Defense Seeks New Trial In Chandra Levy Murder

The defense will seek a new trial in the Chandra Levy case, saying that the prosecution was “predicated on a lie.” The announcement came in 200 pages of documents related to hearings in December and January.

Reporters and the public have not been able to hear discussions between the judge and lawyers in the past three hearings, because prosecutors argued open hearings would endanger a witness in the original trial.

Ingmar Guandique was charged with Levy’s murder in 2010. The Washington, D.C., intern vanished in April 2001. Her badly decomposed remains were found in a heavily wooded area of Rock Creek Park the next year.

About 200 pages of documents were unsealed on Tuesday, allowing the public to know that the defense wants a new trial, reports NBC News.

Prosecutors asked that the hearings be sealed on December 18. They convened the hearing to talk about information they learned after Guandique was sentenced almost three years before.

Defense attorneys added that the new information calls one witness’s testimony into question, notes ABC News. The information also “drastically undercut” the government’s case, according to the defense.

Chandra Levy’s murder case was one of the most high-profile trials in the US capital when it started in 2010. Levy’s case also attracted attention because she was romantically involved with former California congressman Gary Condit. Guandique, the man convicted of murdering the intern, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.

At the time of his sentencing, he asserted that he had nothing to do with Levy’s murder. Guandique’s attorneys argued in a motion that was unsealed on Tuesday:

“My. Guandique and the public have a right to know precisely what happened at Mr. Guandique’s trial and why the government allowed its prosecution to be predicated on a lie.”

The defense in the Chandra Levy case plans to file a motion to dismiss the indictment and request a new trial for Ingmar Guandique.