FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106202/939-3106 or202/939-3106 elissa@niaf.org

(WASHINGTON, DC – November 29, 2001) The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), an advocacy group in Washington, DC for Americans of Italian descent, strongly protests a recent federal court decision that allowed six Italian Americans to be excluded without cause from a Philadelphia murder trial of a defendant with an Italian last name.

On November 15, 2001, U.S. District Judge William Yohn agreed with the 1998 ruling of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that prosecutors in this murder trial did not discriminate against Italian Americans during the jury selection.

In the ruling, U.S. District Judge William Yohn said prosecutors could use absolute challenges to keep Italian Americans off the jury in the murder trial of Joseph Rico. Such challenges let attorneys remove jurors without stating a reason. Judge Yohn ruled that federal law was not violated because Italian Americans are not an identifiable racial group.

Ironically, the defendant, Joseph Rico, has no Italian roots but changed his surname from Gravel to appear Italian. He was convicted and is serving a life sentence.

“At a time of great sensitivity over profiling of any sort, it is troubling that one group was identified in the voir dire process and then excluded from the jury pool,” said NIAF General Counsel Joseph V. DelRaso, a Philadelphia attorney with Pepper Hamilton LLP.

“This raises questions about the protection afforded U.S. citizens under our Constitution. I am sure if appealed a higher court will give full and careful consideration to these issues,” DelRaso said.

The NIAF is conferring with Italian American legal groups and societies about organizing an academic symposium on the issues of racial, ethnic and religious profiling in the jury selection process.