BEDFORD — A Bedford County judge has ordered the Lynchburg News & Advance to disclose to a convicted killer's attorneys the name of a person who anonymously posted comments about the trial on the newspaper's website.
The poster, who used the name "bedfordresident," claimed to be one of the jurors who convicted Chesapeake school administrator Wesley Earnest of murdering his estranged wife Jocelyn. The poster said the jury reviewed the victim's journals, but those materials were not introduced into evidence.
Defense attorney Blair Sanzone said Friday that "it would be premature to comment on the basis for seeking that subpoena." She said the newspaper has a few days to comply or seek a stay of the order.
Ray Kozakewicz, a spokesman for the newspaper's parent company, Media General Inc., said lawyers were reviewing the matter and would respond appropriately. He declined further comment.
Wesley Earnest was convicted April 5 of murdering Jocelyn Branham Earnest in her Forest home in 2007 and staging her death to look like a suicide. She had been shot in the head and a suicide note and a .475-caliber revolver were found nearby. Wesley Earnest's fingerprints were found on the typewritten note.
The jury recommended life in prison. Sentencing is set for Sept. 21.
Jocelyn Earnest was born in Morgantown, W.Va., and graduated from West Virginia University. She was a member of the Mountaineer women's basketball team from 1989 to 1992.
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