State District Judge Bonnie Jackson granted Leroy V

State District Judge Bonnie Jackson granted Leroy V. George Jr.'s request for a new sentencing hearing because, she said, the jurors had discussed news coverage of the case against her orders. The jury convicted George of 5 counts of 1st-degree murder for running over a crowd of about 15 teen-agers on July 10, 1999. Jackson's ruling does not change the jury's guilty verdicts. It does mean a new panel of jurors will hear evidence for and against the death penalty.George will get an automatic life sentence if the jury does not reach a unanimous verdict for death by lethal injection.