N.Va. Murder Conviction Erased by Juror Buying Newspaper

A Prince William County judge yesterday threw out a guilty verdict in the first-degree murder trial of a Manassas man after the defense produced a videotape of a juror buying local newspapers on the day she was scheduled to deliberate his fate.

Lindy L. Heaster of Woodbridge was held in contempt of court by Circuit Court Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. after she acknowledged to him yesterday that she had bought newspapers Friday morning, the day the verdict was given, said Jon E. Shields, an attorney for the defendant, Gerardo N. Lara Sr.

Last week, Shields said he saw Heaster making the purchase at a 7-Eleven. Shields said he immediately went to the court and requested a mistrial on behalf of Lara, who was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing of his estranged wife, Marissa Lara.

Heaster swore under oath Friday that she had bought only a cup of coffee from the convenience store, and Alston denied the request for a mistrial.

After the jury convicted his client and recommended a 40-year prison term, Shields returned to the convenience store. This week, the store produced a receipt and a surveillance tape.

Every day during the five-day trial, Alston asked the jurors whether they had read or watched coverage of the trial. Each time, jurors said they had not.

Yesterday, after presenting prosecutors and the judge with a videotape of Heaster walking out of the convenience store with two newspapers, Shields again filed for a mistrial. Heaster appeared before Alston with an attorney and conceded that she had lied to the court, Shields said.

Immediately after Lara was convicted, prosecutors William E. Jarvis and Jerrold J. Negin had called the verdict a relief for relatives of Marissa Lara, some of whom had come from Mexico City for the trial. The prosecutors thanked jurors for their hard work.

"On behalf of Marissa Lara, we thank you," Negin said. "We thank you very much. You've acted with integrity throughout. Mr. Jarvis and I know you will act with integrity'' in recommending a sentence.

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment last night.

Police believe Marissa Lara was killed shortly after she stopped by the family home on Cannon Ridge Drive on May 13, 2003, to wake her sons and prepare breakfast. Although she no longer lived at the house, she routinely visited the home in the morning after her husband left for work and in the evening before he returned.

Her body was found in her car in the District seven days later, covered with clothes and a sleeping bag. She had been stabbed three times in the head.

Last night, Shields said that Heaster had failed the judicial system.

"We think that there has been a serious violation of the public's trust by this juror," Shields said.

A man at Heaster's home hung up the phone last night when contacted by a reporter.

Shields said a new trial will be scheduled for his client on June 7.