The Levy Case

I'm glad they have charged someone for raping and murdering Chandra Levy.

They'll never get a conviction, though, not if they try the case in DC.

I've been a juror in a murder trial here. Prosecutors have three big hurdles in this case:

They have no physical evidence linking the suspect to the crime.

The evidence consists of alleged confessions made by the suspect to other criminals...credibility is a problem. Unless the suspect's partners in this crime come forward and serve as eyewitnesses to the murder, this is a problem.

But the even bigger issue and one that is not going away is that the African-American community in Washington has a deep distrust of the police. Did I say deep?

In the murder trial I served on there were eyewitnesses and there was physical evidence. The trial ended with a hung jury. Why? Some jurors -- mostly African-American women -- were not willing to believe the police. In the trial I served on, the defense attorney didn't even present a defense, he just nursed that doubt of the police and the witnesses (who were all drug users, therefore, he argued, not reliable eyewitnesses) during cross examination. That was enough.

In the Levey case, from what we've seen so far, the prosecution has to deal with a faulty police investigation that has been well documented by the Washington Post. Unless the atmosphere in the community has changed, I don't think they can do it.

I hope I'm wrong. I feel for Chandra's parents and all they've been through. Unfortunately, it's not over.