BILLINGS (AP)
The trial for a man accused of tampering with evidence in a 2004 shooting death was compromised, a judge said in declaring a mistrial nearly two hours after jury deliberations began. Jesus Villarreal Jr.’s right to a fair trial was violated when two prosecution witnesses said they feared him and the prosecutor connected him to the death of Justin Marchant, District Judge Susan Watters said Wednesday. The judge also said she erred in failing to exclude any testimony about drug use by Villarreal. “It is my job to make sure that this trial be conducted in a fair way, and I do not believe that has happened,” Watters said. “We don’t get a script. It isn’t television, and sometimes these things happen.” Villarreal was accused of hindering an investigation into the shooting of Justin Marchant, 30, of Cowley, Wyo. His body was found on a rural road in Carbon County just north of the Wyoming border. Marchant was shot twice in a car driven by Villarreal, according to the prosecutor. Also in the car, investigators said, was Bianca Wilson. Wilson initially was charged with murder and aggravated kidnapping, charges later dismissed for lack of evidence. She was convicted of evidence tampering last year and is serving a five-year sentence. Villarreal and Wilson were accused of hindering the investigation by trying to hide and clean the car. Villarreal remained in custody Wednesday on unrelated charges. A date for a new trial was not set immediately. Late last year Marchant’s family offered a $6,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in his death.
