Prosecutor’s Peru Trip Leads to DC Supreme Court Visit

A Maryland prosecutor’s chance encounter during a mission trip to Peru brought him to Washington, D.C., where he attended oral arguments as a guest of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

State’s Attorney Charlie Smith of Frederick County went to Peru to help build a Bible college, and struck up a conversation with another volunteer with a connection to Roberts, the Frederick News-Post reports. The volunteer’s mother was Roberts’ secretary.

The volunteer told her mother, Diane Nelson, about Smith. She sent along five tickets to a January session and offered a private tour of the court.