JUDGE EVANS DECLARES MISTRIAL IN NICHOLS CASE

(05/18/2005)

The presence of a newspaper in a Spencer jury room has caused Judge Thomas Evans III to declare a mistrial. The case involved Marsha Kay Nichols, who reportedly found out that her 42-year-old ex-boyfriend was having sex with her 12-year-old daughter. Nichols, whose address is Elkview, resides in Roane County near the Kanawha line, where the offenses reportedly occurred. Now, a Roane County jury was trying to figure out what she did, including whether or not she took hush-money from her boyfriend not to talk. Judge Evans had advised jurors not to read newspapers or watch media reports regarding the trial, part of standard jury instruction. A copy of the daily newspaper was apparently brought into the jury room before the trial started today. When Evans was notified, he declared a mistrial, although only three or four of the jurors might have read the paper. This is the third mistrial of a Roane County case in less than a year. A Mason County juror brought a legal dictionary into the jury room, violating instructions, causing the Dreu Ferguson murder case to be declared a mistrial. The case was moved from Roane to Mason County. In another case, a mistrial was declared because of conversations a juror had with a second party regarding the case, reportedly in the hallway while the case was being tried. The Nichols case will now be heard on September 13.

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