Barry’s Lawyer Petitions for a Retrial

Mayor Marion Barry’s attorney asked on Friday for a retrial, saying deputy U.S. marshals may have influenced jurors by telling them that alternate jurors would have voted to convict the mayor of all charges.

Attorney R. Kenneth Mundy also argued that a retrial was justified because some jurors witnessed an undercover drug sting operation at the hotel where they were sequestered.

Barry was convicted on Aug. 10 of a misdemeanor cocaine possession charge and acquitted of another. The jury could not reach a verdict on 12 other charges, including three felony perjury counts, and prosecutors have said they will not pursue a new trial on those charges.

Mundy asked in court papers for a postponement of next Friday’s scheduled pre-sentencing hearing. Barry’s parole officer had earlier asked for a delay in that proceeding to prepare a pre-sentencing report for U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.

Mundy’s request for a retrial comes after interviews with jurors in the case who said deputy U.S. marshals told them that the alternate panelists would have voted “guilty, guilty, guilty.”

According to Mundy’s filing, at least two jurors wondered whether the drug sting at their hotel had been staged for their benefit. Barry had been arrested in an undercover sting operation on Jan. 18.