A judge refused to dismiss sex charges against NBC sportscaster Marv Albert Thursday on grounds that a member of the grand jury that indicted him had managed the election campaigns of the prosecutor in the case.
Arlington, Va., Circuit Judge Benjamin N.A. Kendrick also rejected a defense motion to throw out the case because prosecutors made public DNA evidence linking Albert to the Feb. 12 hotel room incident in which he is charged.
Roy Black, Albert’s attorney, argued that the relationship between grand juror Amy Levine and Commonwealth’s Atty. Richard Trodden tainted the makeup of the grand jury. Levine managed Trodden’s campaigns in 1991 and 1995.
In Virginia, grand juries are chosen in random drawings by court clerks from a pool of names selected by a judge. Commonwealth’s attorneys have no role in the process. An association with the prosecutor would not disqualify someone from serving on a grand jury, said Barbara Kelley, chief deputy court clerk in Arlington.
