THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407090187
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The first-degree murder trial of a man diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia was halted Friday after two days when a juror revealed that he knew the accused.
The defendant, Lloyd T. Waters Sr., had admitted killing 78-year-old Ocie Ruffin on June 24, 1993, but had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
The jury had deliberated about an hour when the foreman announced just before 4 p.m. that the 12-member panel ``had a problem.''
Circuit Judge Rodham Delk ordered a mistrial after the foreman said a juror claimed to have worked with Waters several years ago.
``We don't know whether (the juror) is biased for or against Mr. Waters, but either way it would be improper to proceed,'' Delk said. ``Regretfully, I'm ordering a mistrial.''
Attorneys on both sides of the case spent about three hours Thursday morning screening potential jurors, including asking whether any of them knew people involved in the case. During that questioning, the juror never said he knew Waters.
He told a bailiff Thursday afternoon that he might have known Waters, but Delk ruled that did not warrant a mistrial. Claiming to remember working with him, however, was different, Delk said.
``Certainly, that affects their deliberations,'' said Waters' attorney, Lori Galbraith, who asked for the mistrial.
Waters, 49, who claims to be a preacher, told psychiatrists he thought Ruffin needed to die because he was spreading false prophecies. He went to Ruffin's home in the Saratoga section of Suffolk and shot him three times, later saying he did it ``to make all the questions stop,'' according to court records.
Ruffin and Waters worked carpentry jobs together and discussed religion, family members testified.
Two doctors, including a state psychiatrist appointed by prosecutors, testified that Waters was legally insane at the time of the crime.
Waters was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1970 and had been taking anti-psychosis prescription drugs. Doctors said those drugs controlled his psychotic symptoms, but Waters was known to show bizarre behavior whenever he stopped taking the drugs.
In 1974, for instance, Waters stopped using his medication and then canceled his Social Security payments because he thought he was starting a business. A year later, when he again stopped taking the medication, Waters had to be removed from a church because he demanded to preach from the pulpit.
Waters, while taking his medication, was able to work at Norshipco for much of the past seven years, court records show. Family members said he stopped taking the medication shortly before the slaying.
Waters is being held in Western Tidewater Regional Jail pending a new trial.
KEYWORDS: MISTRIAL MURDER TRIAL by CNB