ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A ROANOKE CIRCUIT COURT judge said he probably won't let a jury hear about the 1989 death of a murder suspect's child.
Veronica Via, who is charged with killing her infant daughter at a Roanoke homeless shelter, had another daughter who died mysteriously seven years ago.
But a jury scheduled to hear a murder charge against Via later this week will probably not be told of the earlier death, a Roanoke Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Via, 28, is accused of killing her 14-day-old daughter, Jasmine Monique, last Dec. 16 at the Transitional Living Center, a program for homeless people that is operated on 24th Street Northwest by Total Action Against Poverty.
She told a detective she was worried that she could not raise her daughter alone, so she decided to send her to a "better place." Via also told police that she hit her child "about 10 times, maybe more," because she was frustrated with the child's crying.
In the statements, which were introduced as evidence Tuesday, Via also was asked about the 1989 death of her other daughter in a way that suggested she may have been involved, Assistant Public Defender Steve Milani said.
Milani asked Judge Clifford Weckstein to bar prosecutors from mentioning the 1989 death, citing concerns that it might prejudice the jury.
"Our contention is that to allow that evidence in, the innuendo and suggestion that there was another crime would tend to reverse the presumption of innocence," Milani said.
Although an autopsy was never conducted, authorities believed that Via's earlier daughter died from sudden infant death syndrome, an often unexplained form of crib death. Via maintained she had nothing to do with the child's death, and she was never charged.
But Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony argued that evidence of the death should be allowed for several reasons.
The first death explains why the second one was investigated, she said. Police began to ask questions about Jasmine's death only after receiving a call from hospital officials, who said it was the second time they had treated one of Via's children under mysterious circumstances.
And in statements to police about both cases, Via raised similar concerns. "In each case, she felt that it wasn't fair that she was stuck raising a child without a father or a support system," Anthony said.
Such comments explain a "course of conduct" that the jury should be entitled to consider, she said.
But Weckstein ruled that any value of any such evidence would be outweighed by its prejudicial effect. Although he ruled that the evidence was inadmissable, the judge invited lawyers to submit further arguments that might lead him to reconsider his decision before the trial begins Thursday.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB