gave what I would term some rather bizarre responses.”
Another among the dismissed group commented that he believed all gang members should be castrated, Haines said.
Guandique, 29, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, and is alleged to have been a member of the MS-13 gang.
The questionnaire given to potential jurors containing 55 questions to test the jury pool’s knowledge about the case and opinions on gangs, Hispanics, tattoos and illegal immigrants will serve as the main focus on the individuals questioning sessions, along with comments made on the form.
One-hundred-fourten D.C. residents were called to the juror pool for the case on Monday. After 16 are selected – 12 jurors and four alternates – the trial will begin. D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher said Wednesday morning he expected the selection to take a few days.
