  We demonstrate a new method for projective single-shot measurement of two
electron spin states (singlet versus triplet) in an array of gate-defined
lateral quantum dots in GaAs. The measurement has very high fidelity and is
robust with respect to electric and magnetic fluctuations in the environment.
It exploits a long-lived metastable charge state, which increases both the
contrast and the duration of the charge signal distinguishing the two
measurement outcomes. This method allows us to evaluate the charge measurement
error and the spin-to-charge conversion error separately. We specify conditions
under which this method can be used, and project its general applicability to
scalable quantum dot arrays in GaAs or silicon.
