Judge Says Fair Jury Question Affects Every Case and ‘Needs to Be Resolved’

By Jeff Levine - April 7, 2024
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In a contentious hearing on April 5, DC Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein urged both sides in a complex constitutional case to work out their differences without making a ruling from the bench.

The abiding issue is how much information the DC Superior Court is required to disclose about whether the DC jury selection process includes enough Black people.

Judge Epstein said the outcome “affects every criminal case in the courthouse.  It needs to be resolved.”  

“The goal as required is to have a representative jury pool that meets or exceeds constitutional requirements,” said the judge.

The case dates back to 2022 when Jason Tulley, the lead Public Defender, filed a motion,“to grant discovery of information relating to the selection of jurors during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that…jurors have been selected from a fair cross-section of the D.C. community.”

Depending on the outcome, dozens of felony convictions could be overturned on grounds that the defendants were denied their Sixth Amendment rights to be tried by a jury of their peers. 

Tulley said the stakes of the case couldn’t be higher.

“This is a huge issue..that juries are so unrepresentative of Blacks is shocking,” he said. “It’s a terrible practice,” he continued.

During the past two years Tulley and the DC Superior Court, which manages jury selection, have been bickering over procedural questions about the quantity and quality of the information provided about how jurors are picked. 

In today’s proceedings, Public Defender Lmelme Umana said that her office had received a new master jurors’ list that “magically” contained addresses whereas the previous list only included zip codes.  

Tulley said that he should not have to fight the Superior Court “tooth and nail” to provide relevant information, not only lists but all relevant communication relating to the case. 

Representing the DC Superior Court Richard Sobiecki from the DC Attorney General’s office opposed the request as irrelevant and a rehash of data already provided. 

Judge Epstein denied the public defender’s motion but added that if there is any indication of impropriety it can be addressed later. The judge expects the attorney general’s office to be “open- handed” and “do the right thing.” 

Despite Umana’s strenuous objections, the judge declined to set a new hearing date for the case. He urged the parties to resolve their differences and develop a new briefing schedule.

At the beginning of the hearing Judge Epstein offered the parties a chance to file a motion for his recusal by April 15.  The judge sits on the Jury Instructions Committee of the court.  DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo was previously handling the case.