Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 2, 1990 TAG: 9005020569
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Circuit Court Judge William Sweeney, who had already agreed either to bring a jury in from another locality or try the case outside Bedford County, Tuesday outlined arrangements for the June 1 trial. Sweeney has said a rash of publicity surrounding the 1985 deaths of Nancy and Derek Haysom in Boonsboro would make it difficult to find an unbiased jury of Bedford County residents.
Sweeney said he will bring in a panel of 50 potential jurors from Nelson County and that the group of jurors selected for the case will be allowed to commute to and from Bedford. Court will start at 10 a.m. instead of the usual 9:30 to allow jurors time for their daily trip.
Sweeney said he decided against moving the trial out of the county because the trial is expected to be long and because of issues of expense, convenience, security and the need to move court records.
"While prejudice to the defendant's right to a fair trial is the main consideration, I doubt that this case could be moved somewhere in the state where people have not heard, read or seen something about this or the Haysom case," Sweeney said in his written decision. "In that sense, the case is unusual and different rules apply."
Sweeney said most publicity in Soering's case has been concentrated in the Lynchburg/Roanoke area and pointed out that some parts of Nelson County - while accessible by U.S. 29 and U.S. 460 - are as much as 80 miles away from Bedford's Courthouse.
"Finally," Sweeney wrote, "There is something to be said for trying a case where the alleged crime occurred, if an impartial jury can be obtained."
In a hearing Tuesday, Soering's attorneys also gave the prosecutor notice of an alibi they may employ at the June trial. Soering, the 23-year-old son of a West German diplomat, may provide evidence that he was in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., during the weekend in 1985 that the killings occurred, according to documents filed by attorneys Rick Neaton and William Cleaveland.
Soering's prosecutor would probably agree that Soering was in both cities that weekend. Police say Soering, a University of Virginia student at the time, traveled from UVa to Washington with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom. But police claim Soering also took a detour to the Haysoms' cottage in Boonsboro before heading back to Washington.
In 1987, Elizabeth Haysom pleaded guilty to being an accessory before the fact in her parents' slashing deaths and was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
The prosecution contends Haysom and Soering set up an alibi with the trip to Washington while Soering drove alone to Boonsboro to carry out the killings.
As part of a court rule involving the exchange of information between Updike and Soering's attorneys, the defense lawyers were required to tell Updike by Tuesday where they plan to say Soering was that weekend, if not at the Haysoms' home.
The defense alibi notice stressed that Soering's attorneys are not bound to the alibi.
Prosecution and defense attorneys have fought since February over the alibi issue. Soering's attorneys had requested added time to supply the alibi and asked that Sweeney rule on another matter before they be required to turn it in. On Tuesday - the final due date - Neaton argued that he should not be required to supply an alibi unless Updike supplies the defense with any evidence that might be used to rebut that alibi.
Updike argued that Neaton should have voiced his objection to the alibi requirement long ago and that he already has supplied the defense with a "voluminous" amount of information about the prosecution's case.
Despite his complaints, Updike also agreed to give the defense any evidence he may come up with that could rebut Soering's alibi. Sweeney approved the defense motion and gave Updike five days to supply any such information.
by CNB