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News and Press Releases
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2005 Press Releases:
2005 from The Paris News:
May 31, 2005
For Immediate Release
Meth cook gets 40 years
A guilty plea Tuesday before District Judge Jim Lovett resulted
in a 40 year sentence for Marvin Dewayne Lester, 35, of Paris.
A March 2003 manhunt for three burglary suspects by Lamar
County Sheriff officials led to Lester's arrest by the Regional
Drug Task Force for possession of a controlled substance more
than 400 grams. Lester was found to have 572 grams of liquid
methamphetamine which investigators said he cooked, or produced,
himself.
"We got a call of a house being burglarized south of
Kimberly Clark," said district attorney investigator Chris
Brooks, who was an investigator with the sheriff's office at
the time. "DPS had their helicopter up, we had a private
plane up, TDC had their guards out searching."
A family member of Lester's was one of the three burglary
suspects being hunted and Brooks said a search warrant was obtained
for Lester's home because Brooks smelled chemicals consistent
with producing methamphetamine.
Lester agreed to plead guilty to the charge and let Judge
Lovett assess punishment.
First Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said investigators
found materials consistent with Lester having cooked the drugs.
Lester testified during his bench trial that the incident in
question "was his second time to cook," Whelchel said.
Lester also testified the drugs were only for his personal use.
Drug Task Force Assistant Commander Tommy Moore testified
that the final product would have been approximately 100 grams
of methamphetamine and that once cut, or had materials added
to it to make the quantity larger, would have had a street value
of approximately $20,000.
February 2, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Parson found guilty of aggravated assault on family
A Powderly man was found guilty Wednesday of pulling a gun
on his wife and step-son in a May 2004 family violence incident.
A Lamar County jury took just over an hour and 15 minutes
to find Stanley Mark Parson, 39, guilty of three counts of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon before Sixth District Judge Jim
Lovett. Punishment phase testimony is scheduled to begin 9 a.m.
Thursday.
Two and one-half days of testimony presented by District Attorney
Gary Young and First Assistant Lloyd Whelchel involved the 6
millimeter rifle Parson aimed at his wife and her 16-year-old
son during an intoxicated family violence assault. "He told
the boy to stop or he would shoot," Young said.
Both victims turned hostile to prosecutors in recent weeks,
recanted their original story and told the jury they had lied
about the case to sheriff's investigators and the grand jury
on three prior occasions. Prosecutors had anticipated both the
woman and her son planned to change their story in trial.
The woman told the jury she lied to authorities the night
of the May incident to try and get help for her husband's alcoholism
and that she continued the lie to the grand jury in December
2004. "He did not point the gun at me or my son," she
told the jury Tuesday.
"The jury did not believe her lies to them," Young
said. "Sadly, this woman is like many others who are in
abusive relationships that turn violent. She is blinded by the
co-dependency and is caught in the cycle of abuse."
Dr. Claire Haslam of Family Haven testified to battered woman's
syndrome and said through her examination of the case it was
clear the defendant's wife had characteristics of this syndrome.
Dr. Haslam said without intervention, the cycle of abuse would
continue. Whelchel told the jury in closing arguments, "We're
asking you to intervene and stop this coward."
Sheriff's investigator Sgt. Travis Rhodes testified that on
the night of the incident he found guns hidden under a pile of
wood and Parson in a fetal position under a bush near a chicken
coop on the property. Rhodes said the defendant's wife was very
upset and begged deputies not to leave until Parson was found.
Young said Parson faces 25 years to life in prison because
of two prior felony convictions for theft and possession of marijuana.
February 3, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aggravated assault on family gets man 99 years
A Lamar County jury Thursday gave three 99-year sentences
to Stanley Mark Parson, 39, of Powderly for aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon and his wife was arrested in the courtroom
for lying to the jury.
Parson was found guilty Wednesday of pulling a gun on his
wife and step-son in a family violence incident. His wife, Waynell
Parson, 39, was arrested Thursday for committing the felony crime
of perjury in the presence of Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett.
After hearing testimony Thursday on prior crimes Parson had committed,
including felony possession of marijuana and theft, other charges
including child molestation and driving while intoxicated were
shown to the jury from Parson's past. The jury took a little
more than one hour to return the punishment of 99 years in prison
on each of the three counts. Prosecutors described Parson as
one of the more heinous offenders due to his extensive criminal
background.
"Due to the finding of a deadly weapon, Parson must serve
a minimum of 30 years before he first becomes eligible for parole,
which will make him 70 years old before he can first be considered
for release," said Lamar County and District Attorney Gary
Young.
"This hopefully sends a message to men in this county
who beat up and threaten their wives keeping them in these cycles
of violence and control," First Assistant County Attorney
Lloyd Whelchel said. "Obviously juries don't think that's
something they want in their community."
Young noted the excellent investigative work of the Lamar
County Sheriff's office as well as the way deputies handled the
incident the night it occurred. "It's a pleasure to work
with these guys," Young said of deputies and detectives.
Parson used a 6 millimeter rifle and aimed at his wife and
her 16-year-old son during an intoxicated family violence assault
in May 2004. Both victims turned hostile to prosecutors, recanted
their original story and told the jury they had lied about the
case to sheriff's investigators and the grand jury to try and
get help for Parson's alcoholism. No charges are expected against
the step-son.
Meth with intent to deliver leads
to 10-year prison sentence
February 23, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for possession
with intent to deliver methamphetamine.
Dennis Eugene Allen, 30, who lists both Bogata and Ohio addresses,
pled guilty to the charge and asked Sixth District Judge Jim
Lovett to determine the sentence.
Lamar County Sheriff's officers received information that stolen
property and methamphetamine were at a residence where the defendant
lived in Deport. Lamar County felony prosecutor Sherry Whelchel
said deputies and Drug Task Force agents executed a search warrant
May 15, 2003, and drug paraphernalia was found along with methamphetamine.
"This was a large amount - 17.92 grams," Whelchel
said, adding the drug was in two forms: crystal meth and a rock-like
form. "It was significant because it was some of the first
crystal meth they had seen in this area." Whelchel noted
the amount was indicative of a "mid-level dealer."
Scales and baggies were also found and the defendant admitted
he was selling meth to supplement his income as a truck driver
"because he owed a lot of money in child support,"
Whelchel said. The defendant was found in the home with his common-law
wife and an infant at the time the search warrant was executed.
"We don't want to be perceived as a drug-friendly county.
For every decision, there is a consequence and the defendant's
decision to supplement his income in an illegal manner resulted
in severe consequences," Whelchel said.
Editorial:
Crime warranted hefty 100-year sentence
Editorial
The Paris
News
Published January 10, 2005
We strongly agree with the comment made by state District
Judge Jim D. Lovett after a six-man, six-woman jury sentenced
Orian Lee Scott to 100 years in prison for video taping teenage
boys showering in his Maxey residence.
“I think you were 100 percent correct in the verdict
you reached,” Lovett told jurors after the 67-year-old former
teacher was convicted of three counts of inducing a child under
18 to engage in sexual conduct, three counts of producing or
promoting a videotape involving sexual conduct and three counts
of possession of child pornography.
Because of the nature of the crimes Scott was convicted of
committing, we believe a 100-year sentence was appropriate, and
we believe it is good for this community that he will be 92 before
he becomes eligible for parole. Behind bars, Scott cannot ruin
the lives of children.
However, we are keenly aware that Scott could have served
only five years for these crimes had he accepted a ridiculous
plea bargain offered by former County and District Attorney Mark
Burtner. Quite frankly, we don’t know why he didn’t,
and our guess is he now wishes that he had.
Fortunately, Scott had not accepted the deal before Gary Young,
the new county and district attorney, who defeated Burtner in
the Democratic primary, took office. Having reviewed the case,
Young appropriately withdrew the offer and took the case to trial.
Young demonstrated to us that he really is tough on crime.
Given the seriousness of the alleged crimes and the fact that
children were involved, we cannot imagine why Burtner would have
made such an offer, especially in light of the fact that the
prosecution had such a good case against Scott. We’re just
glad that Young took office early and prosecuted Scott to the
fullest.
Children — including teenage boys — deserve to be
protected from adults who would prey upon them. The victims of
these crimes were innocent children who trusted a man who they
thought was their friend. However, we note that the hidden camera
could have just as easily caught an adult. Such actions needed
to be prosecuted, and we are glad they were.
Our hope is that the sentence the jury recommended keeps Scout
away from children and sends a message to others that such criminal
behavior in Lamar County will result in stiff penalties.
January 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cocaine with intent to deliver gets man 25 years in prison
The defendant in a two-year-old drug case was handed a 25-year
sentence Tuesday in Lamar County's first trial of 2005.
Jean Batiste Rougeux, 34, was found guilty of possession of
a controlled substance, namely cocaine of more than 4 grams but
less than 200 grams, with intent to deliver. The nine woman,
three man jury took 30 minutes to return the guilty verdict and
later in the day took one hour to determine his punishment.
It was Rougeux's first felony conviction and he was eligible
for probation, which defense attorney Ben Massar argued for,
but the jury denied. "Being this was his first offense,
we offered him 10 years in prison in a plea deal," said
Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young. "But he wanted
his day in court and he got it."
A tearful Rougeux was heard saying, "I should've taken
the deal," as he was being transported to Lamar County Jail
where he awaits transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice Institutional Division.
"The message is clear. The citizens of Lamar County do
not want illegal drugs in their community," said assistant
county attorney Sherry Whelchel, who was lead prosecutor in the
trial. "Drug users and dealers need to take their activities
elsewhere."
Rougeux was categorized as a "low to mid-level dealer"
in testimony by Paris police officer Leigh Foreman, who made
the arrest in January 2003 at a Paris apartment. Foreman was
an officer in the narcotics division at the time and had received
a tip from a confidential informant that Rougeux was at the location.
Evidence showed in the trial that Rougeux was in possession of
nearly 15 grams of cocaine and intended to deliver it to another
man.
Tommy Moore, assistant commander of the Red River Valley Drug
Task Force, also testified as to the amount of cocaine being
typically divided to produce 300 individual user doses. Moore
said one ounce typically sells for $100 on the street, but is
usually cut with other products to increase the amount of profit
to be made.
Defense attorney Massar argued that while his client was in
possession of the cocaine, he never intended to deliver it. Whelchel
and Young argued that measuring scales and 70 small baggies found
on Rougeux, in addition to the 15 grams of cocaine, indicated
he was a distributor.
Man gets 25 years for cocaine
conviction
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published January 12, 2005
A man arrested in a Paris apartment two years ago with about
15 grams of cocaine was convicted Tuesday of possession with
intent to deliver and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The Lamar County jury of nine women and three men took about
30 minutes to return the guilty verdict against Jean Batiste
Rougeux, 34, then later in the day took an hour to determine
his punishment.
Rougeux was eligible for probation, since it was his first
felony conviction, and defense attorney Ben Massar asked the
jury to grant it. The jury didn’t agree.
“Being this was his first offense, we offered him 10
years in prison in a plea deal, but he wanted his day in court,
and he got it,” said Lamar County and District Attorney
Gary Young.
“I should’ve taken the deal,” Rougeux said,
as he was being transported to Lamar County Jail, where he awaits
transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“The message is clear. The citizens of Lamar County do
not want illegal drugs in their community. Drug users and dealers
need to take their activities elsewhere,” said assistant
county attorney Sherry Whelchel, lead prosecutor on the case.
Paris police officer Leigh Foreman, who made the arrest in
January 2003, was an officer in the narcotics division at the
time. He testified that Rougeux was a “low to mid-level
dealer.” He said a confidential informant tipped him that
Rougeux was at the apartment.
Evidence during the trial was that Rougeux had almost 15 grams
of cocaine and intended to deliver it to another man. There are
about 28 grams to an ounce. Tommy Moore, assistant commander
of the Red River Valley Drug Task Force, testified that an ounce
of cocaine typically sells for $100 on the street, but is usually
cut with other products to increase the amount of profit to be
made.
Massar argued that although his client had the cocaine in
his possession, he never intended to deliver it.
Young and Whelchel argued that the measuring scales and 70
small baggies also found on Rougeux indicated otherwise.
Man gets 99 years for family violence
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published February 04, 2005
A Powderly man was sentenced Thursday to 99 years in prison
for pointing a rifle at his wife and stepson during a drunken
rage last May.
His wife was herself arrested in the courtroom at the end
of the trial — charged with perjury after recanting her
earlier claims and testifying that he never threatened them after
all.
A six-man, six-woman Lamar County jury deliberated for an
hour and 15 minutes Wednesday to convict Mark Parson, 39, on
three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Thursday, the jury heard testimony on prior crimes Parson
had committed — including child molestation, multiple arrests
for driving while intoxicated and felony convictions of theft
and possession of marijuana. The panel deliberated an hour and
five minutes to set his punishment at 99 years in prison for
each of the three counts.
By law, the sentences will run concurrently. Parson must serve
at least 30 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole,
District Attorney Gary Young said.
Assistant prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel said: “This hopefully
sends a message to men in this county who beat up and threaten
their wives, keeping them in the cycles of violence and control.
Obviously, juries don’t think that’s something they
want in their community.”
Sgt. Travis Rhodes, an investigator with the Lamar County
Sheriff’s Department, testified that last May 16, the night
of the incident, Waynell Parson, 39, was very upset and begged
deputies not to leave until her husband was found.
Rhodes said he found guns hidden under a pile of wood and
found the defendant in a fetal position under a bush near a chicken
coop on the property.
But in her testimony before the jury on Tuesday, she said,
“He did not point the gun at me or my son.” She said
she invented the story, lying to law enforcement officers twice
last May and again to a grand jury on Dec. 7 in an attempt to
get help for her husband’s alcoholism.
After the jury left the courtroom Thursday to begin its deliberations
in the punishment phase, 6th state District Judge Jim Lovett
summoned the defendant’s wife to the bench.
“You have committed a felony in my presence, and you
will be arrested,” said Lovett, who over the years has made
it clear he won’t tolerate perjury in his courtroom. She
was either lying to the grand jury or lying in her trial testimony.
The jury concluded she was telling the truth last year and lying
during the trial.
The state taped a telephone conversation from Lamar County
Jail in which the defendant read to his wife parts of her grand
jury testimony and told her, “If you just say you don’t
remember, they can’t get you for perjury.”
Dr. Claire Haslam of Family Haven testified to battered woman’s
syndrome and said through her examination of the case it was
clear the defendant’s wife had characteristics of this syndrome.
Without intervention, the cycle of abuse would continue, Haslam
testified.
“The jury did not believe her lies to them,” Young
said. “Sadly, this woman is like many others who are in
abusive relationships that turn violent. She is blinded by the
co-dependency and is caught in the cycle of abuse.”
No perjury charges are likely against the stepson, who also
testified that the defendant never pointed a gun at them, Young
said.
The DA praised the investigative work of the Lamar County
sheriff’s department.
“It’s a pleasure to work with these guys,”
Young said.
Jury foreman Ken Norris of Arthur City told The Paris News:
“We had little doubt that he was guilty of what the state
was accusing him of, and we felt (his wife and her son) were
coerced to change their testimony for this trial. That was the
primary determination we had to make as to the guilt or innocence.”
The jury was of one mind concerning guilt or innocence, but
had some discussion about the length of sentence, Norris said.
“We felt like it needed to be long enough to allow (the
couple’s two children) to grow up and make their own decisions
and overcome the trauma that he’s imposed on them,”
the jury foreman said.
Norris didn’t learn of the perjury charge against the
defendant’s wife until after the judge had discharged the
jury and they had left the courthouse.
“We discussed (after reaching a verdict) whether they
would follow up on that,” Norris said. “Our discussion
was primarily related to the battered woman syndrome and how
much she had been coerced into changing her testimony. I’m
glad to hear the stepson wasn’t charged (with perjury).
Adults can make up their own mind, but children are often put
in a position where they have no say.”
Meth peddler sentenced to 10 years
Copyright © 2005 The Paris News
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published February 24, 2005
A 40-year-old man who said he was selling methamphetamine
to supplement his income as a truck driver has been sentenced
to 10 years in prison.
Lamar County sheriff’s deputies and officers with the
Red River County Drug Task Force arrested Dennis Eugene Allen
in a May 15, 2003, raid of a Deport residence where Allen was
living with his common-law wife and an infant. The sheriff’s
office was acting on information that stolen property and methamphetamine
were at the house.
State District Judge Jim Lovett sentenced Allen on Wednesday
afternoon while holding court at a courtroom in the Lamar County
Jail. Allen pleaded guilty and asked for Lovett to determine
the sentence.
During the 2003 methamphetamine raid of Allen’s residence
in Deport, officers seized 17.92 grams of meth, plus scales and
plastic bags, officials said.
There are 28 grams to an ounce. A gram is about the amount
held by a Sweet ’n Low package. On the street, a gram sells
for about $100, law enforcement officers say.
Sherry Whelchel, a felony prosecutor in Young’s office,
said the drugs seized in the raid were of two forms — crystal
meth and a rock-like form.
“It was significant because it was some of the first
crystal meth they had seen in this area,” she said.
Allen said he was dealing meth “because he owed a lot
of money in child support,” she said.
“We don’t want to be perceived as a drug-friendly
county. For every decision, there is a consequence, and the defendant’s
decision to supplement his income in an illegal manner resulted
in severe consequences,” she said.
• • •
Another expected plea — by capital murder defendant Michael
Dewayne Davis, 38, in the January 2004 slaying of Marvin Davis,
79 — did not materialize.
An aide to Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young said
it was thought a deal had been worked out in which Davis would
plead guilty to capital murder and aggravated robbery in exchange
for a life sentence.
The victim, no relation to the defendant, was found dead in
his trailer at Gene’s Flea Market on Jan. 8, 2004.
“It fell through. Just didn’t happen — one
of those things that happen sometimes,” said another felony
prosecutor, Lloyd Whelchel, of the plea bargain. The case will
proceed to trial at a later date.
Michael Davis was originally indicted last summer. His reindictment
on Dec. 7 cited two counts of capital murder. One count alleged
he killed Marvin Davis by beating or strangling him during the
commission of a robbery, and the other count alleged he killed
him during the commission of a burglary.
Legal snafu allows sex offender
near school
Copyright © 2005 The Paris News
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published February 18, 2005
A man who was arrested 21 months ago in Paris for aggravated
sexual assault of a child is living in Sherman across the street
from an elementary school, and Grayson County authorities are
not happy about it.
William Brent Jeter was arrested in Paris on May 27, 2003,
and pleaded guilty Sept. 24, 2004, in exchange for 10 years adjudicated
probation offered by former County Attorney Mark Burtner.
Jeter, 43, is required to register as a sex offender, but
Burtner waived the usual restriction prohibiting living within
1,000 feet of a child safety zone, officials said.
Burtner, who lost his re-election bid last year to Gary Young,
resigned in August and moved to El Paso, and Lamar County commissioners
appointed Young to serve the rest of Burtner’s term.
Jeter was sentenced after Burtner left, but in the first week
after his successor took office. Young was out of town, attending
a training conference.
Now that the unusual probation conditions for Jeter have come
to light, Young says he wants to take another look at them.
Young wants Jeter to move back to Paris, where probation officers
can keep a closer eye on him. The county attorney also wants
to amend his probation conditions to include the ban on living
close to a school.
February 25, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 years in prison for a string of burglaries
A Paris man was punished Friday by Sixth District Judge Jim
Lovett for a string of burglaries committed in July 2003.
Kerry Larnez Rollerson, 26, of Paris was found guilty in a
bench trial before Lovett earlier this month. Friday, he was
sentenced to 20 years on each of three counts of burglary of
a habitation and two years on two counts of theft of a firearm.
Two additional counts of felon in possession of a firearm resulted
in 10-year sentences. Lovett ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
"When the sanctity of a person's home is violated, especially
the way it is in a burglary, there should be severe consequences,"
said Assistant District Attorney Sherry Whelchel. "Items
of sentimental value were stolen that can never be replaced and
there is no price or punishment to substitute for those."
Whelchel said she was also concerned about stolen firearms.
"Our fear is that any of those firearms could be used in
committing other crimes."
A joint investigation between Lamar County Sheriff and Paris
Police officers began when Rollerson attempted to pawn stolen
coins. A shoe print left at the scene of one burglary was matched
to a shoe found in the defendant's bedroom. An anonymous person
also told officers they saw someone matching Rollerson's description
attempting to bury items behind a vacant house.
District Attorney Gary Young said, "This is yet another
clear message that if you break into somebody's house and steal
their possessions, you will be punished. The people of Lamar
County don't like it, Judge Lovett didn't like it, and neither
do I."
Rollerson has previous convictions in Lamar County for burglary,
evading arrest, failing to stop and render aid, deadly conduct
by discharging a firearm, criminal trespass and theft.
February 25, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sex offender has probation modified
A convicted sex offender had his probation terms and conditions
modified Friday by Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett.
Lovett gave William Brent Jeter until 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb.
26, to move into a home he recently purchased in Lamar County
after living in Grayson County for the past six months.
Jeter pleaded guilty Sept. 24, 2004, to a charge of aggravated
sexual assault of a child in exchange for 10 years deferred adjudication
probation offered by former Lamar County Attorney Mark Burtner.
Burtner did not request the usual restriction prohibiting the
defendant from living within 1,000 feet of a child safety zone
for a sex offender and allowed Jeter to move to Grayson County
with the understanding the probation department there would supervise
him.
"After looking it over, Grayson County decided they could
not supervise him," said First Assistant Lamar County Attorney
Lloyd Whelchel. "In October, we saw that the condition of
his probation regarding where he would live would have to be
modified and we thought it best for the citizens of our area
that Mr. Jeter be held to what any other sex offender is held
to."
Whelchel asked the judge to add the child safety zone restriction
and order more rigorous therapy and polygraphs from a licensed
sex offender therapist in the Dallas area. Lovett agreed to the
child safety zone modification, but ordered Jeter to undergo
what he called "one of the most successful sex offender
therapy programs in the nation" through a partnership of
Lamar County's Adult Probation and Allied Professionals Counseling.
Sex offender ordered to return
to county
From staff reports
The Paris
News
Published February 27, 2005
The probation conditions have been changed for a 43-year-old
man who moved into a house across from an elementary school in
Sherman after he was convicted in Lamar County of aggravated
sexual assault of a child.
William Brent Jeter, who had been living in Sherman for the
past six months, on Friday was given one day to move into a home
he recently purchased in Lamar County.
State 6th District Judge Jim Lovett told Jeter to be in the
residence by 5 p.m. Saturday.
Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young said Jeter pleaded
guilty last Sept. 24 in exchange for 10 years deferred adjudication
probation offered by former Lamar County Attorney Mark Burtner.
Burtner did not request the usual restriction prohibiting
convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a child
safety zone and allowed Jeter to move to Grayson County with
the understanding the probation department there would supervise
him, First Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said.
“After looking it over, Grayson County decided they could
not supervise him,” Whelchel said.
“In October, we saw that the condition of his probation
regarding where he would live would have to be modified, and
we thought it best for the citizens of our area that Mr. Jeter
be held to what any other sex offender is held to.”
Whelchel asked the judge to add the child safety zone restriction
and to order more rigorous therapy and polygraphs from a licensed
sex offender therapist in the Dallas area.
Lovett agreed to the child safety zone modification, but ordered
Jeter to undergo what he called “one of the most successful
sex offender therapy programs in the nation” — a partnership
of Lamar County’s adult probation and Allied Professionals
Counseling.
Paris man gets 20 years for burglary
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published February 27, 2005
A Paris man has been sentenced to prison for a string of burglaries
committed in July 2003.
Kerry Larnez Rollerson, 26, of Paris was found guilty earlier
this month in a bench trial before 6th District Judge Jim Lovett.
On Friday, Lovett sentenced him to 20 years on each of three
counts of burglary of a habitation, two years in prison on two
counts of theft of a firearm and 10 years on two counts of felon
in possession of a firearm.
The judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
The Lamar County sheriff’s department and the Paris Police
Department conducted a joint investigation, which began after
Rollerson attempted to pawn stolen coins.
A shoe print left at the scene of one burglary was matched
to a shoe found in Rollerson’s bedroom. Law enforcement
officers also received an anonymous tip that someone matching
Rollerson’s description was seen attempting to bury items
behind a vacant house.
Rollerson has previous convictions in Lamar County for burglary,
evading arrest, failing to stop and render aid, deadly conduct
by discharging a firearm, criminal trespass and theft.
“This is yet another clear message that if you break
into somebody’s house and steal their possessions, you will
be punished. The people of Lamar County don’t like it, Judge
Lovett didn’t like it, and neither do I,” Lamar County
and District Attorney Gary Young said.
Severe consequences should follow when the sanctity of a person’s
home is violated, especially the way it is in a burglary, assistant
prosecutor Sherry Whelchel said.
“Items of sentimental value were stolen that can never
be replaced, and there is no price or punishment to substitute
for those,” she said.
Defendant’s behavior raises
mistrial fears
Copyright © 2005 The Paris News
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 01, 2005
A summoned jury panel of an estimated 100 people was waived
and dismissed Monday because of the defendant’s eccentric
behavior and the prosecutor’s fear of a mistrial, Assistant
District Attorney Sherry Whelchel said.
A 23-year-old burglary defendant was ready — too ready
— to go to trial.
In his jail cell, Demenzia Montwell Mitchell had applied “war
paint” Monday morning by applying powdered bathroom cleaner
on his face and under his eyes, Whelchel said.
Prior to being transported from Lamar County Jail to the courthouse,
Mitchell continued to be disruptive and belligerent with jailers,
she said. Nonetheless, they cleaned him up before taking him
to court.
Once in the courtroom of 6th state District Judge Jim Lovett,
he sat shaking and alternately stared intently at different people,
dodging eye contact, with wildly unkempt hair, according to witnesses.
Lovett decided Mitchell needed further psychological testing
after being examined by the jail’s doctor.
“The judge took testimony from a jailer, the defendant’s
fiancee, and then ordered a full psychological evaluation be
done by Dr. David Bell,” Whelchel said.
“He’s never exhibited this kind of behavior before,”
Whelchel said. “In every prior hearing, he was fine. It’s
not uncommon for defendants to feign incompetence on the day
of their trial.”
According to jailers, Mitchell’s behavior had been normal
while incarcerated.
“We had a number of witnesses and victims lined up for
today’s trial, not to mention the jury panel of at least
100 citizens. This is certainly a waste of time and taxpayer
money,” she said.
Mitchell and Denoval Dewayne Grant, 25, were arrested Aug.
7, 2003, at a gas station on U.S. 82 in Blossom on seven counts
of burglary of a habitation. A resident saw two men coming out
of a neighbor’s house. He knew the neighbor was out of town,
so he called the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff
B.J. McCoy said after the arrests.
“One of our officers just happened to be right around
Blossom,” McCoy said.
Concert announced observing crime
victims week
March 11, 2005 | embargoed for release
beginning March 27
A free outdoor concert has been organized in observance of
crime victims week.
The event will be held 2-6 p.m. Saturday, April 16, around
the fountain on the square in downtown Paris. It's free to the
public and is not a fundraiser of any kind, according to Allan
Hubbard, victim-witness coordinator in the Lamar County District
Attorney's Office.
Scheduled to perform are local musicians Michael O'Neal Band,
The Blues Buddies Band, Levelroute, The Hard to Get Bluegrass
Band, and Barney Sawyer and the Dirty White Boys. Victims of
crime and their families are encouraged to attend and be recognized
for their bravery and continued perseverance of daily life, Hubbard
said.
"Our area is blessed with lots of really talented and creative
musicians, and everybody loves music," Hubbard said. "This
should make for a nice afternoon in the beautiful downtown area
to recognize the importance of sensitivity to crime victims."
Hubbard said crime victims are often overlooked by the general
public. "Our law enforcement and court system deal with
them effectively and know they're important, but people in the
community may not realize how many victims there are walking
among us," he said.
"Don't get me wrong: a lot of victims act in a way and
associate with people that lead to them becoming a victim. They
make wrong choices and basically suffer the consequences, but
their families also suffer. And there are victims who are innocent
bystanders and did not deserve to be victimized," Hubbard
said.
The concert is one of hundreds of events scheduled statewide
in Texas the week of April 10-16 to increase public awareness
of the importance of victim rights.
Hearing for Cobb postponed; Davis
murder case waits
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 23, 2005
A pretrial hearing was postponed today for capital murder
defendant Christopher Cobb — accused in the Aug. 29 deaths
of his great-grandparents.
The 22-year-old Cobb, handcuffed and wearing an orange Lamar
County Jail jumpsuit, was in 62nd state district court this morning
when court officials got word that a postponement was necessary
because of an illness in the family of defense attorney Steven
Miears of Sherman.
District Attorney Gary Young said the hearing will be rescheduled.
The hearing was to address Miears’ request to state District
Judge Jim Lovett to suppress a written statement Cobb gave police
on Aug. 30. On that morning, the bodies of Charley Smith, 89,
and Ruth Smith, 88, were found in their residence at 3715 Smallwood
Road, which is in the Reno city limits, north of Elk Hollow Golf
Club.
Miears also was seeking to suppress physical items seiz-ed
during the day.
Police officers from Paris and Reno were on hand to testify
as to items seized and statements made.
Cobb was arrested after it was discovered he had pawned jewelry
belonging to his parents without their knowledge. Police got
permission to search his room at his parents’ house next
door and found “several articles ... that had blood stains.”
Reno Police Chief Jess Wilson wrote in a report that when
Paris Police Chief Karl Louis first questioned Cobb about the
deaths, he denied knowing what happened, but then confessed in
detail to both murders.
“He advised he killed them on Sunday night late and said
he stabbed and shot his great-granddad and then shot his great-grandmother.
Cobb gave specific detail as to how the offense occurred and
where the weapons were left, which all match evidence found during
the investigation,” Wilson reported.
It’s alleged that Cobb killed his great-grandparents
for money to buy drugs. Police said a bag containing marijuana
was found in his room, and a plastic bag containing cocaine was
found on his person.
No date for a trial has been set, but the district attorney’s
office said the trial likely will be the first one held in the
new Lamar County Courthouse, which is scheduled to reopen in
July after extensive renovation.
Two other high profile trials are scheduled in coming weeks
in the interim district courtroom on the second floor of the
old post office, which has been serving as the courthouse.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of
Tramaine Jarrod Kellum, 19, of Paris, who was shot in the leg
by Paris police last September.
The shots were fired after Kellum pointed a gun at officers
before attempting to drive away from the vicinity of Seventh
N.W. and Graham streets late one Friday night last September.
Kellum is charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon against a public servant.
A capital murder trial involving defendant Michael Davis,
38, of Paris is scheduled for next month, starting with jury
selection on April 25.
Miears also represents Davis, who is accused in the slaying
of Marvin Davis, 79, no relation, who was found dead on Jan.
8, 2004, in his trailer at Gene’s Flea Market in Paris.
An indictment alleges that the defendant beat or strangled
his victim during a burglary in which he also robbed him.
Young’s office announced on Feb. 23 that a plea bargain
had been worked out in that case, but assistant prosecutor Lloyd
Whelchel said later in the day: “It fell through. Just didn’t
happen — one of those things that happen sometimes.”
He declined to elaborate.
Miears said later, in an e-mail to The Paris News, the negotiations
collapsed because of Whelchel’s demand that, as a condition
for pleading guilty, Davis “sign an agreement authorizing
the police to destroy forensic evidence in the case, specifically
any DNA.”
“This was a highly unusual request by a prosecutor. I
have practiced criminal law across Texas, and I have never seen
it made a part of any plea bargain agreement in any form. I could
not, and will never, be a party to any intentional destruction
of evidence, especially in a capital murder case,” Miears
said.
Whelchel also asked Davis to agree never to file a writ of
habeas corpus, which Miears called “a convicted person’s
only chance to challenge whether he was provided a reasonably
competent trial lawyer, or to raise claims of illegal behavior
by a prosecutor.”
Miears said the district attorney had provided him with plea
documents weeks earlier for Davis to sign that contained “standard
language used in every plea agreement I have done in Lamar County.”
Miears said he advised Young that Davis would accept the plea
bargain “in order to avoid the potential of a possible death
penalty based upon the evidence” that police had collected.
“The new and unacceptable plea papers were thrust on
me and my client only hours before his plea hearing was set,”
Miears said.
As the prosecution and defense wrangled during a court session
at Lamar County Jail, Lovett interrupted and ordered the case
to proceed to trial as scheduled.
Chiropractor indicted by grand
jury
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 25, 2005
A Paris chiropractor has been indicted for the second time
in two years for indecency with a child.
Dr. Jerry Lee Pedersen was arrested March 18, 2003, accused
of fondling a 16-year-old girl. Five months later, state District
Judge Scott McDowell accepted a plea bargain in which Pedersen
pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of seven years deferred
adjudication.
Thursday, a Lamar County grand jury indicted Pedersen, 54,
on three counts of indecency with a child, the younger sister
of the other girl.
Under deferred adjudication, a defendant pleads no contest
or guilty and the sentence is deferred — and ultimately
dismissed if he complies with probation conditions for the length
of the sentence. Because of the newest charge, if convicted,
Pedersen faces whatever sentence that involves, plus the seven
years assessed in 2003.
The time frame of the newest alleged offense is uncertain.
When authorities questioned a high school freshman last year
about why she was so rebellious, among the reasons she gave was
being fondled repeatedly by Pedersen over a period of time, reportedly
sometime in 2003. Whether it occurred during the same period
as the earlier offense is unclear.
The girl, who now is said to be living by court order at a
girls’ home in Oklahoma, is also listed as one of two victims
in another “indecency with a child incident” that purportedly
occurred last July 3 at the home of a girl with whom she was
spending the night.
The mother of that other girl was out of town and had asked
Shelby Ramsey Thrasher to watch over them, authorities said.
Thrasher, 31, of Paris, is accused in an indictment of one count
of sexual assault of a child and three counts of indecency with
a child. He is accused of indecency with both girls and of committing
a sexual act against the other girl.
Investigators were told that Thrasher engaged with the girls
in drinking games called “Quarters” and “Master
and Slave.”
Here is the complete list of 45 individuals indicted on Thursday:
•Kamran Abbaszadeh, theft by check, over $1,500, under
$20,000.
•Ladarrel Demond Alexander, possession with intent to
deliver cocaine, over 4 grams, under 200 grams.
•Heather Renee Ammons, theft of property with two prior
theft convictions.
•Robert Charles Bonner, theft of property over $1,500.
•Beverly Bowling, unauthorized absence from a community
correctional facility.
•Gerald Russell Bridgers, failure to register or maintain
registration as a sexual offender.
•Isaac Newton Burchinal Jr., theft of property over $1,500.
•Marcia Clodfelter, tampering with government records.
•Michael Shane Crites, evading arrest or detention with
a vehicle.
•Brenda Kay Davis, forgery, repeat offender.
•Benjamin Decker, hindering secured creditors (two counts).
•Leann Decker, hindering secured creditors (two counts).
•Donna Ingram Dixon, forgery (two counts).
•Clayton Edward Dooley, theft of property over $750;
burglary of a habitation.
•James Decobert Doty, theft of property over $1,500.
•Suyi Queena Embery, forgery.
•Tara Janay Gross, possession of a controlled substance
by fraud, Schedule III/IV.
•Sheri Lynn Helm, credit card abuse (three counts).
•Cynthia Hornbuckle, forgery of a financial instrument
(three counts).
•Justin Travis Jones, unlawful possession of a firearm
by a felon.
•Geneeta Lane, theft, more than $1,500, less than $20,000.
•Lamensia Shonta Lane, credit card abuse.
•Ronnie Lee Langley, endangering a child.
•Bennie Joe Landers, theft under $1,500 with two prior
convictions.
•Mike Lenoir, hindering secured creditors.
•Michael O’neal Loggins, possession of cocaine,
less than 1 gram.
•Keith Joseph Mann, possession of cocaine, less than
1 gram.
•Debra Collard Martinez, manufacture or delivery of a
controlled substance, penalty group 1A, more than 80 AU, less
than 4,000 AU, analogue; possession of methamphetamine, more
than 1 gram, less than 4 grams.
•Rennie Scott Martinez, manufacture or delivery of a
controlled substance, penalty group 1A, more than 80 AU, less
than 4,000 AU, repeat offender; possession of methamphetamine,
more than 1 gram, less than 4 grams, repeat offender.
•Lesha Mitchell, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
(three counts).
•Joshua Wiley-Levi Mitchell, assault with two prior convictions.
•Wanda Moore, theft from person.
•Cedric Norris, theft of property over $1,500, repeat
offender.
•Jerry Lee Pedersen, indecency with a child (three counts).
•James Edward Perkins, tampering with evidence.
•Markam Kolten Perkins, forgery.
•Vernon Lee Pitts Jr., deadly conduct; unlawful possession
of firearm by felon.
•Stephanie Dawn Shaw, debit card abuse; forgery.
•Matthew Sikes, burglary of a habitation.
•Daniel Richard Simpson, failure to register as a sex
offender (two counts).
•Myah Domenica Smith, possession of cocaine, less than
1 gram, drug-free zone.
•Jeanne Marie Thompson, possession of methamphetamine,
less than 1 gram.
•Shelby Thrasher, sexual assault of a child; indecency
with a child (three counts).
•Sammy David Worthy Jr., aggravated assault.
•Scott William Young, burglary of habitation, repeat
offender; failure to register as a sex offender.
Four officers injured in jail
attack involving murder defendants
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 27, 2005
Capital murder defendant Christopher Cobb lunged at four jailers
with a sharpened-down toothbrush Friday night, yelling at Sgt.
Sherry Haltom, “I’ll kill you, b----,” Lamar County
Sheriff B.J. McCoy said.
“She received a wound — I believe on the top of
her head — a glancing scrape. She strained or sprained her
neck. A doctor treated her and sent her home,” McCoy said
of Haltom.
Cobb, 22, who is charged in the stabbing and shooting deaths
of his great-grandparents last Aug. 29, was overcome after some
resistance, the sheriff said, but all four jailers were sent
to the Paris Regional Medical Center emergency room for treatment
of injuries.
The jail quickly turned noisy and unruly as other prisoners,
including other capital murder defendants Michael Davis, 38,
and Darrell James Larson, 21, got loud and boisterous, McCoy
said Saturday morning. At least two other inmates clogged up
their toilets and flooded their cells, he said.
The incident occurred during a shift change about 7 p.m. Friday,
after a jailer making the rounds looked through the small window
into Cobb's cell and saw him with a sharp instrument, the sheriff
said.
“When he was asked to turn it over, he refused. Four
jailers went down there to retrieve the object, and when they
opened the door, he charged them,” McCoy said.
Cobb went for Haltom, who was in the middle of the group,
the sheriff said, “and tried to stab her with the instrument,
which turned out to be a sharpened-down toothbrush.”
Cobb apparently had used the concrete floor or walls to grind
down his toothbrush, McCoy said.
Doctors treated Cpl. Jerry Harrell for a strained shoulder,
jailer Chad Foster for an injured wrist, and jailer Robert Waldrum
for minor head injuries, the sheriff said.
All but Waldrum, who returned to the jail, were sent home.
Three off-duty officers were called in to take their places.
Cobb was not injured, McCoy said. The inmate was moved to
a padded, rubber cell while his cell was searched.
“We retrieved the item along with all his other property.
He’s back in his cell now, but he no longer has the extra
items in his cell that prisoners normally are afforded. All he
has now are a blanket and a mattress,” McCoy said.
The sheriff said he will ask that four counts of assault on
a public servant, a third-degree felony, be added against Cobb,
who is accused of killing Charley Smith, 89, and Ruth Smith,
88, for money to buy drugs.
All inmates are issued a hygiene package that includes a plastic
toothbrush.
“I'll be changing that policy,” McCoy said. “Starting
Monday, they'll have finger brushes they put on their finger.
This will become the standard-issue hygiene for inmates in A-block,
where we keep our most dangerous inmates — murderers, prisoners
who won't cooperate, the ones who want to fight.”
A-block contains eight cells, each about 8-foot by 10-foot
with solid metal walls. They are basically solitary confinement
cells. An inmate in A-block can see out only through a small
window in the door and is kept in his cell 23 hours a day. They
get an hour in the recreational area outside, but are in leg
irons and handcuffs even then. At no time are they with other
inmates.
Eight cells also are in B-block, where the next level of inmates
are housed. Those also are single cells, about the same size,
with the standard bars rather than solid walls. Prisoners are
separated into different cells, but can see and communicate with
other prisoners.
There are no cameras to monitor inmates in either A-block
or B-block. The A-block cells have showers. Inmates in B-block
are taken to a common area for showers.
The sheriff said he will request administrative hearings seeking
denial of privileges for Davis, Larson and other inmates who
got unruly during Friday night's incident. There is no television
for inmates in A-block and B-block, but they could lose visitation,
commissary and other privileges.
Frank Dozier, who is being held on aggravated assault charges,
was moved from B-block to A-block after he flooded his cell during
the incident, McCoy said.
Davis is accused in the slaying of Marvin Davis, 79, no relation,
whose body was found on Jan. 2, 2004, in his trailer at Gene's
Flea Market. An indictment alleges the victim was strangled or
fatally beaten during a burglary or robbery.
Larson is accused in the death of Roy Lee Williams, 59, whose
body was discovered on April 2, 2004, in an alley behind Grand
Cleaners in the 200 block of West Grand Street. Williams died
from stab wounds to the neck and chest.
Legal fees for Cobb, Davis exceed
$34,000
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 28, 2005
To date, the cost to Lamar County for the legal defense of
capital murder defendants Christopher Cobb and Michael Dewayne
Davis is more than $34,000, according to records at the district
clerk’s office.
Attorney Steven Miears of Sherman was appointed to represent
both men, who declared they are indigent and cannot afford lawyers.
Cobb, 22, is accused in the Aug. 29, 2004, deaths of his great-grandparents,
Charley Smith, 89, and Ruth Smith, 88, whose bodies were found
in their residence north of Elk Hollow Golf Club the next morning.
He’s accused of killing them for money to buy drugs.
Davis, 38, is accused in the slaying of Marvin Davis, 79,
no relation, whose body was found Jan. 8, 2004, in his trailer
at Gene’s Flea Market on the Northeast Loop. He’s accused
of strangling or fatally beating him during a burglary or robbery.
Miears is the lead attorney in both cases. Because the death
penalty may be sought, Miears was allowed to add another attorney,
Jack Herrington of Paris.
State District Judge Jim Lovett, in whose court both murder
cases reside, has approved:
In the case of Christopher Cobb: 14 hours for Miears at $125
an hour, or $1,750; 17.5 hours for Herrington at $100 an hour,
or $1,750; 38.5 hours for Herrington’s staff at $35 an hour,
or $1,347.50; Herrington’s office expenses of $989.97; 20.75
hours for an investigator, William “Bill” Brown of
Nortex Investigative Services of Paris, at $50 an hour, or $1,037.50;
3.5 hours for investigator James L. “Jim” Chadwick
of Paris, at $35 an hour, or $122.50; and $64.14, $204.49 and
$492.20 for medical records. That’s $5,837.47 for attorneys,
$1,160 for investigators, and $760.83 for medical records, for
a total of $7,758.30.
In the case of Michael Dewayne Davis: $3,213.19 and $5,593.75
for Miears; $7,343.75 for another attorney, “Richardson”;
$77.22 for Richardson’s expenses; $3,777.94 and $1,305.50
for Herrington; $1,003.94, $1,162.50, $900.49 and $1,000 for
investigators; and $898.27 for an “expert.” That’s
$21,311.35 for attorneys, $4,066.93 for investigators, and $898.27
for an expert, for a total of $26,276.55.
So far, the total for the legal defense of Cobb and Davis
is $34,034.85.
Jury acquits Kellum on assault
charge
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 30, 2005
A jury in 62nd State District Court concluded Tuesday that
although Tramaine Kellum, 19, held a gun throughout a tense confrontation
with Paris police officers the night of Sept. 10, 2004, he never
pointed the gun at officers.
So, as defense attorney Will Biard said they must, jurors
convicted Kellum only of disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor
that carries a punishment of six months in jail.
District Attorney Gary Young and assistant Lloyd Whelchel
had urged the jury to find Kellum guilty of aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon against a public servant, a felony that
could have sent him to prison for 15 years.
“We’re disappointed in this verdict, obviously,
but he belongs in prison, and we’ll do our best to put him
there,” Young said.
“He’s been indicted on another charge of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon that we can go to trial on. He’s
also got two drug charges. We can indict him on evading police
officers. We’re going to do all we can to put him in prison
because he’s a violent person and deserves to be locked
up forever.”
Jury selection began Monday in the case. The prosecution rested
Tuesday morning, and the defense rested after Kellum, who grew
up in Clarksville, took the stand in his own defense Tuesday
afternoon.
Kellum testified that he went to One Oak Apartments in the
600 block of West Graham Street about 1 p.m. on the afternoon
of the day in question. He said he bought four $20 rocks of crack
cocaine and smoked one of them about 2 p.m. and another one about
9 p.m. He was high for about an hour after each, he said.
The main reason he went to the apartment complex was so his
girlfriend could braid his hair, he said. Kellum testified that
he had with him a gun he had bought for $20, but he denied he
bought the gun with the intention of shooting it. He said he
hoped to sell it for $100.
He had the gun in one hand and was outside an apartment when
someone called 911 to report a man with a gun. Officers Jared
Davis and Mat Birch responded to the complex, which is only about
three blocks from police headquarters.
A friend standing beside him began running away when police
cars pulled up, Kellum said. He began walking away, he said,
then began running when he heard police yelling at him to stop.
He had a gun and he had a couple of rocks of crack cocaine
in his pocket and didn’t want to get arrested for fear he
would be sent back to prison, he said.
According to police records, Kellum spent from May 2000 to
July 2003 in a Texas Youth Commission facility. His behavior
kept him locked up for 38 months when most youths in his situation
would have been released after 12 months, officials said.
So, Kellum said, he ran and jumped into a car he had rented
for $15, he said, but he testified that never, at any time, did
he point the gun at anyone.
Officer Brent Brown joined Davis and Birch at the scene, and
all three were yelling for him to drop his gun and go to the
ground. Davis was in front of the car, with Brown and Birch in
the back, and all three had their weapons drawn, ordering Kellum
to drop his gun and give himself up.
Kellum started the engine, and Davis testified he ran around
to the front passenger window, looked in and saw what appeared
to be a gun barrel pointed at him. He fired twice, hitting Kellum
in the right leg twice.
Kellum pulled away in the car, as Davis shot out both tires
on the right side, and Brown shot out the rear tire on the left
side. About that time, officer Sam Owens arrived in his patrol
car and pulled in behind Kellum, who turned off Sixth Street
onto Graham Street and headed
west. Seconds later, the car Kellum was driving collided with
a pickup truck at Graham and Seventh Street, and Kellum was taken
into custody.
The key question was whether Kellum was pointing the gun at
officers. Kellum said he had dropped the gun into the floorboard
by the time Davis came to the window. Biard said when Davis thought
he saw a gun barrel, what he probably saw was a seat belt.
When the jury returned a conviction on a misdemeanor, rather
than a felony, the result was a quicker end to the trial. The
jury would have been summoned back today for the punishment phase,
and the prosecution planned to show years of confrontational
and violent behavior by Kellum.
But once the conviction was on a misdemeanor, punishment was
a moot question since Kellum had already been in jail longer
than the maximum six months’ sentence.
The defense elected to have state District Judge Jim Lovett
decide on punishment, and the judge immediately dismissed the
jury and sentenced Kellum to time served. Young immediately served
notice that his office would pursue other charges pending against
the defendant, so Kellum will remain in custody.
The jury began deliberating about 2 p.m. Tuesday and signaled
shortly before 4:30 p.m. that it had a verdict.
“We deliberated a long time, and I thought our jury did
a really good job of coming to a verdict that was by the law
— the way the law was stated,” said the jury foreman,
one of two women on the panel. She asked not to be identified
by name.
She said the prosecution didn’t prove Kellum pointed
the gun at officers.
“That was the determining thing,” she said.
No drugs involved in December
fatality crash
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published March 31, 2005
Laboratory tests on a blood sample from the teenage driver
of a pickup truck involved in a fatal Dec. 22, 2004, accident
revealed no drugs, District Attorney Gary Young said Wednesday.
Young had received a heads-up last week from a Department
of Public Safety laboratory that the analysis was complete and
had been sent to Paris. It arrived on Wednesday.
Marie “Tudy Girl” McDonald, 54 — a well-known
personage in the black community — and her grandson, Kevontre
“KeKe” McDonald, 3, were killed three days before Christmas
when a car driven by Cody Posey, a week before his 18th birthday,
plowed into their vehicle from behind, crushing it.
More than a month ago, the DPS reported that neither Posey
nor Kevin McDonald, 26, driver of the other car, had alcohol
in his system. Neither was seriously injured. It was McDonald’s
mother and son who died in the accident.
Both vehicles were westbound, and the McDonald vehicle was
stopped in the roadway, waiting for oncoming traffic to clear
so it could turn left onto Northeast 36th Street. Snow had been
falling on the city for a short time at the time of the accident.
“We will present this information and the accident report
to the grand jury in April now that we have all the evidence
in our hands,” Young said.
The district attorney had indicated previously that because
there were fatalities, the case would be taken to the grand jury
regardless of the outcome of the blood tests.
March 31, 2005
For Immediate Release
Child Abuse Prevention Month includes Light of Hope ceremony
April is child abuse prevention month and a special ceremony
is planned for Monday, April 11, beginning 5:30 p.m. at Calvary
United Methodist Church.
The annual Light of Hope candlelight ceremony is a solemn
remembrance of child victims and honors those who work for children
and victim rights, according to CASA for Kids of the Red River
Valley executive director Sharon Eubanks.
Children will sing and demonstrate sign language, along with
special music and a candlelighting processional. Four will be
honored at the event: Sheila Lowry, district judge Scott McDowell,
Jerry Bawcum, and an unnamed child victim survivor who is now
an adult. A reception will follow sponsored by Family Haven.
CASA is a sponsor of the event along with Family Haven, Child
Advocacy Center of Paris, and the victim coordinator's office
of the Lamar County and District Attorney. All agencies work
with children and victims of crimes such as abuse and neglect.
April 9-16 is designated national crime victims week. A concert
will be held Saturday, April 16 from 2-6 p.m. on the downtown
Paris square featuring local bands. Area churches are involved
in Blue Sunday April 17 where blue ribbons are worn in remembrance
of child victims of abuse. Paris Public Library will feature
a daily storytime 4-5 p.m. during "Week of the Young Child"
April 17-23.
Sanders convicted of harassment
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published April 01, 2005
A jury deliberated 15 minutes Thursday afternoon in finding
Micheal Tremal Sanders, 27, of Paris guilty of harassment by
a person in a correctional facility for dousing four jailers
with urine-soaked feces the day after Christmas.
State District Judge Jim Lovett instructed the six-man, six-woman
jury to return at 9 a.m. today to begin the punishment phase.
Sanders faces 2 to 20 years in prison.
He has been in jail since April 23, 2004, when he was arrested
and booked on charges of possession of a controlled substance,
assault on a public servant and evading arrest.
Testimony began about 10 a.m. Thursday in the case, for which
a jury was selected on Monday.
“We’re obviously pleased. Jailers have a very tough
job that goes under-appreciated, and to have to put up with someone
like Mr. Sanders ... It will definitely send a message to other
inmates that if you act up, you’re going to get prosecuted,”
District Attorney Gary Young said.
Sanders had ”acted up” in previous court appearances,
including profanity directed toward the judge, and before the
jury came in at the start of the trial, Lovett issued a warning:
“I want to give you a fair trial. The only way I can
do that is if you behave yourself. If you act up, I am going
to do whatever I have to do to maintain proper decorum in my
courtroom. Do you understand?”
A solemn Sanders, standing beside defense attorney Wes Tidwell
of Paris, said: “Yes, your honor.”
Lead prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel told the jury in his opening
comments, “This case will disgust you.”
Whelchel described a man who was upset and angry most of the
time. On Sunday morning, Dec. 26, guards awakened inmates in
the Lamar County Jail about 4:30 a.m., as usual, and began feeding
them breakfast.
About 6 a.m. in A-block, where the problematic inmates are
kept, Sanders started making a ruckus, testified Sgt. Sherry
Haltom, who was in charge of the jail from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. She
and five other jailers were on duty, responsible for about 150
prisoners in jail at the time.
Sanders got upset, saying he had received no milk with his
breakfast, Haltom said. But a check with other officers showed
that not to be true, she said. Haltom told the inmate he had
already gotten milk, and would not get more.
“He got mad and started hitting the walls of his cell.
I warned him to stop that,” she said.
Soon, other inmates began making noise in their cells, and
things were turning rowdy, she said.
Officers who went to check found feces and urine dripping
out of Sanders’ cell and onto the walkway that separates
the eight cells of A-block from the eight cells of B-block.
Haltom said three jailers accompanied her as she headed toward
Sanders’ cell with a can of pepper spray. One jailer opened
the ”bean hole” through which food trays are inserted
— the only view into or out of an A-block cell — and
Haltom put into Sanders’ cell some pepper spray, which causes
an intense burning sensation and makes it hard to breathe.
This was the best alternative at the time, she said, because
there weren’t enough jailers around to strap Sanders into
a restraining chair or to move him to the jail’s “rubber
room.”
Sanders had nothing in his hand at first, but retreated and
came back to the window with one or two cups filled with urine
and feces, Haltom said.
He doused the jailers, splashing Haltom on the side of the
face and jailer Justin Foster flush in the face, Haltom said.
Another jailer, Peggy Jiminez, testified she was hit on the side
of the face, on her glasses, and down the back.
The jailers re-locked the bean hole and all four retreated
to jail offices, where they began cleaning up from the assault.
Foster went to the hospital, where a couple of hours later he
was tested for AIDS and for hepatitis, he said. Foster testified
that the lab tests came back a couple of weeks later and revealed
he had acute hepatitis B.
Tidwell said there was no intent by Sanders to splash the
jailers with urine and feces. The attorney said Sanders acted
spontaneously in defense to the pepper spray attack.
Whelchel and Young said the two cups of feces and urine weren’t
collected overnight, but over a period of several days, showing
a calculated plan on Sanders’ part to do what he did.
“The defendant had that stuff saved up for some reason,
and that reason was to do exactly what he is charged with,”
Whelchel said in his closing arguments. “What kind of message
do you want sent? You decide what kind of community you want
to live in. Do you want to condone his behavior? Find him guilty.”
April 1, 2005
For Immediate Release
Skateboard assault gets 5 years deferred, 7 days in county
jail
A 19-year-old Paris college student was sentenced Friday for
attacking another teen with a skateboard in a 2003 incident.
Ryan Keith Matthews pled guilty before Sixth District Judge
Jim Lovett who sentenced him to five years deferred adjudication,
800 hours of community service, and seven days in Lamar County
Jail. Matthews must begin his seven days in county jail at 8
a.m. on the first day after classes end this semester at Paris
Junior College, where he is a student.
The November 2003 incident at a youth-oriented battle of the
bands concert at Bywaters Park in Paris led to Matthews striking
David Andrew Whipkey, 18, in the head with a skateboard. Matthews
and other witnesses said Whipkey was in a verbal altercation
with Matthews' younger brother, prompting Matthews to defend
him.
Whipkey suffered major skull damage and was taken to Parkland
Hospital in Dallas where he remained for almost two weeks, undergoing
what his mother called "major brain surgery." His hopes
of joining the military, Whipkey testified Friday, have been
put on hold due to his medical status.
Matthews was eligible for probation and faced up to 20 years
in prison for the attack. However, the victim told Judge Lovett
while testifying that he did not think Matthews could survive
in prison and did not want him to be sent there. Both Whipkey
and Matthews testified under oath that they had spoken cordially
to each other on at least two occasions since the incident and
that Matthews had apologized.
Defense attorney Ben Massar produced character witnesses who
spoke for Matthews, including his grandmother and the mother
of Matthews' girlfriend. Whipkey told the judge that all his
medical bills had been covered by insurance, but that his lifelong
hope of going into the Marines once he graduated high school
had been perhaps nullified forever. The Marines, Whipkey said,
have placed him on medical suspension for five years from the
date of the incident before they will re-examine his enlistment.
Whipkey's mother, who also testified, was seen hugging Matthews
after the court proceeding was over. Matthews and Whipkey shook
hands in the courtroom at the conclusion.
First Assistant County Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said: "This
could've easily been a murder case had the victim been hit any
harder. But the judge, in his wisdom, was fair in his sentence."
April 5, 2005
For Immediate Release
Seminar on check thumbprints offered to area merchants
A seminar will be held for area business owners and managers
on the proper collection of thumbprints for check writers.
Participants have two dates to choose from: Wednesday, April
13 and Wednesday, April 20 in the first-floor county courtroom
in the Lamar County Courthouse. Time is 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Participants will learn how to effectively and properly obtain
a thumbprint from persons writing checks to their business. Each
person attending will receive an inkless thumbprint signature
pad free for use in their business.
Sgt. Jeff Springer of the Paris Police Department will conduct
the seminar in cooperation with Lamar County and District Attorney's
hot check division coordinator Shanna Reily.
"We see the negative effects of people writing hot checks
and forging checks on a daily basis. Businesses are hurt by this
even though we make every effort to collect restitution for them.
This seminar will hopefully help lessen the effects of bad check
writers," said Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young.
For more information, contact Mrs. Reily at 903-737-2413.
Sanders gets three 15-year sentences
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published April 03, 2005
A Lamar County Jail inmate, testifying in his own behalf against
the advice of his defense attorney, admitted that on the morning
after Christmas he splashed urine-soaked feces on four jailers
who came to his cell in an attempt to quiet him down.
Micheal Tremal Sanders, 27, took the stand during the punishment
phase of his trial on a charge of harassment by a person in a
correctional facility and begged for mercy from the jury. He
said he has four children, two of whom are in foster care.
Then the same jury that deliberated just 15 minutes on Thursday
to convict him, deliberated an hour and 15 minutes to sentence
him on Friday to 15 years on each of the three counts filed against
him. The sentences will be served concurrently, rather than consecutively.
But that time will start only after he gets whatever comes
from parole revocation (estimated at two years) on charges stemming
from April of last year that are pending with Red River County
prosecutor Val Varley.
“This is some of the most disgusting behavior I’ve
ever seen from a defendant. The jury’s verdict and sentence
certainly reflects that. It also sends a message that this will
not be tolerated in this community,” lead prosecutor Lloyd
Whelchel said.
Whelchel said harassment by a person in a correctional facility
is a relatively new law, passed in 2001 by the Texas Legislature
for this specific kind of circumstance.
“Jailers have a job I’m sure most people would not
want, and they put up with things no one should. They don’t
deserve this kind of treatment, and this law provides a measure
of protection for them,” Whelchel said.
The trial was in the court of 6th State District Court Judge
Jim Lovett, who opened the trial by warning Sanders to behave
himself. In pretrial and other court appearances, Sanders directed
profanity at the judge.
“I want to give you a fair trial. The only way I can
do that is if you behave yourself. If you act up, I am going
to do whatever I have to do to maintain proper decorum in my
courtroom. Do you understand?”
Sanders behaved throughout the trial, which began Thursday
morning. Jury selection was on Monday. Sanders’ defense
attorney was Wes Tidwell.
Testimony during the trial revealed that on Sunday, Dec. 26,
guards awakened inmates in the Lamar County Jail about 4:30 a.m.,
as usual, and began feeding them breakfast.
About 6 a.m. in A-block, where the problematic inmates are
kept, Sanders started making a ruckus, testified Sgt. Sherry
Haltom, who was in charge of the jail from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. She
and five other jailers were on duty, looking over about 150 prisoners
in jail at the time.
Sanders got upset, saying he had received no milk with his
breakfast, Haltom said. But a check with other officers showed
that not to be true, she said. Haltom told the inmate he had
already gotten milk, and would not get more.
“He got mad and started hitting the walls of his cell.
I warned him to stop that,” she said.
Soon, other inmates began making noise in their cells, and
things were turning rowdy, she said.
Officers who went to check found feces and urine dripping
out of Sanders’ cell and onto the walkway that separates
the eight cells of A-block from the eight cells of B-block.
Haltom said three jailers accompanied her as she headed toward
Sanders’ cell with a can of pepper spray. One jailer opened
the “bean hole” through which food trays are inserted
— the only view into or out of an A-block cell — and
Haltom put into Sanders’ cell some pepper spray, which causes
an intense burning sensation and makes it hard to breathe.
Sanders ran to the window with one or two cups filled with
urine and feces. Haltom said Sanders doused the jailers, splashing
her on the side of the face and jailer Justin Foster flush in
the face. Another jailer, Peggy Jiminez, testified she was hit
on the side of the face, on her glasses, and down the back.
Youth sentenced for assault with
skateboard
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published April 05, 2005
A Paris youth who used a skateboard to knock senseless another
boy who had quarreled with his brother has been sentenced to
five years’ deferred adjudication, seven days in jail and
20 weeks of community service.
State District Judge Jim Lovett sentenced Ryan Keith Matthews,
19, following a trial Friday in which Matthews pleaded guilty
to assault with a deadly weapon.
The attack occurred in November 2003 at a youth-oriented “battle
of the bands” concert at Bywaters Park in Paris. Matthews
and several witnesses testified that he came to the aid of his
younger brother.
David Andrew Whipkey, now 18, suffered major skull damage
and was taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where he underwent
brain surgery. He was in the hospital about two weeks.
Both Matthews and Whipkey were 17 at the time of the incident.
Matthews faced up to 20 years for the attack, but was eligible
for probation. Under deferred adjudication, if he lives up to
the conditions of his probation for the next five years, no conviction
will go on his record.
Matthews must begin his seven days in county jail on the first
day after spring-semester classes end at Paris Junior College,
where he is a student.
“This could’ve easily been a murder case had the
victim been hit any harder. But the judge, in his wisdom, was
fair in his sentence,” prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel said.
Whipkey testified during the trial that he did not wish for
Matthews to go to prison. Both Whipkey and Matthews testified
they had spoken cordially to each other at least twice since
the incident and that Matthews had apologized.
Whipkey’s mother, who also testified, hugged Matthews
after court adjourned, and Matthews and Whipkey shook hands in
the courtroom at the conclusion.
Defense attorney Ben Massar produced character witnesses who
spoke for Matthews, including his grandmother and his girlfriend.
Whipkey said his lifelong hopes of going into the Marines
after graduation from high school were jeopardized, perhaps forever,
by the incident. The Marines have placed him on medical suspension
for five years from the date of the incident and will review
his enlistment application at that time, Whipkey said.
Judge nixes motion to suppress
evidence
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published April 24, 2005
During a pre-trial hearing Friday, Sixth District Judge Jim
D. Lovett denied motions by Christopher Cobb’s defense attorney
aimed at keeping the prosecution from using statements his client
made in the presence of police investigating the deaths of Cobb’s
great-grandparents. Cobb’s statements were made on Aug.
30, the day his great-grandparents were found slain in their
Reno home.
Steven Miears of Bonham argued that police investigators arrested
Cobb on a felony theft warrant for taking and pawning rings and
other jewelry belonging to his parents. Their real motive, Miears
said, was to implicate him in the murders of Charley Smith, 89,
and Ruth Smith, 88, who were killed in their home at 3715 Smallwood
Road.
Further, Miears argued, the police pursued the theft warrant
on their own. Cobb’s parents never at any point told police
they wanted to prosecute their son for taking the jewelry, he
said.
Cobb, 22, was subsequently charged with capital murder, based
partly on his statements during questioning.
Sgt. Jeff Springer of the Paris Police Department and Texas
Ranger Roger Lough of Paris testified Friday about their questioning
of Cobb. Reno Police Chief Jess Wilson testified that the Smith
residence was first thought to be in Paris, then was confirmed
to be in the Reno city limits.
He said he asked Paris police to keep the lead in the investigation
because he has only four officers in his department, including
himself.
Introduced into evidence was a CD of comments Cobb made to
his mother over a recorded telephone line shortly after he was
booked at the Lamar County Jail on capital murder charges.
The judge also denied Miears’ motion to suppress physical
items seized during the day. Police said a bag containing marijuana
was found in his room, and a plastic bag containing cocaine was
found on his person. Several articles “that had blood stains”
were found in Cobb’s room in his parents’ house next
door to the Smith residence, according to a police report.
The pretrial hearing went late into the afternoon as Miears
also sought to disqualify Lamar County District Attorney Gary
Young from prosecuting the case because Young represented Cobb
in his divorce.
Miears put Young on the stand and questioned him at length
on what he knew about Cobb. Miears argued that it was a conflict
of interest for Young to “seek to kill” a former client,
using information he gained during his representation of him.
The district attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty.
Young said most of what he knew about Cobb came in discussions
with Cobb’s mother. Young was appointed on a later date
to represent Cobb on a criminal case, but did little work on
the case because Cobb’s mother didn’t want him on the
case, he told Miears.
Young said he had discussed the cases with state officials,
who told him there was no conflict of interest and no reason
not to handle the prosecution of the capital murder trial.
At one point, Miears had Cobb — in an orange Lamar County
Jail jumpsuit, his hands and feet cuffed — stand and confirm
that he desired for Young to hand over to Miears his case files
for the two times Young represented him. Young turned over the
divorce files, but said he would have to locate the other files,
if they exist.
The hearing was recessed after 6 p.m. Friday without a ruling
on Miears’ motion for Young to disqualify himself. Lovett
scheduled the hearing to reopen at 9 a.m. on Friday of next week,
to give Miears time to look through the files of both cases.
Attorneys discussed a trial date and said a time late next
fall is likely. Jury selection alone in a capital murder case
can take weeks because potential jurors are questioned individually.
Originally, a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Friday in
the capital murder case of Michael Davis, 38, who also is represented
by Miears. But the Cobb case took up all the time, and the Davis
pretrial arguments will be heard at a later date.
Davis is accused in the slaying of Marvin Davis, 79, no relation,
whose body was found on Jan. 8, 2004, in the elder man’s
trailer at Gene’s Flea Market in Paris. An indictment alleges
Davis strangled the man during a burglary in which he also robbed
him.
April 26, 2005
For Immediate Release
Drug runner's trial ends with life sentence
Randall Robert Liberto, who prosecutors called a "drug runner,"
was found guilty Tuesday by a jury and sentenced to life in prison
for transporting illegal drugs.
Liberto, 54, lists a Moore, Oklahoma address. He was arrested
July 7, 2004, by Paris Police Officer J.D. Simmons for driving
while intoxicated. During the course of his on-scene investigation,
Liberto told Officer Simmons that he was coming from El Paso
on his way to Oklahoma City. Paris Police Officer Brent Brown,
who was assisting Officer Simmons, discovered a large number
of pills under the passenger seat of the car.
Narcotics officer Shane Stone was called to the scene and
discovered an additional large amount of pills in the trunk.
Testimony during trial revealed Liberto was in possession of
1,500 Xanax pills, an anti-anxiety drug distributed and used
only under a doctor's prescription.
Officer Stone testified that a drug corridor across the southern
part of the United States ultimately winds through Oklahoma City
and that El Paso is a known location for illegal prescription
allocation. Stone also testified that Xanax is frequently abused
by methamphetamine users to "take the edge off." Stone
went on to testify the street value of the pills found in Liberto's
car was approximately $10,000.
"We were very fortunate to have excellent officers involved
who did an outstanding job getting this large amount of drugs
off our streets," said First Assistant County Attorney Lloyd
Whelchel. "The jury's verdict obviously reflects suitable
punishment for what appears to be a career criminal."
The maximum sentence on the second-degree felony charge was
20 years, but was enhanced by Liberto's prior felony convictions
raising his minimum possible sentence to 25 to life. Liberto's
criminal history includes a total of 17 felony convictions.
Liberto took the stand in his own defense during the punishment
phase of the trial and said he took three Xanax pills per day
and simply had 500 days' worth. "He asked for mercy, but
still refused to take responsibility for this offense. He blamed
it on his brother," said Lamar County Attorney Gary Young.
Liberto was represented by court-appointed defense attorney Steven
Miears of Bonham, whom Liberto openly rejected and maintained
a hostile relationship with. Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett
threatened to use duct tape to silence Liberto due to inappropriate
outbursts and a "poor attitude" as jury selection began
Monday.
Drug runner convicted on felony
charge
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published April 28, 2005
What began last July 7 in Paris as a traffic stop came to
a crashing end Tuesday for Randall Robert Liberto, 54, who lists
as his address the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, Okla.
Liberto was convicted of transporting illegal drugs, a second-degree
felony that carries a punishment of up to 20 years. But his criminal
history included 17 other felony convictions, enhancing his offense
to a first-degree felony, and the jury sentenced him to life
in prison.
Liberto was stopped by Paris police officer J.D. Simmons on
a charge of driving while intoxicated, but during a search of
Liberto’s vehicle, Simmons and officer Brent Brown discovered
a large number of pills under the passenger seat of the car.
Narcotics officer Shane Stone was called to the scene and
discovered an additional large number of pills in the trunk.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Liberto had in his
possession 1,500 Xanax pills — an anti-anxiety drug distributed
and used only under a doctor’s prescription.
Methamphetamine users frequently take Xanax to “take
the edge off,” Stone testified. The pills had a street value
of approximately $10,000, Stone testified.
Liberto took the stand in his own defense during the trial’s
punishment phase. He said he took three Xanax pills a day and
simply had 500 days worth.
Assistant prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel said the jury’s verdict
“obviously reflects suitable punishment for what appears
to be a career criminal.”
Prosecutors described Liberto as “a drug runner.”
“He asked for mercy, but still refused to take responsibility
for this offense. He blamed it on his brother,” District
Attorney Gary Young said.
Liberto was represented by court-appointed defense attorney
Steven Miears of Bonham, whom Liberto openly rejected and with
whom he maintained a hostile relationship. As jury selection
began Monday, 6th State District Judge Jim Lovett threatened
to use duct tape to silence Liberto because of “inappropriate”
outbursts and a “poor attitude.”
May 11, 2005
For Immediate Release
Jury gives maximum on DWI repeat offender
A Lamar County jury Tuesday gave a Blossom man the maximum
sentence for his second driving while intoxicated conviction:
one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine.
The jury found Brent Anthony Voorhies, 35, caused a one-car
accident on a farm road in April 2003 where he drifted into the
oncoming lane of traffic, back into the ditch on his own side
of the road and overcompensated twice, flipping his pickup over
and rolling three times.
Testimony revealed that two civilians stopped to help Voorhies,
who told them, "Don't call the police." The civilians
testified Voorhies became belligerent when they tried to help
and that he had a strong odor of alcohol about him. Texas Department
of Public Safety troopers and Blossom Volunteer Fire Department
first responders ultimately reached the scene and Voorhies was
taken to Paris Regional Medical Center, where he refused to give
a blood sample.
Voorhies was arrested in 1998 for DWI, but the charge was
reduced to public intoxication. Another DWI arrest in 1999 resulted
in probation, which was revoked and Voorhies spent four months
in county jail.
Voorhies testified in his own defense during the punishment
phase of the trial that he drinks a 6-pack of beer per week,
with his last drink taken on the Saturday before his trial began.
Voorhies said on the stand that the reason his previous probation
for DWI was revoked was because "it had become bothersome,
so I quit going." Voorhies asked the jury to give him probation
for this new charge.
"He already proved he was not willing to comply with
probation, so we asked the jury for the maximum jail time,"
Assistant District Attorney Marilee Hazel said. "We argued
this would be appropriate based on his history, and they jury
agreed."
Voorhies was represented by defense attorney George Preston
Jury gives maximum on DWI repeat
offender
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published May 12, 2005
A 35-year-old Blossom man was unable to convince a Lamar County
jury that convicted him of driving while intoxicated that he
should get off with a probated sentence.
After hearing him testify during the punishment phase that
a previous probation for DWI was revoked because “it had
become bothersome, so I quit going,” the jury on Tuesday
gave the man the maximum sentence of one year in county jail
and a $1,000 fine.
According to testimony, the man had a traffic accident in
April 2003 when he drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic
on a farm road, backed into the ditch on his own side of the
road and over-compensated twice, flipping his pickup over and
rolling three times.
Two passers-by testified that they stopped to help the man,
who told them, “Don’t call the police.” They said
the man became belligerent and had a strong odor of alcohol about
him.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Blossom Volunteer
Fire Department first responders ultimately reached the scene
and the man was taken to Paris Regional Medical Center, where
he refused to give a blood sample.
The man had been arrested in 1998 for DWI, but the charge
was reduced to public intoxication. Another DWI arrest in 1999
resulted in probation, for which the man served four months in
jail after probation was revoked.
The man testified in his own defense during the punishment
phase of the trial that he drinks a six-pack of beer per week,
with his last drink taken on the Saturday before his trial began.
He asked the jury to give him probation for this new charge.
“He already proved he was not willing to comply with
probation, so we asked the jury for the maximum jail time,”
Assistant District Attorney Marilee Hazel said. “We argued
this would be appropriate based on his history, and the jury
agreed.”
The defendant was represented by defense attorney George Preston
on the misdemeanor case.
May 20, 2005
For Immediate Release
Burglary string leads to 17 year sentences for two men
Two Hugo, Oklahoma, men pled guilty Friday to burglarizing
rural Lamar County homes in 2003 and each received 17 years in
prison.
Denoval Dewayne Grant, 26, and Demenzia Mitchell, 23, were
charged with four counts of burglary of a habitation. Both waived
their right to a jury trial and pled guilty before Sixth District
Judge Jim Lovett. Lovett heard evidence from both sides as to
a total of seven burglaries.
"These victims were hardworking, law-abiding citizens
who moved out into the country to enjoy the peace and quiet and
instead had their homes ransacked and property stolen by these
two men," said Assistant County and District Attorney Sherry
Whelchel.
Four victim witnesses reported their homes burglarized all
on the same day: August 7, 2003. The neighbor of one victim spotted
a white car in the driveway where he knew his neighbors were
not home. He later saw two African-American males driving the
vehicle and had another neighbor call 911.
"These men didn't even live in our community, but were
willing to drive here and go door-to-door under the guise of
finding work. When no one was home, they kicked in the door and
took what they wanted," Mrs. Whelchel said.
Both Grant and Mitchell said they spent the day going door-to-door
in the Blossom area asking for yard work. When they found no
one home, they forced entry and stole what they could find, according
to statements both defendants gave sheriff's investigators. Grant
ultimately rode with officers and identified the homes both he
and Mitchell broke into. Property taken from one burglary was
found on Mitchell's person when he was interviewed by officers.
Mitchell had been scheduled to stand trial in February, but
as a jury panel of some 100 people waited to be pared down to
12, Mitchell's unusual behavior and the prosecutor's fear of
a mistrial led Judge Lovett to order psychological testing.
"It is because of criminals like these that citizens
have to lock their doors and install security systems,"
Mrs. Whelchel said. "These defendants didn't care about
the victims, their homes, possessions or this community. All
they cared about was themselves."
Murder trial begins Monday
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published May 22, 2005
An argument about $20 led to the stabbing death 13 months
ago of a 57-year-old man in an alley, authorities believe.
The murder trial of Darrell James Larson, 22, begins Monday
in Paris in the courtroom of State District Judge Jim Lovett.
He’s accused of stabbing Roy Lee Williams, 57, repeatedly
and cutting his throat the morning of April 2, 2004. His body
was found behind Grand Cleaners one block west of the southwest
corner of The Plaza downtown.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Larson and the 5-foot-5, 160-pound
Williams both lived in Paris.
“I think it’s agreed by all that earlier in the
day, the victim had given the defendant money to go buy drugs,
and the defendant didn’t come back with the drugs or the
money, and so they were arguing over $20,” District Attorney
Gary Young said.
“They left together — about 4:30 in the morning
by one person’s account, about 5 by another’s —
and the victim’s body was found at 7 a.m. Somewhere between
4:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., he was killed,” Young said.
The owner of Grand Cleaners called police at 7:08 a.m. to
report that he found a body behind his business. Williams, wearing
jeans and a T-shirt, was lying face down. Blood ran down the
alley and into the street.
Police soon found a knife — believed by authorities to
be the murder weapon — in a trash bin about a block away.
By mid-morning, police had picked up Larson for questioning,
but they released him upon the recommendation of then-District
Attorney Mark Burtner, who said there was insufficient evidence,
Police Chief Karl Louis said.
Williams was re-arrested April 22 — about three weeks
after the slaying — in Roswell, N.M., on a murder warrant.
He was returned to Paris and has been incarcerated in the Lamar
County Jail since that time. He turned 22 one a week ago today.
Police Sgt. Shane Boatright is the lead investigator in the
case.
Young said the state is not seeking the death penalty. Assistant
district attorney Sherry Whelchel will help prosecute the case.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., with testimony
perhaps getting underway as early as Monday afternoon. The trial
is expected to continue for several days.
Two Oklahoma men plead guilty
to burglaries
By Charles Richards
The Paris News
Published May 22, 2005
Two men from Hugo, Okla., pleaded guilty Friday to a string
of burglaries that took place Aug. 7, 2003, in the Blossom area.
Demenzia Mitchell, 23, and Denoval Dewayne Grant, 26, waived
their right to a jury trial and threw themselves at the mercy
of State District Judge Jim Lovett.
Neither had a previous felony — making them eligible
for probation on the four counts of burglary of a habitation.
But Lovett heard evidence from both the defense and prosecution
about seven burglaries and sentenced them each to 17 years in
prison.
“These men didn’t even live in our community, but
were willing to drive here and go door-to-door under the guise
of finding work. When no one was home, they kicked in the door
and took what they wanted,” assistant District Attorney
Sherry Whelchel said.
A neighbor reported seeing a white car in a driveway where
he knew the residents were not home. When he later spotted two
men driving the vehicle, he had another neighbor call 9-1-1.
Grant ultimately rode with Lamar County sheriff's officers
and identified the homes he and Mitchell broke into. Property
taken from one burglary was found on Mitchell’s person when
officers interviewed him.
Mitchell was scheduled to stand trial in February, but urinated
on himself in the courtroom as a jury pool of about 100 was waiting
to be pared to a jury of 12. Because of the behavior and the
prosecution’s fear of a mistrial, Lovett halted the proceedings
and ordered psychological testing.
“It is because of criminals like these that citizens
have to lock their doors and install security systems,”
Whelchel said. “These defendants didn’t care about
the victims, their homes, their possessions or this community.
All they cared about was themselves.”
Testimony begins in murder case
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published May 25, 2005
James Moore of Idabel, Okla., testified that on April 1, 2004,
his brother, Roy Lee Williams, gave another man $20 to buy him
some marijuana.
District Attorney Gary Young says the failure of Darell James
Larson, 22, to return with either the marijuana or the $20 led
to a quarrel and to Williams’ death the next morning in
a downtown Paris alley.
Moore was one of the first to take the stand Tuesday in the
trial of Larson on murder charges.
An eight-man, four-woman jury is hearing the case in the courtroom
of State District Judge Jim Lovett. If convicted, Larson faces
anywhere from five years probation to life in prison. He has
no prior felony convictions. Assistant District Attorney Sherry
Whelchel is helping prosecute.
Moore testified that he was in town, spending the night with
his brother, who woke him about 4 a.m. on April 2 and asked him
to watch for the van that was supposed to be there at 5 a.m.
to take him for his scheduled dialysis treatment. Moore said
Larson came to the front door a few minutes later and that the
two left about 4:30 a.m. He never saw his brother alive again,
Moore testified.
Less than three hours after Williams and Larson left Williams’
house together, Williams’ body, clad in jeans and a T-shirt,
was found in an alley behind a cleaners one block west of the
Plaza downtown, police said. His throat was cut and he suffered
three severe knife wounds to the chest.
Leigh Foreman, an investigator with the police department’s
narcotics division, said he was sent shortly after Williams’
body was found to an apartment complex — a high drug traffic
area and a place where Larson had been seen frequently. Foreman
testified he was told Larson was about to leave town on a bus.
At the bus station, he saw Larson and his wife, Foreman said.
He said Larson did not seem rattled when he told him that a body
had been found and police wanted to talk to him because he was
one of the last people seen with Williams. Larson went willingly
with him to the police station, Foreman said.
Then Foreman went to Larson’s apartment, which someone
appeared to have left in a hurry, he said. A pair of tennis shoes
were in the middle of the living room floor, he said.
DNA analyst Amber Moss of Dallas testified that blood found
on one of the shoes was that of Williams. She also testified
that blood found on a knife in a dumpster about a block from
the murder scene also was that of Williams.
Dr. Lynn Salzberger of the Southwestern Institute of Forensic
Science in Dallas, testified she oversaw the autopsy, performed
on the day of Williams’ death. She said traces of marijuana
were found in Williams’ body, along with two different prescription
drugs consistent with medicine that someone on dialysis would
be taking.
She said Williams died from multiple stab injuries to the
torso and a slash to the neck that severed his windpipe and his
carotid artery. Any of those wounds could have killed Williams,
she said. Young showed Salzberger the knife admitted into evidence
as the likely murder weapon. The wounds were consistent with
what would have occurred from using such a knife, Salzberger
testified.
Sgt. Jeff Springer, head of the police narcotics division,
an expert on blood spatter, testified about the crime scene.
He had made a chart of every spot of blood that was found in
the alley where Williams’ body was found.
There was blood in 16 different places on the back wall of
the building and on the ground over a distance of 69 feet from
where the body was found, Springer testified. By the pattern
of the spattered blood, and the height of the blood on the wall,
Springer said the victim was fighting for his life. He testified
that the wounds Williams suffered were consistent with being
stabbed and slashed from behind.
Springer said the arterial spatter was about three feet off
the ground, indicating that Williams was on his knees at the
time his throat was slashed.
Larson was released without being charged because it wasn’t
considered that there was enough evidence against him. He then
left town and was arrested about three weeks after the slaying
in Roswell, N.M., on a murder warrant. He was returned to Paris
and has been incarcerated in the Lamar County Jail since.
Police Sgt. Shane Boatright is the lead investigator in the
case.
Wife testifies against Larson
at murder trial
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published May 26, 2005
The common-law wife of murder defendant Darell James Larson
testified Wednesday that he came home the morning of April 2,
2004, showered, and was shaking as he held her in bed.
“I might have killed someone,” Shauna Vaughan testified
that Larson told her.
Larson, 22, is on trial in the court of State District Judge
Jim Lovett, accused of repeatedly stabbing Roy Lee Williams,
57, and slashing his throat before leaving him for death in an
alley behind Grand Cleaners in the 200 block of Grand Street,
one block west of The Plaza.
The judge sent the jury home at 5 p.m. Wednesday after the
second full day of testimony in the case and told them to be
back by 8 a.m. today. The case was expected to conclude this
afternoon.
Vaughan testified Wednesday that Larson did not talk to her
about what happened, saying he did not want to involve her. He
told her they needed to get out of town and they hurriedly packed
their bags and left their apartment in the One Oak Apartments
in the 600 block of West Graham Street.
Larson and his wife and child were at the bus station, waiting
for a bus to take them to New Mexico when police officer Leigh
Foreman drove up and told Larson that a man had been killed,
Larson was the last person reported seen with the victim, and
detectives wanted to question him.
Williams’ blood was on a tennis shoe found in the middle
of the apartment when Foreman went there in the hours after Williams
was found dead several blocks away.
Early in the investigation, Vaughan told police that Larson
was with her all night and didn’t leave their apartment.
She was lying then, she testified Wednesday.
Vaughan said she told her parents what happened and they urged
her to tell the truth. She cried on the stand, saying she loves
him and still wants to be with him. The judge asked her if she
was aware she could invoke her right not to testify against her
husband. She said she was not aware of that, but then waived
that right, saying she wanted to tell the truth in the hope the
truth would help him.
District Attorney Gary Young and assistant Sherry Whelchel
are prosecuting the case. Williams’ brother, James Moore
of Idabel, Okla., who was visiting his brother at One Oaks Apartments,
testified Tuesday that his brother left the apartment with Larson
about 4:30 a.m. on April 2 and that it was the last time he saw
his brother alive.
The state rested at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, and defense attorney
Ben Massar called on Larson at 4:40 p.m. to testify in his own
behalf. Larson testified that he had known Williams for several
months — both of them living at One Oaks Apartments. He
said he had obtained drugs for Williams “10 to 20 times,
maybe” over a period of several months.
He moved to Paris in May of 2002 from Roswell, N.M., he said.
“I got real heavy into methamphetamine there,” and
came to Paris, where an uncle and grandmother lived, in order
to get out of that environment, he said. He stayed clean for
about a year, he said, then began using drugs again.
“I smoked marijuana, along with some methamphetamine,
but mostly crack cocaine,” Larson said.
He often bought drugs for himself if he had the money. If
not, he bought it for someone else and they’d cut off a
portion for him.
Although he frequently bought drugs for Williams, they got
along and he never had trouble with him, Larson testified. He
never did drugs with Williams, he said.
He and his wife have two children, ages 2-1/2 years and 8
months, he said. They were planning on leaving Paris, probably
for Oregon, he said, again to get away from the drug environment
he was around.
The defense called LaRon Tyson, another resident of One Oaks
Apartments, as its first witness. Tyson said he returned after
4 a.m. from a trip to a convenience store and saw Williams. The
man visited for several minutes with him and his mother and then
went to Larson’s apartment, Tyson testified.
A short time later, he heard Williams and Larson quarreling,
Tyson testified. He said he stuck his head out his apartment
door and told them to quiet down. Williams cursed him and told
him to mind his own business, he said.
The state rested after the testimony of blood spatter expert
Tom Bevel of Norman, Okla., who told the jury about 16 places
where blood was found along a 69-foot west-to-east stretch in
the alley. The seventh place was where blood on a wall clearly
was arterial blood, indicating that’s the point at which
Williams’ throat was cut, severing the carotid artery, Bevel
testified.
By the spot where the blood hit the wall, between 30 and 36
inches high, Williams was probably on his knees at that point,
Bevel testified.
At the point where Williams’ body was found, his right
hand was clutched around a branch, indicating he was still alive
at that point. Williams also had been stabbed forcibly three
times in the chest, testimony showed.
Police Chief Karl Louis testified Wednesday of the discovery
of a knife in a dumpster near the Salvation Army, about a block
from where Williams was killed. The knife was identified as one
that once belonged to Larson’s grandfather and had been
given to him by his mother and uncle. On Tuesday, a DNA expert
testified that blood found on the knife was that of Williams.
Larson has no prior felony convictions. If convicted, punishment
could range from five years probation to life in prison.
May 27, 2005
For Immediate Release
Larson gets 42 years in prison for murder of Roy Lee Williams
A Lamar County jury of 8 men and 4 women Thursday gave Darell
James Larson 42 years in prison for the April 2004 slaying of
Roy Lee Williams.
Larson, 22, told the court he "blacked out" after
being hit in the head while walking through a southwest Paris
alleyway with Williams on their way to buy crack cocaine. Larson
said the next thing he knew, his pocket knife was in his hand
covered with blood and he was running. Williams, 59, was found
dead in the alley by a Paris business owner just after 6 a.m.
April 2, 2004.
"If you find him not guilty, you will send a clear message
that if you kill somebody in Lamar County all you have to say
is that you blacked out and can't remember and you'll be walking
the streets again," Young told the jury during closing arguments
in the guilt/innocence phase.
The jury found Larson guilty after almost 2 hours of deliberation
Thursday before hearing punishment phase testimony which included
two of Larson's former employers and the victim's widow. The
jury was handed the punishment case and began deciding Larson's
fate at 4:15 p.m. By 6:45 p.m., they had reached their verdict.
One juror, leaving the courthouse, told a prosecutor that "everyone
had a different number" of years in mind leading to longer
than expected deliberations and one admonishment from the judge
that a mistrial could be declared if they did not come to a unanimous
decision.
Defense attorney Ben Massar was expected to argue self-defense.
Larson repeated that he could not remember what happened in the
alleyway but admitted he caused Williams' death. During punishment
testimony, a Roswell, New Mexico, detective testified to Larson's
bad reputation in his hometown where he was ultimately arrested
after fleeing Paris on a bus with his wife and child. Larson
himself took the stand in punishment and was confronted by County
and District Attorney Gary Young with letters Larson had written
while confined in county jail where he told another inmate he
was a compulsive liar and expected to be found guilty and do
"lots of years in prison."
"This defendant's family can come and visit him in prison,"
Assistant Prosecutor Sherry Whelchel told the jury during closing
arguments. "But Roy Williams' family cannot visit him. All
they can visit is a cold, grey tombstone."
Since Larson had never been convicted of a prior felony, the
jury was able to consider probation up to 10 years, or 5 to 99
years or life in prison. His 42-year sentence means he will first
become eligible for parole after 21 years. He was given credit
for 13 months served in Lamar County Jail.
Larson receives 42 years for 2004
murder
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published May 27, 2005
Darell James Larson, 22, was convicted Thursday of first-degree
murder and sentenced to 42 years in prison for the April 2, 2004,
stabbing death of a 57-year-old man while they were on their
way to buy $20 worth of crack cocaine.
Larson testified he blacked out after being hit in the head
while walking through a downtown alley with Roy Lee “Cricket”
Williams on their way to buy crack cocaine. The next thing he
knew, he said, his pocket knife was in his hand covered with
blood and he was running.
Williams, who was blind in one eye and underwent dialysis
three times a week, was found dead about 7 a.m. behind Grand
Cleaners at Grand Avenue and Southwest Second Street, a block
west of the southwest corner of the downtown Plaza.
He had been stabbed seven times and his throat was cut.
“If you find him not guilty, you will send a clear message
that if you kill somebody in Lamar County, all you have to say
is that you blacked out and can’t remember, and you’ll
be walking the streets again,” District Attorney Gary Young
told the jury in his closing arguments.
A jury of eight men and four women deliberated about an hour
and a half in mid-day before returning the guilty verdict, then
huddled for two and a half hours in the punishment phase before
coming out with its sentence at 6:45 p.m.
One juror, leaving the courthouse, told a prosecutor that
“everyone had a different number” of years in mind
leading to longer than expected deliberations. At one point,
the judge admonished the jury to press on, telling them a mistrial
could be declared if they did not come to a unanimous decision.
Larson testified in his own defense Wednesday afternoon and
Thursday morning. Defense attorney Ben Massar asked Larson what
happened after they walked into the alley, on their way to buy
crack several more blocks away.
“I remember being hit in the back of the head. I blacked
out. I was hit hard,” said Larson, who had testified earlier
that Williams was mad at him from the day before, when he gave
Larson $20 to buy cocaine and Larson didn’t return with
either the cocaine or the money.
Massar asked him what happened next, and Larson replied, “I
don’t remember.”
Asked what was the next thing he remembered, he said: “I
remember running. Seeing the knife in my hand with blood on it.
I remember throwing the knife in a Dumpster. I didn’t know
what to do. I was scared.”
He said he ran back to his apartment in the One Oaks Apartments
in the 600 block of West Graham Street and got in the shower
with his clothes on to wash the blood off him. Then he wrapped
his jeans and shirt in a towel, left his wet tennis shoes in
the living room and got in bed with his common-law wife.
Their 1-year-old daughter was asleep in a crib, he said. When
he got into bed next to his wife, she woke up, he said.
Massar asked, “What did you say?”
The defendant replied, ”I told her I might have killed
somebody.” He said he didn’t talk to her any more about
it because he didn’t want her involved.
During deliberation on guilt or innocence, jurors at one point
sent out a question for the judge. The jury wanted a definition
of the term “knowingly and intentionally.”
Larson testified he always carried a pocket knife with him
for protection.
“The community I live in is not a nice neighborhood.
Lots of stuff happens over there. Sometimes I carry (the knife)
open in my back pocket, sometimes closed,” he said.
During cross-examination, Young asked Larson about his drug
use. Larson had testified earlier that he came to Paris because
he was into methamphetamine in a big way in Roswell, N.M., and
wanted to get away from that environment.
He stayed sober for a year, he said, but then began using
crack cocaine. He bought it when he could, he said, and when
he didn’t have money, he’d offer to get it for someone
else in exchange for part of it.
He said he had bought drugs for Williams “probably 10
to 20 times” over the past several months before the killing.
Young asked Larson, who is 6-1, 220 pounds, if he was scared
of Williams, who was 5-5, 160 pounds, and had underwent dialysis
three times a week. Larson said he was not. Young asked if Williams
was carrying a knife or a gun, and the defendant said no.
Larson said he had been working in construction and told his
wife on the previous day that he was going to work. Instead,
he picked up a payroll check for about $160 and spent most of
it on crack cocaine, smoking it all himself.
“You didn’t spend any of that on your wife or child,
did you?” Young asked.
“They weren’t hurting for anything,” Larson
said.
Another resident of the apartment complex testified earlier
in the trial that Larson tried to sell him his Lone Star Card
card to get more money to buy drugs. “I already had one,”
Tyson testified.
Young asked Larson, “You let the government buy your
food?”
“Yes,” Larson said.
“And you let the government pay your rent?” Young
asked.
“No,” the defendant said. He paid his rent, but
he was a couple of months behind, he said.
Since Larson had never been convicted of a prior felony, the
jury was able to consider probation up to 10 years, or 5 to 99
years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving
half the 42-year sentence. He was given credit for the past 13
months he has been incarcerated in the Lamar County Jail.
Sex offender's probation stands
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 22, 2005
State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett has refused to revoke
the probation of a convicted sex offender who has proven difficult
to monitor because his work as an airline pilot takes him out
of the country frequently.
The 48-year-old man pleaded guilty in September 2004 of aggravated
sexual assault of a young boy and was sentenced to 10 years deferred
adjudicated probation and 600 hours of community service, plus
a $1,000 fine.
Last February, Lovett added another condition, that the man
participate in what the judge called "one of the most successful
sex offender therapy programs in the nation" — a partnership
of Lamar County's Adult Probation and Allied Professionals Counseling.
The man's attorney, James Rodgers, protested during a two-day
hearing that began Tuesday that Lloyd Whelchel, first assistant
to Lamar County district attorney Gary Young, was pursuing exaggerated
and outrageous claims of alleged misbehavior.
Indeed, Rodgers argued, program officials have held out his
client as an exemplary participant who has consistently conducted
himself properly in increased-risk situations that presented
themselves.
Joann Ondrovik of Paris, longtime head of the local sex offender
program, took the stand Tuesday afternoon and agreed with Rodgers'
characterizations. She knew of nothing troubling, she said, noting
she was aware of all revelations by Whelchel on why the defendant's
probation should be revoked, but disagreed with his conclusions.
In refusing to revoke probation, Lovett said Wednesday after
the hearing that Ondrovik "is appointed by me to do the
program, and if I'm not going to accept her opinion, then I need
to fire her."
He added, "This is a program set up through our probation
department for sex offenders. Sex offenders stay here in the
community, and they have to undergo this intensive program we
have established, and it works. We have just very little recidivism.
Very few re-offenders are in the program, and people are being
returned as productive citizens."
At the time the man was placed on probation just more than
a year ago, he was allowed to move with his wife and daughter
to a nearby county, with the understanding that the probation
department of that county would supervise him.
But last February, the other county served notice that it
would no longer supervise the man, saying that because he was
an airline pilot and therefore gone too frequently for the department
to monitor him adequately. The man was ordered to move back under
the supervision of Lamar County, and Lovett placed him in the
sex offender's program.
In deciding whether to revoke probation, the key question
is whether the person has violated terms of his probation, Lovett
said.
"The bottom line is, I just don't think it was proven
that he did, that the violations alleged were important enough"
to revoke probation, the judge said.
During Whelchel's questioning of several witnesses, the prosecutor
tried to show that the defendant was engaging in high-risk behavior
while out of the county.
The man had failed several lie detector tests that are required
of participants in the sex offender program, Whelchel said. He
said the defendant admitted doing several things that constitute
violation of his probation — consumption of alcoholic beverages,
looking at a naked boy in a swimming pool at a July 4 party,
looking at a computer picture of a naked woman, and watching
a movie that had a scene in which two boys were taking a shower.
During cross-examination by Rodgers, Ondrovik went over the
allegations, which she said the defendant self-revealed while
talking about incidents that might explain the extreme readings
on the polygraph.
Ondrovik said the defendant:
• sipped some wine and beer while on a vacation with
his family at SeaWorld before he realized he was not supposed
to drink any alcohol;
• was at a social backyard gathering with friends when
a small boy's diaper came off as his mother was lifting him out
of the swimming pool;
• was sitting in the cockpit of a plane as his co-pilot
was attempting to show him a file on his laptop computer, but
the co-pilot inadvertently clicked on the wrong file, resulting
in the image of a naked woman appearing on the screen instead;
• stopped watching a movie after a scene in which two
boys were in a shower. Ondrovik testified she watched the movie
the night before the hearing, enjoyed it and would not label
anyone who had seen it a sexual deviate
.
Judge orders drug treatment for
Paris teen
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 21, 2005
Because he just turned 17 last July, Ronnie Allen Henderson
caught a break Tuesday from state District Judge Jim Dick Lovett,
who revoked the probation granted to Henderson only three months
ago and debated whether to send him to prison, instead ordering
extensive drug treatment.
"The question in my mind is whether you're worth saving,
and whether you really are interested in turning your life around,"
Lovett said after hearing the Paris teenager admit to heavy marijuana
and methamphetamine use and to having broken into "30 or
40" cars, "a bunch" of storage buildings, and
finally a woman's apartment over the summer.
Lovett had granted him probation in September on the burglaries
and a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle, and the high school
dropout admitted on the stand at his revocation hearing Tuesday
that within a week of getting out of jail he used alcohol, marijuana
and methamphetamine, although aware it was in violation of terms
of his probation.
The judge then revoked probation on four separate September
convictions and sentenced him to two years in state jail on three
of the crimes — unauthorized use of a vehicle and two burglaries
of a building — and to five years in prison for burglary
of a habitation.
"Because you are 17 and only because of that, I am giving
you one last chance," Lovett said, adding a warning that
another slip-up will mean "you are going to prison."
Lovett said he was placing Henderson on five years of sterner
probation that will begin with no less than three months and
no more than a year at a substance abuse felony punishment facility
(SAFPF), created by the Texas Legislature to help convicted felons
overcome addictive behavior.
After completing that stay, which is designed to last for
nine to 12 months, Henderson must transition at a halfway house.
"And as soon as you are released from there, I'm going
to send you to a restitution center until you get (all your victims)
repaid," Lovett said.
From the restitution center, Henderson must work, with half
of his wages going toward the back restitution. He'll get to
keep some, and the rest will go to pay his expenses at the restitution
center.
"You are going to have about $12,000 in restitution you
will be responsible for paying back. That's a pretty heavy burden
for a 17-year-old with a drug problem. I am also going to require
that you get your GED (high school general equivalency diploma),"
Lovett said.
District Attorney Gary Young asked Henderson if he had any
idea how much his victims suffered as a result of his burglary
spree over the summer.
"Do you even care?" Young asked.
Young asked Henderson about a woman's apartment he broke into,
after having a friend go in on a pretense of using the telephone,
then secretly unlocking another door once inside. A short time
later, Henderson broke into the house and stole a couple of televisions
and a $3,000 ring, among other items.
"Are you going to pay her back for all that?" the
district attorney asked.
Henderson shrugged. "I would if I could," he said.
The district attorney reminded Henderson that two other men
with whom he had run around with, "doing whatever,"
also had their probation revoked for their involvement in the
summer crimes, only they were sentenced to prison.
'Tough on crime,' easy on the
pocketbook
Staff reports
The Paris News
Published December 15, 2005
District Attorney Gary Young and his staff negotiated three
plea bargains this week, a move that not only saves the county
money but also provides swift justice.
Two men accused of sex-related charges and one charged with
possession or transportation of chemicals used in the manufacture
of methamphetamine all received penitentiary sentences.
In most cases, plea bargains get offenders off the streets
and into state facilities where the guilty belong.
Plea bargains in all three cases saved the county the money
it would cost to try the cases as well as the cost of additional
time spent in Lamar County Jail. Both the cost of trials and
further confinement locally would cost the county thousands of
dollars.
In one case a Paris man accepted a 10-year prison sentence
for failing to register as a sex offender. The sentence is the
maximum for the offense. Prosecutors persuaded the man to take
the plea by threatening to try him on two counts of failure to
register and request the the judge to stack the sentences, amounting
to 20 years in prison.
Another man accepted a seven-year prison sentence for sexual
assault with a child and indecency with a child. The man charged
with possession or transportation of chemicals used in the manufacture
of methamphetamine received an eight-year sentence.
We are pleased with the work done by Young’s office to
reduce case loads and remove criminals from our streets. We believe
Young and his staff offer plea bargains representing sentences
that closely match the probable result of a more costly jury
trial.
Prosecutors also have proven that they can successfully try
a case in court and receive stiff sentences for those who choose
trials over pleas. Those tough sentences received in court give
Young’s staff the ability to offer stiff plea bargains.
Young and his staff demonstrate what it means to be “tough
on crime” while taking into account what it costs to go
to trial. Lamar County is fortunate to have a prosecution staff
dedicated to putting criminals in prison while saving taxpayer
dollars.
Sex offender registration trial
pleads out
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 14, 2005
A 30-year-old Paris man has pleaded guilty and accepted a
10-year prison sentence for failing to register as a sex offender.
Scott William “Scotty” Young, no relation to District
Attorney Gary Young, was arrested March 2 on a felony charge
of burglary of a habitation and spent 13 days in jail before
he was released on $20,000 bond. He was arrested again in April
after officials learned he had not registered as a sex offender,
as required by a conviction in Bowie County, officials said.
Young then registered, saying he lived at 1546 Hearon St.
in Paris, and said he would fight the charge of failure to register
as a sex offender. It was that charge he was to be tried for
Tuesday.
A jury was selected Monday, and the trial was scheduled to
begin with opening arguments at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
But Young changed his mind and agreed to an offer of 10 years
in prison, the maximum, after a prosecutor informed him he was
facing new charges because the latest residence he had listed
was found to be vacant.
Paris police Sgt. Shane Boatright, who keeps up with sex offenders
for the department, went by the residence Monday and found no
one living there and no furniture or personal items visible through
the windows.
A neighbor told Boatright the occupants had moved out months
ago.
Tuesday, prosecutor Sherry Whelchel offered the defendant
the maximum sentence of 10 years on the charge he was to stand
trial on, and if he didn’t take it said she was going to
file a second charge of failing to register and would ask the
judge to stack the sentences if Young were convicted.
At the recommendation of his defense attorney, Will Biard,
Young took the deal.
Young pleaded guilty Tuesday morning before visiting state
District Judge Thomas B. Thorpe of Dallas, who sentenced the
defendant to 10 years in prison.
"The bottom line is that when sex offenders choose to
live in our community, we want to know where they are. We want
them to comply with registration requirements, and if they don't
they will be prosecuted," Whelchel said.
Young was not in court when jury selection began Monday. The
district attorney’s office learned through a family member
that the defendant “was having chest pains” and was
at Paris Regional Medical Center.
A representative of the DA’s office went to the hospital
and, after speaking with medical personnel, told Young he was
wanted in the courtroom and he needed to get there or his bond
would be revoked. Young was discharged from the emergency room
at 9:40 a.m. Monday and reported to the courtroom less than 45
minutes later.
Two defendants accept plea bargains
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 13, 2005
In the middle of jury selection, two defendants elected on
Monday not to go to trial, instead accepting plea bargain offers
from the Lamar County district attorney’s office.
Shelby Thrasher, 32, of Stephenville, pleaded guilty to sexual
assault with a child and indecency with a child, accepting a
seven-year prison sentence.
Rodney Hocutt, 37, of 299 County Road 1182, Cooper, pleaded
guilty to possession or transportation of chemicals used in the
manufacture of methamphetamine, agreeing to an eight-year prison
term.
Visiting state District Judge Thomas B. Thorpe of Dallas immediately
pronounced sentence for the men, both represented by defense
attorney Will Biard.
Thrasher had been asked by a woman — who was going out
of town — to watch over her daughter and a friend who was
spending the night. Investigators were told Thrasher proceeded
to engage the two girls, both 13, in drinking games called “Quarters”
and “Master and Slave.”
The incidents reportedly occurred the night of July 3, 2004.
Thrasher was accused of indecency with both girls and of committing
a sexual act with the girl spending the night.
“Sexual activity between grown men and teenage girls
is not only illegal, it is morally reprehensible,” District
Attorney Gary Young said Monday. “Mr. Thrasher will have
some time to think about his actions.”
Thrasher originally was held on bond of $25,000 on one charge
and $50,000 on the other, but bond was reduced later to a total
of $10,000. Bond was revoked March 27 after he was arrested for
driving while his license was suspended. He has been in Lamar
County Jail since that time.
On Oct. 28, Thorpe refused to release Thrasher on personal
recognizance. Young argued that Thrasher had no family ties here
and would be a flight risk if released.
Drug task force officers arrested Hocutt on Jan. 29, 2003,
in the Wal-Mart parking lot after receiving information he would
be there to purchase chemicals used in making methamphetamine,
said Lloyd Whelchel, first assistant to Young.
Officers went to the parking lot with a description of Hocutt
and saw him get in his car with several bags, which contained
various and sundry ingredients used in the manufacture of methamphetamine,
Whelchel said.
“Methamphetamine can’t be tolerated in this county,
and the people who are going to have the chemicals to manufacture
it need to know that we are going to prosecute that aggressively,”
Whelchel said.
Hocutt has a lengthy arrest record dating back to 1990 that
includes forgery, driving while intoxicated, possession of a
prohibited weapon, felon in possession of a weapon, driving while
license suspended, reckless driving, aggravated assault causing
serious bodily injury, burglary of a vehicle, and felony criminal
mischief, the district attorney’s office said.
Hammock gets max sentence
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 12, 2005
A Lamar County jury handed down the maximum penalty —
20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine — after finding Jeremy
Lynn Hammock guilty of possession of chemicals used to make methamphetamine.
On Jan. 30, 2003, Reno police Sgt. Joey McCarthy pulled over
the 29-year-old Fort Towson, Okla., man for a traffic violation.
Hammock was arrested when the officer found a firearm in the
truck and saw a red bag containing various chemicals. The officer
summoned Tommy Moore of the Red River Valley Drug Task Force,
who confirmed the chemicals to be red phosphorus and other chemicals
commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The jury deliberated about an hour and a half Thursday before
returning with the guilty verdict, also concluding Hammock used
the gun in commission of the crime.
During the punishment phase that followed, the jury was told
that Hammock was arrested Feb. 24, 2005, in Choctaw County, Okla.,
for the same thing. More firearms were recovered at Hammock’s
residence, the jury was told. Deliberation on the punishment
also went quickly.
Lloyd Whelchel, first assistant to Lamar County district attorney
Gary Young, praised the work of McCarthy, Moore and Choctaw County
deputy sheriff Billy Booker.
“Anytime you can get someone who is cooking methamphetamine
off the streets, you’ve had a pretty good day. It’s
a reflection of our police department in Reno, our drug task
force and the sheriff’s department in Hugo,” Whelchel
said.
Former PHS athlete convicted
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 09, 2005
A wide receiver on Paris High School’s 1988 state championship
football team has been sentenced to eight years in prison for
sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
A jury in 6th State District Court took 45 minutes Tuesday
to convict 35-year-old Michael Fuller, who now is listed in Lamar
County Jail records as living in Carrollton.
Wednesday, the same jury took 90 minutes to set his sentence
at five years in prison for indecency with a child, five years
for indecency with a child (sexual contact) and eight years for
sexual assault of a child.
The sentences will run concurrently, and Fuller will be given
credit for about nine months he has spent in the Lamar County
Jail off and on since his indictment in November 2001 for offenses
alleged to have occurred six months earlier.
Fuller has been in jail since May 27, 2005, when his bond
was ordered surrendered. He skipped so many court appearances
that he was considered legally to have skipped out on bail.
Fuller will be required to serve at least half his sentence
before he is likely to be considered for parole. He will be required
to register for life as a sex offender.
Both Fuller and his alleged victim, who was 15 at the time
the offense occurred, testified. She is now 20.
“This was clearly a ‘he said, she said’ situation,
and the jury believed her,” said Allan Hubbard, victim’s
advocate spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
As recently as 2001, Fuller was said to have been trying to
get on with a pro football team. At 6-foot-3 and about 300 pounds,
he was an imposing figure at trial. When he was a star football
player at Paris High School, he was reportedly 6-foot-3 and about
220 pounds.
Inmate arraigned for murder
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published December 04, 2005
A man incarcerated for the past seven months in Lamar County
Jail was charged Friday with murder in the April 24 shooting
death of wheelchair-bound Joe Cavasos, 48, whose body was found
two days later in his duplex about two miles northwest of downtown
Paris.
Justice of the Peace Cindy Ruthart arraigned Terry Andra Jackson,
43, of 334 Northeast 17th St. on first-degree murder charges
at 4:15 p.m. Friday, setting his bond at $300,000.
“We’re very pleased that the person responsible
for Joe Cavasos’ death has been apprehended. We hope to
get some justice for Joe,” said Sherry Whelchel, a prosecutor
in District Attorney Gary Young’s office.
Police Chief Karl Louis said Cavasos was killed with his own
gun. A single bullet entered through his left shoulder and tore
through his rib, heart and lung before coming to rest in his
liver, an autopsy showed.
Cavasos had been dead for about two days before his body was
found on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 26 in a brick duplex
at the corner of Northwest 16th and Walker streets, where he
had lived for several years. Neighbors said they last saw Cavasos
on Sunday afternoon, April 24. He was sitting in his wheelchair
outside his front door, they said.
The night of April 24, Jackson was arrested in Delta County,
leading to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon,
and he was transferred to Lamar County to face attempts to revoke
parole on previous felony convictions, Louis said.
It was two months later, in June, before Jackson became a suspect
in Cavasos’ death, Louis said.
“We recovered sufficient physical evidence to tie him to
the crime,” Louis added, declining to elaborate. “We
started putting things together.”
A television set and two guns were missing from Cavasos’
duplex on the day his body was found, said Lt. Ronny Tuttle,
head of the Criminal Investigation Division. Several weeks later,
the guns were recovered and sent to Texas Department of Public
Safety laboratories for ballistics tests, DNA tests and other
lab work.
“We began to get results back in different pieces, off
and on,” Louis said. During the next five months, “we
were able to get all the evidence gathered. It gave us some time,
knowing he was in jail and wasn’t going anywhere,”
the police chief said.
Louis praised Sgt. Stephen Holmes, lead investigator in the
case, “along with the officers who assisted him, putting
this thing together. It has been a several-month ordeal, a continuing
investigation. I appreciate the work they did.”
Investigators attempted to question Jackson in jail about
Cavasos’ death, but the inmate denied knowing anything about
it, Holmes said. No motive in the murder has been established,
the investigator said.
Jackson has a lengthy arrest and conviction record. Through
the years, he has been in court on felony charges of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, delivery of a controlled
substance, burglary of a residence and burglary of a habitation
with intent to commit theft. Last April 11, he was charged in
Paris with a misdemeanor, theft of property by check, more than
$20 but less than $500. County Judge Chuck Superville sentenced
him Aug. 25 to 60 days in jail.
Jackson lived in Houston before moving to Paris “not
long ago,” the police chief said.
At his arraignment Friday, in response to questions from Ruthart,
Jackson said he is indigent and asked that an attorney be appointed
to represent him. He was unemployed at the time of his arrest
and has no assets of any kind, he said. Asked if he had worked
in the past two years, he said he earned about $800 a month from
a fast food chicken restaurant in Paris. He was living with his
mother.
A home health care worker flagged down police officer David
Whitaker about 1 p.m. on April 26 after she got no response at
Cavasos’ residence for the second day in a row. The officer
entered the home and found Cavasos dead.
Cavasos was a long-haul truck driver until he was paralyzed
about nine years ago when he was involved in a truck accident,
family members said. He faced his disability with courage and
determination despite years of intense physical pain, said his
niece, Andrea Marroquin of Midland. Cavasos, who was divorced,
moved to Paris about 1998, she said.
At the time of his death, he lived alone in the north half
of his duplex. The other half was vacant, neighbors said.
Videotape case may be retried
By Charles Richards
The Paris News
Published November 17, 2005
District Attorney Gary Young says his office is still waiting
to hear whether it will have to retry a 68-year-old man who,
according to court testimony, over a period of several months
repeatedly secretly videotaped in the shower three teenage boys
whom he hired at $10 an hour to do odd jobs.
Orian Lee Scott, who lived in the western Lamar County community
of Maxey, was sentenced last December to 100 years in prison
after a jury found him guilty of nine different counts —
three charges relative to each of the three boys.
But on Sept. 8, 2005, the 6th state Court of Appeals in Texarkana
overturned the convictions, voiding 60 of the 100 years and putting
the other 40 years in doubt. The court said although Scott may
have known the boys would masturbate while showering, there was
insufficient evidence to show he induced them to do so.
Scott encouraged the three boys to take showers at the end
of each day in his curtainless tub, in front of a hidden camera
in his bathroom, but all three testified that Scott never coerced,
encouraged or even asked them to masturbate in the shower. They
testified they were unaware they were being videotaped.
The relatively few cases addressing inducement of child pornography
have involved sexual conduct or a sexual performance of which
the child victim was aware, the Texarkana appeals court noted.
“What the appeals court is saying, I think, is if the
kids committed those acts of their own volition, you can’t
say he (Scott) induced them,” defense attorney John Houston
Nix of Sherman said.
Young and assistant prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel argued that
since Scott had already videotaped the boys in the shower and
knew they were likely to engage in masturbation, his encouragement
of the boys to take a shower was the functional equivalent of
inducing the actual act of masturbation.
“It was an interesting legal question, and it took the
state appeals court quite a while to come up with its ruling,”
Nix said.
Young said his office has appealed the state appeals court
decision to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, through the
Texas attorney general’s office, “and we are still
waiting to hear back.” Because of a holiday, the state technically
missed the deadline for an appeal, but an extension was granted,
Young said.
“There is not a lot of case law as to inducement, and
we’re hoping the court will give us some guidance. If they
agree with the (Texarkana) appeals court, we will bring him back
for retrial. Or, if we can agree on a plea bargain, we will consider
that,” Young said.
The boys worked for Scott six or eight hours a day from August
of 2003 until school started, then on Saturdays for the next
seven months. They moved boxes out of storage, bathed his dogs,
sprayed his yard with insecticide and painted his barn.
Scott was arrested in March 2004, after a woman called the
Lamar County sheriff’s office and said her sons told her
of seeing an image of naked boys on Scott’s computer. The
discovery that the boys had been videotaped in the shower came
when deputies looked at some of the more than 1,000 videotapes
that were seized in a raid of Scott’s residence six days
after the mother’s call.
Nix said his contention all along was that instead of going
to trial for inducing or producing a sexual performance, Scott
should have been prosecuted for illegally videotaping someone
without consent — a state jail felony that carries a maximum
sentence of two years.
In each of three indictments — one per boy — the
state brought one count of inducing a sexual performance (masturbation)
by a child, one count of producing or promoting a sexual performance
by a child, and one count of possession of child pornography.
Overruling Nix’s motion to separate the offenses, state
District Judge Jim Dick Lovett proceeded in a single prosecution.
Scott pleaded guilty to the three counts of possessing child
pornography. The jury convicted him of the three charges of inducing
a sexual performance by a child and of the three charges of producing
or promoting a sexual performance by a child.
But in September, the Texarkana appeals court reversed the
conviction, ordering an acquittal on the charges Scott induced
the boys to commit a sexual act. When a reversal rests on the
ground that the state has failed to produce sufficient evidence
to prove its case, the principle of double jeopardy bars the
state from making a further attempt at conviction, the appeals
court declared.
Also, the court said, Scott must get a new trial on the charges
of producing or promoting a sexual performance because his chances
of acquittal were harmed by the jury’s knowledge of Scott’s
guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
Scott’s conviction of possession of child pornography
will stand, since he pleaded guilty. But the court ordered a
new punishment hearing, separate from his trial on the other
charges.
Scott received 20 years on each of the charges of inducing
a sexual performance by a child, 10 years on each of the charges
of producing or promoting a sexual performance by a child, for
a total of 90 years. He received a total of 10 years on the charges
of possession of child pornography, raising the total of prison
time to 100 years.
The story was disseminated across the nation by The Associated
Press because Scott had refused an offer by Young’s predecessor,
Mark Burtner, of five years in prison in exchange for a guilty
plea.
“I tried to tell him five years in prison was a good
deal, but he just couldn’t see spending even a day in prison,”
Nix said.
Scott was slumped over in a wheelchair during his trial and
once fell out of it, onto the floor. Prosecutors noted he appeared
in good health at the time of his arrest, nine months before
trial, and accused him of faking sickness in front of the jury.
“I did always feel he was a lot sicker than they thought
he was,” Nix said of his client. “I do know when I
first met him, he came to me in the same shape he was in during
the trial.”
At one point, in mid-2004, a doctor considered Scott so gravely
ill that he gave Scott’s sister the option of signing a
“do not resuscitate” order, Nix said. His client made
several suicide attempts and shortly before trial “ran his
head into his cell, resulting in an injury that was grotesque
to the jury. I think they saw him as some sort of animal,”
Nix said.
Two-year term given for sexual
assault
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published October 28, 2005
A man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the daughter
of his live-in girlfriend and has been sentenced to two years
in prison.
Vernon Lee Kuykendall, 50, of Hugo, Okla., pleaded guilty
in connection with an incident that reportedly occurred on or
about April 22, 2003, when the girl was 15. But the victim told
police the sexual misconduct occurred over a period of years.
Kuykendall, who lived with the girl’s mother in Paris
for several years, had been living in Hugo the past two years,
officials said. For several months, said Allan Hubbard, crime
victim witness coordinator for the district attorney’s office,
law enforcement officers were unable to locate Kuykendall.
He was arrested several weeks ago in a Hugo bar after the
district attorney’s office received information he was there.
He had been in the Lamar County Jail since that time, and was
indicted Oct. 12 on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of
a child under 17.
The crime was a second-degree felony charge carrying a penalty
of two to 20 years upon conviction. Earlier this week, the defendant
offered a “take it or leave it” deal to plead guilty
to two years in prison, and District Attorney Gary Young decided
to take it.
Senior visiting state District Judge Thomas B. Thorpe of Dallas
pronounced sentence Tuesday.
According to the terms of the plea bargain, the sentence must
be served “day for day” with no possibility of early
release on parole, Young said. Kuykendall will be required to
register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
The victim, now 18, “ran away” several weeks ago
and has not always expressed a willingness to cooperate in the
prosecution, Young said.
“We had no assurance she would be available for trial,
and due to the fragility and volatility of the victim and the
fact she had literally disappeared in recent weeks, we had to
do what we could to guarantee prison time,” Hubbard said.
“Every case is different. We have to look not only at
the facts of the case, but also at how a jury is going to see
it, what the defendant is going to be put through,” he added.
When one person does something horrible and gets five years
in prison, “and another person does something still bad,
but not as bad as the first guy, but he gets 15 years in prison,
it appears the justice system is not balanced,” Hubbard
said.
Habitual criminal gets 40 years
Staff reports
The Paris
News
Published October 25, 2005
Stealing items from a Paris paint and body shop last June
12 has landed a 57-year-old Paris man in prison for 40 years
as a habitual criminal.
A Lamar County jury on Monday found Jessie Lee Shaw, 57, of
65 Northwest 19th St. guilty of evading arrest with a vehicle.
Shaw asked that the judge determine his punishment, and visiting
state District Judge Thomas B. Thorpe sentenced him to 40 years
in prison.
Police officer Vance Boehler testified he radioed for help
after he found Shaw loading items at the paint and body shop
into the trunk of a car he was driving. Then a high-speed chase
ensued through west Paris.
Another officer, J.D. Simmons testified he used a device to
puncture two of Shaw's tires, but Shaw continued to drive recklessly
through residential neighborhoods in the southwest section of
town before finally stopping near the Kimberly-Clark plant on
Southwest Loop 286. Items in his vehicle were identified by the
business owner as stolen from his shop.
Shaw went to prison in 1980 on a murder-for-hire conviction
out of Franklin County, for which he received 60 years in prison.
He was paroled after 20 years.
Because of the prior felony conviction, the charge was enhanced
from a third-degree felony to a habitual felony charge. The jury
found the vehicle Shaw was driving to be a deadly weapon.
Defense attorney was Ben Massar.
10-24-05
Man gets 40 years in prison for evading arrest
After a Lamar County jury found a Paris man guilty Monday
of evading arrest, visiting state district judge Thomas B. Thorpe
sentenced him to 40 years in prison.
Testimony showed Jessie Lee Shaw, 57, was found by an off-duty
police officer loading items into the trunk of a car he was driving
in June of this year at a Paris paint and body shop. The officer,
Vance Boehler, testified that he radioed for on-duty assistance
before following Shaw in a high-speed case through west Paris.
Another officer, J.D. Simmons, told the court he used a device
to puncture two of Shaw's tires, but Shaw continued to drive
recklessly through residential neighborhoods in the southwest
section of town before finally stopping near the Kimberly-Clark
plant on the southwest loop. Shaw was found in possession of
the stolen items, later identified by the business owner.
Shaw went to prison in 1980 on a murder-for-hire conviction
out of Franklin County in which he received 60 years in prison.
He was paroled after 20 years.
Due to Shaw's prior felony conviction, the charge was enhanced
from a third-degree felony to a habitual felony charge. The jury
found the vehicle Shaw was driving to be a deadly weapon.
"The jury, thankfully, agreed that driving a vehicle
recklessly and at high rates of speed through neighborhoods while
fleeing the police is not something they want in our county,"
said District Attorney Gary Young.
Shaw was represented by defense attorney Ben Massar.
Resler pleads guilty
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published October 20, 2005
Albert Resler, 32, of Paris pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated
sexual assault of a 4-year-old boy and was sentenced by state
District Judge Scott McDowell to 30 years in prison.
The case grew out of interviews at the Children’s Advocacy
Center with the boy and an older brother.
The older boy walked into a room last March “and saw
Resler doing something to his brother,” said Allan Hubbard,
a spokesman for Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young.
Resler left a note behind, saying “he didn’t mean
to hurt the kid, and now he was going to hurt himself,”
Hubbard said. Resler went to the hospital and was later arrested
by law enforcement officers.
He has been in the Lamar County Jail since that day. A grand
jury indicted him in April.
The charge was aggravated, “which means he’ll do
a minimum of 15 years before he even sees a parole board,”
Hubbard said. “We were preparing for trial, but he accepted
the plea bargain.”
Resler had no prior arrest record, so he would technically
have been eligible for probation, but the district attorney’s
office wouldn’t consider probation.
The defense attorney was Will Biard.
Appeals court tosses out inducing
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published September 21, 2005
A state court of appeals has thrown out the convictions of
Orian Lee Scott received in Paris last December for inducing
sexual performance by a child and possession of child pornography,
in effect overturning 70 years of the 100 years worth of prison
sentences he received.
Scott, who was 67 at the time of the trial, was accused of
enticing three teenage boys whom he had hired to work for him
to take showers in a restroom where a hidden camera was trained
on a curtainless bathtub.
He was convicted of three counts of inducing sexual performance
by a child, three counts of production or direction of sexual
performance by a child, and three counts of possession of child
pornography.
A jury sentenced him to 20 years in prison on each of the
first three counts, 10 years in prison on each of the second
three counts and 10 years on each of the third three counts.
State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett ordered the sentences
to run consecutively on counts one and two and concurrently on
count three, resulting in a total of 100 years in prison on a
case in which Scott at one time was offered but did not accept
five years probation.
Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young has asked state
Attorney Gen. Greg Abbott to appeal the Texarkana court’s
ruling to the State Court of Criminal Appeals.
“The court found that count one, inducing sexual performance
by a child, was legally insufficient. There is not a lot of case
law out there on inducement,” said Lloyd Whelchel, chief
assistant to Young.
“Most of the case law that you find deals with pedophiles
who literally come up to a child and say, ‘Here’s x-amount
of money if you do this.’ The court basically said that
because he wasn’t that blatant about it, the charge was
legally insufficient,” Whelchel said.
“We disagree in the sense that the court’s ruling
does not take into account how pedophiles initially get things
done. It’s not so blatant or so obvious as to come up to
a child and ask them to do something quite so literally, like,
‘Here’s 10 dollars. Go masturbate.’”
Whelchel said Scott may not have known the boys would masturbate
on camera the first time he had them take a shower, “but
he certainly knew the fourth time and the 10th time and the 40th
time, having seen it on each and every occasion that preceded
it.”
The jury was shown repeated footage from video cassettes seized
from Scott’s residence. The prosecution said a hidden camera
caught the boys on tape after he hired them for $10 an hour to
help move boxes into his home and help him unpack after he moved
into the Maxey community, about 11 miles west of Paris, in the
summer of 2003. The activity continued for months.
The prosecution said Scott won the friendship of the boys
by overpaying them to do light work, then gave them jobs such
as bathing his dogs and applying pesticide, followed by encouraging
them to use his bathroom to shower off afterward.
The Texarkana appeals court also found that Lovett erred in
not granting a defense motion to sever the child pornography
counts from the sexual inducement counts.
“The appeals court said the child porn case should have
been tried separately from the other two counts. The court said
legally, the defendant was harmed by trying it at the same time
as the others,” Whelchel said.
If the Texarkana court is upheld, 60 years of Scott’s
sentence will disappear. Not affected are 30 years he received
on the second count.
If the Texarkana court is upheld on its finding that Scott
should have been tried separately for child pornography, Whelchel
said, “we’ll bring Mr. Scott back and he’ll get
exactly what he asked for, which is multiple trials.”
Editorial: A Promise Kept
It is all too rare, and therefore so gratifying, when an elected
official actually makes good on a campaign promise. Lamar County
Attorney Gary Young has done that.
In early November of 2003, Gary Young, a Lamar County native
and an attorney for more than a decade, threw his hat into the
ring and announced his candidacy for the office of county attorney,
a post then held by incumbent Democrat Mark Burtner.
“My goal is to see Lamar County a safer place for our
children and grandchildren,” Young said following an announcement
speech on the courthouse steps.
“This is my hometown and it's where I always knew I would
raise my family,” he said, adding that “I want to work
to make sure it stays the safe place I knew growing up.”
Recently, Young was honored by Children's Advocacy Centers
of Texas with a Professional and Volunteer Leadership Team Excellence
Award. He was named that organization's Prosecutor of the Year,
in recognition of his outstanding dedication to the establishment,
development, growth and continuation of the Children’s Advocacy
Center movement in Texas. The award also stands as a confirmation
of the dedication by Young and his staff to the fight against
child abuse in Lamar County.
According to Stephanie Hunt, executive director of the local
CAC, Young and his staff have adjudicated more than 30 child
abuse cases in his first year in office — some new, some
pending.
“We’re completing our first year and have only begun
to hammer the degenerates who abuse kids and sexual predators
who prey on children in Lamar County,” Young said recently.
“My office and our staff of prosecutors delight in knowing
such a criminal is dealt with severely, and we will continue
working toward that with vigor.”
For his recognition from such a dedicated group of people
as the Child Advocacy Centers of Texas, The Paris News congratulates
Young. For his commitment to keeping the children of Lamar County
safe, we commend him. And for keeping his promises to the people
who elected him, we applaud him.
Young named top prosecutor
Staff reports
The Paris
News
Published September 06, 2005
District Attorney Gary Young was recently honored by the children’s
advocacy centers across Texas as a “prosecutor of the year”
for his diligence in fighting child abuse.
The state’s 60 children’s advocacy centers were
asked to submit nominations, with only one person to be chosen
as the recipient of the Team Excellence Award in each category.
Young was one of nine individuals honored from across the
state. He was cited for the Prosecution Team Excellence Award
at a ceremony in Dallas.
“From day one, Mr. Young has been sending the message
to our community that child abuse will not be tolerated,”
said Stephanie Hunt, CAC executive director in Paris. “His
message represents the essence of the mission and philosophy
of children’s advocacy centers.”
Young and his staff, law enforcement and child protective
services “are doing a tremendous job of working these very
tough cases,” Hunt said.
Young was recognized for his dedication to the establishment,
development growth and continuation of the CAC movement in Texas.
He is a member of the multidisciplinary team affiliated with
the Children’s Advocacy Center of Paris. He was a member
of the Leadership Lamar County class of 1997-1998 that started
the Children’s Advocacy Center locally, Hunt noted.
“This is an humbling honor and certainly reflects mostly
on the excellent work done by our Paris Children’s Advocacy
Center and law enforcement investigators,” Young said. “Without
their dedication to justice for child abusers and help for kids,
doing our part in the prosecutor’s office would be impossible.”
Hunt said Young has delivered on a campaign pledge, when he
was running for district attorney, to make child abuse cases
a top priority.
“During his tenure in office, Gary and his staff have
adjudicated over 30 child abuse cases — new cases as well
as those that had been pending indefinitely,” Hunt said.
“We’re completing our first year and have only begun
to hammer the degenerates who abuse kids and sexual predators
who prey on children in Lamar County,” Young said. “My
office and our staff of prosecutors delight in knowing such a
criminal is dealt with severely, and we will continue working
toward that with vigor.”
Young’s staff includes Lloyd Whelchel, first assistant;
Sherry Whelchel, assistant prosecutor, felony division; Marilee
Hazel, assistant prosecutor, misdemeanor division; Deborah Moore,
assistant prosecutor, misdemeanor division; Chris Brooks, investigator;
Pam Bull, chief deputy; Shawn Carpenter, assistant chief deputy;
Allan Hubbard, victim witness coordinator; Glenda Erwin, assistant
victim witness coordinator; Shanna Reily, hot check division;
Kandace Carmical, misdemeanor secretary-receptionist; and Stephanie
Wolfe, misdemeanor assistant.
August 31, 2005
For Immediate Release
75 years in prison for random robbery and attack
A jury handed Dekalb resident Allan Cunningham a 75 year prison
sentence Wednesday for randomly selecting a house to burglarize
and beating a "good neighbor" who came to the defense
of the home owner.
Cunningham, 24, was found guilty on charges of robbery, burglary
of a habitation and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle after
the jury deliberated for half an hour Wednesday. The charges
were enhanced to first degree felony due to Cunningham's extensive
juvenile crime record.
The jury gave the maximum two years on the unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle, 25 years for burglary of a habitation, and
75 years on the robbery charge. Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett
ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The jury heard punishment evidence, including testimony from
the defendant who took the witness stand, and returned with the
sentences at 5 p.m. Wednesday after just more than an hour of
deliberating. In his own defense, Cunningham told the jury he
was a changed man and asked them to give him probation.
"Based on the evidence, it was clear to the jury that
Mr. Cunningham was an extremely volatile man and would continue
this type of behavior if left on the street," Lamar County
and District Attorney Gary Young said. "We are fortunate
in Lamar County to have jurors that are willing to protect our
fellow citizens and to appropriately punish anyone that acts
this way."
Testimony in the two-day trial revealed Cunningham and two
other men drove from Dekalb September 25, 2003, and stopped at
a random house in northwest Lamar County where they entered the
garage attempting to steal merchandise. "When a good neighbor
noticed the suspicious vehicle, he went to check it out and was
attacked and beaten by the Defendant and another man," said
prosecutor Sherry Whelchel.
Cunningham and his two accomplices fled the scene and later
stole a pickup from a Paris veterinarian. An argument between
Cunningham and one of the other defendants led to a fight and
Cunningham left that accomplice stranded at a Paris convenience
store. Testimony showed Reno police pulled over the suspect vehicle
and arrested Cunningham and an accomplice later that night.
Cunningham was offered a 15-year plea bargain by Young, but
refused all plea offers.
Davis found guilty, gets life
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 26, 2005
After three and a half days of testimony, a Lamar County jury
of six men and six women deliberated for one hour and found Michael
“Tracy” Davis guilty of capital murder in the Jan.
7, 2004, bludgeoning and strangulation of flea market junk dealer
Marvin Davis.
Because the prosecution did not seek the death penalty, there
was no need for the jury to deliberate on punishment. Davis,
38, got an automatic life sentence.
State District judge Jim Dick Lovett immediately pronounced the
sentence. The judge stacked the sentence on top of time left
on parole from burglary convictions in 1991 and 1994.
“That means he will not see a parole board for about
50 years,” said first assistant county attorney Lloyd Whelchel.
Police patrolman J.D. Simmons found the body of 79-year-old
Marvin Davis (no relation to the defendant) about 9 p.m. on Jan.
8, 2004, is his trailer at Gene’s Flea Market on the Northeast
Loop in Paris, after friends said they hadn't seen him since
mid-afternoon the day before.
A medical examiner testified Davis died from blunt force trauma
and strangulation.
The prosecution introduced the defendant’s confession to
police, in which he said he went to the junk dealer’s trailer,
beat and strangled him and stole $500, which he used to buy drugs.
But the defendant also said when he left the trailer, the man
was still breathing. He said he didn’t know the man was
dead until he read about it in the newspaper on Jan. 9.
The prosecution rested its case on Tuesday. The defense also
rested, and closing arguments began the trial’s fourth day.
District Attorney Gary Young told the jury that theories the
defense presented were not substantial, including one that alleged
an unknown person returned to the deceased man’s trailer
and finished him off.
Defense co-counsel Jack Herrington said the prosecution failed
to completely rule out all other suspects and did not run tests
on all the evidence found. Herrington argued that the jury should
find the defendant not guilty because the prosecution failed
to prove that the victim was positively identified as Marvin
Davis.
Whelchel reminded jurors of evidence found in a bloody glove
near the trailer that contained both the victim’s blood
and the defendant’s DNA with accuracy to 1-in-298,000,000,000,000,000.
Testimony throughout the trial included the defendant’s
admission of beating and robbing the victim the night in question.
“Everyone has the right to a fair trial, and Mr. Davis
certainly got his,” Young said. “But now, the rest
of his life he will be able to think about what he did to the
victim in this case.”
Police say DNA links Davis to
crime scene
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 25, 2005
A Paris police detective testified Wednesday that DNA tests
on a yellow glove found on the grounds of Gene’s Flea Market
provided the key information that led to the prosecution of Michael
“Tracy” Davis for the Jan. 7, 2004, beating death of
Marvin Davis, 69.
Marvin Davis sold used items outside his camper at the flea
market.
At one time, police were hot on another man’s trail,
but the man proved to have an unshakable alibi, Lt. Danny Huff
testified.
Meanwhile, an inmate at the Lamar County Jail offered some
information if law enforcement officers would reduce his prison
sentence on drugs and weapon charges.
Inmate Michael McCarty provided information about a wallet
that Tracy Davis brought to him that contained Marvin Davis’
identification, Huff said. McCarty, who acknowledged being a
drug dealer and that Tracy Davis was a regular customer, said
he handled the wallet, then threw it away when he realized it
probably was stolen.
“It had my fingerprints all over it,” McCarty said.
He threw the wallet out of his car window while driving in
southwest Paris, he said. When he read in the newspaper a couple
of days later that the wallet was that of a man who had been
killed at Gene’s Flea Market, he worried that police would
find the wallet and charge him with the murder, he said.
After closing arguments, the case went to the jury at 10:50
a.m. today in the court of State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett.
A Paris police detective testified Wednesday that DNA tests on
a yellow glove found on the grounds of Gene’s Flea Market
provided the key information that led to the prosecution of Michael
“Tracy” Davis for the Jan. 7, 2004, beating death of
Marvin Davis, 69.
Marvin Davis sold used items outside his camper at the flea
market.
At one time, police were hot on another man’s trail,
but the man proved to have an unshakable alibi, Lt. Danny Huff
testified.
Meanwhile, an inmate at the Lamar County Jail offered some
information if law enforcement officers would reduce his prison
sentence on drugs and weapon charges.
Inmate Michael McCarty provided information about a wallet
that Tracy Davis brought to him that contained Marvin Davis’
identification, Huff said. McCarty, who acknowledged being a
drug dealer and that Tracy Davis was a regular customer, said
he handled the wallet, then threw it away when he realized it
probably was stolen.
“It had my fingerprints all over it,” McCarty said.
He threw the wallet out of his car window while driving in
southwest Paris, he said. When he read in the newspaper a couple
of days later that the wallet was that of a man who had been
killed at Gene’s Flea Market, he worried that police would
find the wallet and charge him with the murder, he said.
After closing arguments, the case went to the jury at 10:50
a.m. today in the court of State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett.
Huff, who has been on the stand parts of every day, testified
Wednesday that another man was the target of the police investigation,
but had a good alibi. Then, DNA tests on a bloody glove showed
the blood on the outside of the glove belonged to the victim
and that DNA material inside the glove was that of Tracy Davis,
the same man that McCarty said had brought the wallet to him.
Huff testified Wednesday that early on in his questioning
of Tracy Davis, the suspect told him: “I’m a good person,
I’m no killer. I’ve never hurt a person in my life.”
Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel held up a picture
of the bruised and bloodied body of Marvin Davis and portrayed
the defendant as a man “without character, without remorse,
without feeling.”
Huff said during a break in his interrogation of Tracy Davis,
after the defendant had been given a cigarette, “He told
me he wanted to tell me the truth.”
The defendant then provided a statement in which he admitted
to beating and choking Marvin Davis and taking $500 that he used
to buy drugs, Huff said. But he said Tracy Davis claimed he didn’t
know the victim was dead until he read about in on the front
page of The Paris News a couple of days later.
Huff said Tracy Davis told him when he left the camper, Marvin
Davis “was still breathing.”
Defense attorney Steven Miears asked Huff, “After you
got Tracy’s statement, you stopped looking for the full
truth, didn’t you?”
August 25, 2005
For Immediate Release
Davis gets life for flea market murder
Michael Dewayne "Tracy" Davis was found guilty of
the January 2004 capital murder of flea market junk dealer Marvin
Davis by a six man, six woman jury who deliberated for one hour
Thursday.
Davis, 39, was immediately sentenced to life in prison by
Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett, who stacked his sentence on
top of time left on parole from 1991 and 1994 convictions for
burglary.
"That means he will not see a parole board for about
50 years," said First Assistant County Attorney Lloyd Whelchel.
The body of 79-year-old Marvin Davis (no relation to the defendant)
was found in his trailer at Gene's Flea Market in Paris on January
8, 2005. A medical examiner testified Davis died of blunt force
injuries and strangulation.
The defense rested their case and closing arguments began
the fourth day of the trial. Lamar County and District Attorney
Gary Young told the jury that theories the defense presented
were not substantial, including one alleging another unknown
person returned to the deceased victim's trailer and actually
killed Mr. Davis.
Defense co-counsel Jack Herrington said the prosecution failed
to completely rule out all other suspects and did not run tests
on all the evidence found. Herrington argued the jury should
find the defendant not guilty because the prosecution failed
to prove that the victim was positively identified as Marvin
Davis.
First Assistant prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel reminded jurors
of evidence found in a bloody glove at the scene that contained
both the victim's blood and the defendant's DNA with accuracy
to 1 in 298 quadrillion people. Testimony throughout the trial
included the defendant's admission of beating and robbing the
victim the night in question.
"Everyone has the right to a fair trial, and Mr. Davis
certainly got his," Young said. "But now the rest of
his life he will be able to think about what he did to the victim
in this case."
Davis trial may go to jury today
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 24, 2005
The capital murder trial of Michael “Tracy” Davis
was expected to be placed into the hands of a six-man, six-woman
jury today.
The prosecution rested its case Tuesday morning after calling
its final witnesses.
Those witnesses included a forensic identification consultant,
James Cron of Wylie, who testified regarding plaster casts of
a footprint found near the camper of slain 69-year-old junk dealer,
Marvin Davis.
The footprint matched a bloody footprint that police found
inside the camper during their investigation of the murder, thought
to have occurred on the afternoon or evening of Wednesday, Jan.
7, 2004.
Defense attorney Steven Miears of Bonham grilled Paris Police
Lt. Danny Huff for most of the day Tuesday, asking him about
the interrogations of Davis and of Michael McCarty, who testified
against Davis in exchange for a deal on drug charges he faced.
Miears dwelt on a portion of Huff’s videotaped interrogation
of McCarty in which Huff talked about how a deal might be worked
out provided McCarty was not involved in the killing. If McCarty
were involved in the slaying, Huff said on the videotape, that
would be a hurdle that might not could be overcome.
The defense attorney sought to portray Huff as willing to
work out a deal even if McCarty was involved. Miears asked if
he frequently offered deals to inmates for testifying against
other defendants.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice something small for
something bigger. It's like using a minnow to catch a fish. But
I do not make the deals. That’s done by prosecutors,”
Huff responded.
McCarty, who is awaiting a five-year federal prison sentence
for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, said he testified
in exchange for an agreement to drop state charges against him
if he testified truthfully and fully against Tracy Davis.
Miears said investigators continued to question Tracy Davis
after he said he was uncomfortable with their questions.
In a statement to police in May of last year, Davis said he
struck and choked Marvin Davis and took $500, but he said he
didn’t know the man was dead until he read about it in the
newspaper two days later, Huff testified Monday.
In the statement, Davis said he took the victim’s wallet
with $500 inside, paid off a drug debt, bought more drugs and
gave the rest of the money to his live-in girlfriend for bills
and groceries.
McCarty, wearing an orange Lamar County Jail uniform, testified
Monday that he sold crack cocaine to the defendant on numerous
occasions. He said Tracy Davis often paid for his drugs with
merchandise rather than with money.
But in January 2004, Davis came to his house with a wallet,
credit cards and an ID card in the name of Marvin Davis, and
receipts. He also had a money order that he said he could cash
the next day, but he wanted drugs right away, McCarty testified.
McCarty said he wrapped the billfold up in a newspaper and
threw it into a trash can, then decided to get it out of his
house. He said he got in his car and threw it out south of Washington
Street, east of Southwest 19th Street.
McCarty said he went to prosecutors in 2004 and told them
his story after realizing that if police found the discarded
wallet, with his fingerprints all over it, they might charge
him with murder.
Police later found the wallet.
Miears issued subpoenas Tuesday for the testimony of several
police officers and also for all the evidence police had accumulated
against his client. In mid-afternoon, a dozen or more boxes of
papers and other material were brought into the courtroom.
Davis told police that he choked
victim
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 23, 2005
Michael “Tracy” Davis told police that he struck
and choked a 69-year-old junk dealer and robbed him of $500 in
January of last year at Gene’s Flea Market, but said he
didn’t know Marvin Davis (no relation) had died until he
read about it in the newspaper two days later, a detective testified
Monday.
In the statement, given by the defendant in May 2004, Davis
said he took the victim’s wallet with $500 inside, paid
off a drug debt, bought more drugs and gave the rest of the money
to his girlfriend for bills and groceries.
Paris police Lt. Danny Huff, a lead investigator on the case,
testified the defendant said in his statement that after he read
in The Paris News that Marvin Davis had died, he and Angela Young,
who was his girlfriend at the time, cried together and asked
God to forgive him. Davis said he was not a killer and didn’t
mean for it to happen.
A six-man, six-woman jury was selected Friday, and testimony
began Monday before State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett.
District Attorney Gary Young indicated the state would rest
its case before noon today. Then it will be defense attorney
Steven Miears' turn. The trial is expected to end Wednesday.
The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty. If Davis is
convicted, he will receive an automatic sentence of life in prison.
Dr. James Pinckard, medical examiner with the Southwest Institute
of Forensic Science in Dallas, testified he supervised the autopsy
on Jan. 9, 2004. He testified that Marvin Davis suffered blunt
force trauma to the head and chest and was also strangled. Either
could have been the cause of death, Pinckard said.
The defendant looked straight ahead as photographs of the
bruised body, taken during the autopsy, were beamed onto a large
screen a few feet to the left of the defense table during Pinckard’s
testimony.
Patrolman J.D. Simmons testified he found Davis’ beaten
and bloodied body in the man’s small camper when he went
inside about 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004, at the request
of friends who said they had last seen him about mid-afternoon
the previous day. He wasn’t answering his telephone, they
said.
Huff said the days were X'd off a calendar inside the camper.
There was no X on Jan. 7, indicating he probably died on that
day, the officer said.
Huff also testified about a blood-stained yellow glove that
officers found on the ground about 30 or 40 feet from the trailer
as they searched for clues the night the body was found.
The glove was sent off to a crime lab, where tests found the
victim’s DNA in the blood on the outside of the glove and
found the defendant’s DNA on the inside, Huff said.
Earlier, Davis’ former girlfriend, subpoenaed against
her will to testify, said Davis pounded on the door of their
residence near the flea market, urging her, “Let me in!
Let me in!” As police sirens blared nearby, Davis scrambled
into the attic to hide. When he came down half an hour later,
he was crying, Angela Young said.
The prosecution introduced into evidence a letter that Davis
sent her from the Lamar County Jail, in which the defendant told
her to remember — if she was considering testifying against
him — that she had spent some of the money taken from the
dead man, making her an accessory.
Michael McCarty, wearing an orange Lamar County Jail uniform,
testified he sold crack cocaine to the defendant on numerous
occasions. He said Tracy Davis often paid for his drugs with
merchandise rather than with money.
But in January 2004, Davis came to his house with a wallet,
credit cards and an ID card in the name of Marvin Davis, and
receipts. He also had a money order that he said he could cash
the next day, but he wanted drugs right away, McCarty testified.
McCarty said he wrapped the billfold up in a newspaper and
threw it into a trash can, then decided to get it out of his
house. He said he got in his car and threw it out south of Washington
Street, east of Southwest 19th Street.
The next morning, Tracy Davis cashed the first of several
money orders, this one for more than $400. During the next couple
of days, Davis had spent almost all of that buying more crack
cocaine, McCarty said.
The next day, McCarty said, he read in the newspaper that
a man by the name of Marvin Davis had been found dead, and he
recognized the name as the one on the credit cards and other
identification in the wallet, he said.
McCarty, who is awaiting a five-year federal prison sentence
for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, testified in
exchange for an agreement to drop state charges against him if
he testified truthfully and fully against Tracy Davis.
McCarty said he went to prosecutors in 2004 and told them
his story after realizing that if police found the discarded
wallet, with his fingerprints all over it, they might charge
him with murder.
Indecent acts net 14-year sentence
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 22, 2005
A 37-year-old Powderly man accepted a plea bargain on Friday,
taking District Attorney Gary Young’s offer of 14 years
in prison for a severe spanking of a young boy and committing
indecent acts with the boy’s two young sisters.
Scott Lee Holley of Route 2, Box 214, Powderly, was sentenced
to 14 years in prison on each of two counts of indecency with
a child, which are second-degree felonies, and to 10 years in
prison on one count of injury to a child, a third-degree felony.
State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett set the sentences to
run concurrently. Holley is eligible for probation after spending
3 1/2 years in prison, but must register as a sex offender for
the rest of his life. He had no prior arrest record.
The children were interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy
Center of Paris after sexual abuse was alleged in February.
Forensic interviewer Christy Robertson was able to establish
specific indecent acts that the children said Holley committed
against them.
“These cases are horrible, and these little victims suffered,
and now Mr. Holley will suffer,” Young said.
Holley was represented by attorney Ben Massar.
August 19, 2005
For Immediate Release
Man gets 14 years in prison for indecency and injury to
children
A Powderly man pleaded guilty Friday and agreed to take 14
years in prison for injuring a child and committing indecent
acts with two other siblings.
Scott Lee Holley, 37, reached the plea bargain deal with prosecutors.
Holley was charged with two counts of indecency with a child,
sentenced to 14 years for each count, and one count of injury
to a child, with a 10-year sentence. The sentences will run concurrently.
Maximum sentence for each offense was 20 years.
Victims were interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center
of Paris after sexual abuse was alleged in February. Forensic
interviewer Christy Robertson was able to establish specific
indecent acts which the children said Holley committed against
them. Holley was also found to have injured another sibling in
what was described as a spanking.
"These cases are horrible and these little victims suffered,
and now Mr. Holley will suffer," said Lamar County and District
Attorney Gary D. Young. Young said Holley will be required to
register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Two face jail time for guilty
pleas
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published August 14, 2005
Timothy Dewayne Cuba, 24, of the Delta County community of
Ladonia was enraged when he discovered that his girlfriend “was
cheating on him with his cousin,” so he went and shot at
her car in front of her Paris apartment last September, a prosecutor
in the Lamar County district attorney’s office said.
Michael Joe Emory, 35, of Gainesville was driving 95 mph south
of town on July 4 in a car he had stolen the day before, the
prosecutor said. When a state trooper turned on his flashing
lights, a 31-minute chase began that continued for 54 miles.
Both men appeared in 6th State District Court in Paris on
Friday and agreed to plea bargains that will send them to prison.
Cuba faced a maximum of 10 years for deadly conduct in the
drive-by shooting, but agreed to the six-year deal offered by
the Lamar County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors
had announced their intention to use a confession Cuba gave police
the night of the incident. Assistant district attorney Sherry
Whelchel was preparing to try Cuba in front of a jury at the
end of August when he agreed to take the deal.
“This was a serious and dangerous offense,” Mrs.
Whelchel said. “We’re glad to see Mr. Cuba took responsibility
for his actions by agreeing to plead guilty and face the prison
sentence.”
Emory was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He admitted stealing
the car the day before from a Paris man who offered him a ride,
the prosecutor said.
Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Johnny Williams
began the chase on Texas 19 south of Paris, and the pursuit continued
through Delta County and into the northern part of Hunt County,
during which time Emory drove on the shoulder while passing other
vehicles before wrecking out east of Texas 121.
Prior convictions for robbery, escape, burglary and aggravated
assault out of Gainesville enhanced Emory’s sentencing options.
The vehicle was determined to be a deadly weapon, and Emory must
serve half the 25-year sentence before he will be eligible for
parole.
“We’ve had a rash of evading arrests,” first
assistant district attorney Lloyd Whelchel said. “People
need to understand this is dangerous, and if an officer is behind
you with his flashing lights on, pull over.”
Both defendants were represented by defense attorney Ben Massar.
August 12, 2005
For Immediate Release
Drive-by shooting and evading arrest lead to prison sentences
for two men
A drive-by shooting and fleeing an arrest led to prison sentences
for two men in separate plea bargain deals Friday.
Michael Joe Emory, 35, of Gainesville, pled guilty and received
25 years in prison for theft of a car and subsequent felony evading
arrest. Timothy Dewayne Cuba, 24, of Ladonia, received 6 years
in prison for the drive-by shooting of his girlfriend's car.
Department of Public Safety trooper Johnny Williams initiated
a traffic stop with Emory on July 4 on state highway 19 south
of Paris. Trooper Williams said Emory was driving 95 miles per
hour in a 65 mile per zone and refused to pull over. Williams
pursued Emory through Delta County and into the northern part
of Hunt County, during which time Emory drove on the shoulder
while passing other moving vehicles before wrecking out east
of state highway 121 in a chase lasting 31 minutes and covering
54 miles.
Emory admitted he stole the car the day before from a Paris
man who gave him a ride. Prior convictions for robbery, escape,
burglary and aggravated assault out of Gainesville enhanced Emory's
sentencing options. The vehicle was found to be a deadly weapon
and Emory must serve half the 25-year sentence before being eligible
for parole consideration.
"We've had a rash of evading arrests," First Assistant
Lamar County and District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said. "People
need to understand this is dangerous and if an officer is behind
you with his flashing lights on, pull over."
Cuba faced a maximum of 10 years for deadly conduct, but agreed
to the six-year deal offered by prosecutors. Whelchel said Cuba
found out his girlfriend was "cheating on him with his cousin,
so he got mad and went and shot at her car in front of her apartment"
on September 26, 2004.
Cuba reportedly confessed to police the night of the incident
and was remorseful. Assistant district attorney Sherry Whelchel
was preparing to try Cuba in front of a jury at the end of August
when he agreed to take the deal this week.
"This was a serious and dangerous offense," Mrs.
Whelchel said. "We're glad to see Mr. Cuba took responsibility
for his actions by agreeing to plead guilty and face this prison
sentence."
Defense attorney Ben Massar represented both defendants.
Jury gives man six years for fifth
DWI
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published July 03, 2005
An Arthur City man has been sentenced to six years in prison
for his fifth conviction of driving while intoxicated, including
the fourth time in Lamar County.
A Lamar County jury found Douglas Kent Sneed, 47, guilty Friday
afternoon of DWI, a third-degree felony.
But the jury declined to convict Sneed of another charge,
a state jail felony charge of evading arrest or detention with
a vehicle. Instead, the panel found him guilty of a lesser charge
of fleeing, a Class B misdemeanor.
The defendant then agreed to a plea bargain — six years
in prison on the DWI charge and six months in jail on the fleeing
charge. The sentences will run concurrently.
Prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel said it was Sneed’s fifth DWI
conviction dating back to 1977. Sneed previously served 29 months
in prison on another six-year prison term.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Tim Ray said he
was patrolling U.S. 271 in far north Lamar County shortly before
midnight Jan. 11. He was going south on U.S. 271 north of Arthur
City, he said, when he saw an approaching vehicle that his radar
showed to be traveling about 75 mph in a 55 mph zone.
He said he crossed over to the northbound lane and activated
his flashing lights, but the vehicle failed to stop. Instead,
the trooper said, the car turned at the next crossover and drove
into a picnic area, then turned onto a side road.
Ray testified that the car, driven by Sneed, then turned into
the driveway of a trailer house, which proved to be his residence.
From the start of the chase until it ended was about one minute,
Ray said.
Sneed said he didn’t realize the car pursuing him was
a law enforcement officer. He said he thought it was some “other
guys” who were after him.
Man gets 33 years for April robbery
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published July 01, 2005
Andre Lamont Booker, who sprayed a convenience store clerk
in the face with pepper spray before robbing her in April, stood
in court after sentencing Thursday and listened as she admonished
him for what he did.
Allan Hubbard, victims’ advocate for the district attorney’s
office, read the statement moments after 6th State District Judge
Jim Dick Lovett sentenced the 37-year-old Booker to prison for
33 years.
“She wants you to know she had eye problems for three
weeks after this incident and failed some of her classes. She
trusted you,” Hubbard said.
The sentence was a plea bargain reached by District Attorney
Gary Young and defense attorney Will Biard. Booker had faced
from five to 99 years in prison because his offense was enhanced
to a first-degree felony because of a 1992 robbery conviction.
Booker entered the Mobil Food Mart at 2205 Clarksville St.
shortly after 7:30 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, April 9,
made a small purchase and left. Then he came back in, asked the
attendant for directions, sprayed her in the face with pepper
spray and ran from the store with an undisclosed amount of cash.
“It wasn’t right. It hurt,” she said in her
statement. “I hope you do the right thing and get off drugs.”
Young said a drug problem contributed to Booker’s actions,
calling it an example of the far-reaching effects of drug abuse.
“It’s said that our local businesses and their employees
have to fear things like this. But drugs and their negative side-effects
seem to hit every part of our society. There are consequences
stacked on consequences in this case, and we will continue to
see to it that criminals get what they deserve for their actions,”
Young said.
Booker had been held in the Lamar County jail on bonds totaling
$50,000 on charges of robbery and a parole violation since three
days after the robbery, when police Sgt. Terry Bull spotted him
behind CVS Pharmacy in the 600 block of Bonham.
“I was aware that the subject was wanted as I had just
gotten a warrant for him,” Bull said.
A customer had seen Booker leaving Mobil Food Mart and gave
police a description of both him and the vehicle he was in. Witnesses
then picked Booker out of a photo lineup, and the warrant was
issued for his arrest.
Booker was indicted in May by a Lamar County grand jury. He
has previous felony convictions from 1992 for the robbery and
a burglary of a habitation, for which he was sentenced to 20
years in prison. He served eight years and was released on parole
in 2000.
Booker gets credit for time served, and will also be eligible
for good time credit in prison. County jail officials said he
had not been a problem. But on top of Thursday’s sentence,
he faces additional time for violating conditions of parole from
the earlier conviction.
Minutes earlier, the judge denied a request by Buryl Claude
Jackson, 37, for a new trial. Jackson was sentenced to 10 years
in prison after pleading guilty June 1 to manufacture or delivery
of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone.
Jackson, who suffers from epilepsy, was sent to prison, but
filed a motion for a new trial, saying he was not competent when
he pleaded guilty. He said he had no recollection of the guilty
plea.
He was transferred back to Lamar County for a hearing on his
motion. He waived his attorney-client relationship with defense
attorney Will Biard, who said under examination from Young that
there was no indication on June 1 that Jackson did not understand
what was going on.
“Sometimes I think clearly, sometimes I don’t,”
Jackson told the judge.
Lovett rejected the motion for a new trial and ordered Jackson
returned to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to resume
serving his sentence.
June 30, 2005
For Immediate Release
Pepper-spray robber gets 33 years
A man who police said robbed a Paris convenience store by
spraying the clerk with pepper spray has pleaded guilty and been
sentenced to 33 years in prison in a plea bargain deal with prosecutors.
Andrea Lamont Booker, 37, lists both Paris and Plano addresses
and entered his guilty plea before Sixth District Judge Jim Lovett
Thursday.
Booker was charged with entering the Mobil Food Mart in the
2300 block of Clarksville Street on April 9 and, after making
a small purchase and leaving, returned to the store where he
asked the clerk for directions and then sprayed her in the face
with pepper spray. He ran from the store with an undisclosed
amount of cash, according to police reports.
Booker was arrested April 12, three days after the incident,
and has been held in Lamar County Jail since that time on bonds
totaling $50,000 for robbery and a parole violation. Booker was
indicted by the grand jury in May and was represented by defense
attorney Will Biard.
Booker has previous felony convictions from 1992 for robbery
and burglary of a habitation, for which he was sentenced to 20
years in prison. He served eight years and was released to the
Dallas parole supervision office in 2000. Booker will now face
additional time for violating conditions of parole stacked on
top of his new 33-year sentence.
Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young said Booker's
drug problem contributed to his actions and that this was an
example of the far-reaching effects of drug abuse. "It's
sad that our local businesses and their employees have to fear
things like this. But drugs and their negative side effects seem
to hit every part of our society," Young said. "There
are consequences stacked on consequences in this case and we
will continue to see to it that criminals get what they deserve
for their actions."
Witness sentenced to five years
for perjury
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published June 10, 2005
A Powderly woman has been sentenced to five years in prison
for aggravated perjury, a third-degree felony, for telling sheriff’s
investigators that her husband threatened her and her son with
a gun, then changing her story during his aggravated assault
trial.
Waynell Parson, 40, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday before
62nd State District Judge Scott McDowell.
The judge said he will consider shock probation after 120
days of her incarceration, meaning at that time he could bring
her back and allow the remainder of her time to be under probation.
“Family violence is a terrible crime, but the system
cannot stand to have witnesses — even victims — lie
during the course of a trial,” said Lloyd Whelchel, first
assistant county and district attorney.
Her husband, Mark Parson, 40, was convicted Feb. 3 on three
counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for pointing
a rifle at his wife and stepson during a drunken rage in May
of 2004.
During the punishment phase, after hearing of previous crimes
Parson had committed — including child molestation, multiple
arrests for driving while intoxicated and felony convictions
of theft and possession of marijuana — the jury set his
punishment at 99 years in prison for each of the three counts.
By law, the sentences will run concurrently. Parson must serve
at least 30 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole,
District Attorney Gary Young said.
Sgt. Travis Rhodes, an investigator with the Lamar County
Sheriff’s Department, testified during the aggravated assault
trial that on May 16, 2004, the night of the incident, Waynell
Parson was very upset and begged deputies not to leave until
her husband was found.
Rhodes said he found guns hidden under a pile of wood and
found the defendant in a fetal position under a bush near a chicken
coop on the property.
But in her testimony before the jury, she said, “He did
not point the gun at me or my son.” She said she invented
the story, lying to law enforcement officers twice in May 2004
and again to a grand jury on Dec. 7 in an attempt to get help
for her husband’s alcoholism.
After the jury left the courtroom last February to begin its
deliberations in the punishment phase, 6th State District Judge
Jim Lovett summoned the defendant’s wife to the bench.
“You have committed a felony in my presence, and you
will be arrested,” said Lovett, who over the years has made
it clear he won’t tolerate perjury in his courtroom. She
was either lying to the grand jury or lying in her trial testimony.
The jury concluded she was telling the truth last year and lying
during the trial.
The state taped a telephone conversation from Lamar County
Jail in which Mark Parson read to his wife parts of her grand
jury testimony and told her, “If you just say you don’t
remember, they can’t get you for perjury.”
Jury foreman Ken Norris of Arthur City told The Paris News
in February: “We had little doubt that he was guilty of
what the state was accusing him of, and we felt (his wife and
her son) were coerced to change their testimony for this trial.
That was the primary determination we had to make as to the guilt
or innocence.”
Young praises sex offender crack
down
By Charles Richards
The Paris
News
Published June 05, 2005
Local law enforcement officials are applauding a move by state
Attorney General Greg Abbott to crack down on unregistered sex
offenders in Texas and say they will keep up the pressure in
Lamar County as well.
Concern about unregistered sex offenders grew after an unregistered
convicted sex offender in Florida was arrested recently and accused
of kidnapping, sexual assaulting and killing 9-year-old Jessica
Lunsford.
“I want to do all I can to ensure that in the state of
Texas, we don’t have a Jessica Lunsford incident,”
Abbott said in launching Operation Missing Predator.
Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young agrees.
“These cases turn my stomach. These offenders who are
already guilty of a sex crime and then choose not to comply:
they need to feel the full weight of the hammer of the law down
on them,” Young said.
“If we have people who move into this county, or even
move within the county, and don’t register their status
as a sex offender, we will prosecute them to the fullest extent
of the law,” Young added.
“Lamar County will not be a safe haven for sexual pedophiles.
Our law enforcement, trust me, will not stand for that and neither
will my office.”
Responsible for keeping track of sex offenders locally are
Sgt. Shane Boatwright of the Paris Police Department for the
city of Paris, Police Chief Jess Wilson for the city of Reno,
and Deputy Sheriff Travis Rhodes for the rest of Lamar County.
“There are 118 registered sex offenders in Lamar County,
including 69 in the city of Paris,” Boatwright said.
State law requires that sex offenders register once a year
and give seven days notice of moving, notifying officials both
in the place they’re moving to and from. Offenders with
two or more convictions must check in every 90 days.
“There are places you can go where law enforcement is
stretched so thin that they just don’t have time. A lot
of agencies have relegated sex offender registration to secretaries,”
said Lt. Danny Huff, who kept track of sexual offenders for the
past 14 years, before being promoted several months ago to lieutenant.
“If you’re a sex offender and you walk in the door
at some of these places, like smaller sheriff’s departments,
you’ll never see an officer. You’ll talk to a clerk,
a secretary, somebody who is just going to fill out the paperwork,
but nobody is going to actually check to see if they live at
that address,” Huff said.
That’s not the case here.
“We actually do make them comply, and we check up on
them, make sure they’re where they claim to be,’ Huff
said.
“We have had a lot of sexual offenders move in here over
the course of years. They move into town, we go over the rules,
we explain how it’s going to be, what’s expected of
them, everything that we require of them. We don’t want
anybody to be caught off guard,” Huff said.
“Two or three weeks later, they’ll come in and give
notice they’re moving to Hugo or somewhere other than here.
They don’t want to live here because we make it a point
to keep track of where they are and what they’re up to.”
A sex offender may have done time for his crime and be out
on probation, but if he doesn’t keep law enforcement officers
updated on his whereabouts, it’s a new felony and likely
to get him sent to prison for two years, just for failing to
register.
Boatwright said it’s part of the routine to check periodically
on sex offenders and make sure they’re where they say they
are.
“Texans have a right to know if a sex offender lives
in their community,” the attorney general said.
Pictures of registered sex offenders are run in the classified
ads of newspapers whenever a convicted sexual offender moves
into a city. The names and pictures and information on the crimes
are also posted on the Internet.
“The easiest way to see if a convicted sexual offender
is on your block or in your city is to go to the Internet,”
Huff said. “If you don’t have a computer, you can go
to the library.”
The Web site address is: http://records.txdps.state.tx.us
“Once you go to this site, you can search by name, if
you know it, or by zip code. Once you enter a particular zip
code, it will bring up all the names of sexual offenders registered
in living in that zip code,” Huff said.
“You can look at the name and physical address, and if
you click on the link, it will give the person’s information,
his birthday, his photograph, and whether he’s low risk,
moderate risk, or whatever.”
To illustrate, Huff clicked on a name and address on the site,
and it brought up the information and picture of a 55-year-old
Paris man convicted of two counts of indecency with a child by
sexual contact. His victim was an 11-year-old girl. He received
five years in prison and came to Paris following his release.
Boatwright said he believes the police department is on top
of the situation here.
“I think so, the best we can. There’s a lot of them
out there, and it takes a lot of work to keep track of them.
These guys move a lot,” he said.
Once someone is on the local list, the information remains
on file even if they move away, “because a lot of these
guys have family here, and they’ll come back to the community
from time to time, and it’s just good intelligence to know
what’s going on and who might be around when something happens,”
Huff said.
Copyright © 2005 The Paris
News
Jury believes chemicals intended for meth
From staff reports
The Paris
News
Published June 03, 2005
State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett sentenced a 44-year-old
Clarksville woman to five years in prison Thursday after a Lamar
County jury deliberated less than 25 minutes before finding her
guilty of possession of chemicals with the intent to manufacture
methamphetamine.
Several months ago, she was offered a plea bargain, but rejected
it through her attorney and demanded a jury trial, assistant
district attorney Lloyd Whelchel said.
Tammy L. Thornton, a Clarksville resident formerly of Blossom,
and Mary Molina Campbell were arrested in Paris on Sunday, Dec.
15, 2002, after off-duty narcotics officers were tipped they
were going from store to store, buying items commonly used to
cook methamphetamine.
Campbell, 46, in November accepted the plea bargain offered
her — three years deferred adjudication. She had been charged
with possession of chemicals with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine
and also with possession of methamphetamine.
Leigh Foreman, a narcotics officer with the Paris Police Department,
and Tommy Moore, assistant commander of the Red River Regional
Drug Task Force, followed them to two different convenience stores,
watching them buy additional materials.
Moore testified that after witnessing several purchases, he
and Foreman stopped the women for a traffic violation and “found
a variety of chemicals, including a large amount of pseudoephedrine
pills.” Methamphetamine was found on Campbell, Moore said.
“This county’s very fortunate to have dedicated
law enforcement officers who continuously work to rid the community
of meth,” Whelchel said. “This is a fine example. These
officers were off duty and got a call at home, went out there
and did their job.”
Testifying in her own defense, Thornton denied knowing anything
about the chemicals being intended for use in making methamphetamine.
“She had explanation for every chemical found in her
car,” Whelchel said.
Copyright © 2005 The Paris News
Funny money results in forgery conviction
From staff reports
The Paris
News
Published June 03, 2005
State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett has sentenced a 34-year-old
woman to 25 years in prison because counterfeit money was found
on her after a Lamar County deputy pulled her over on a traffic
stop.
Brenda Kay Davis, who has an Allen address, was arrested last
January in Blossom. She testified in her own behalf at her trial,
denying knowledge that the money made on a personal computer
was counterfeit.
“But the jury saw the truth, and the judge sentenced
accordingly,” said first assistant district attorney Lloyd
Whelchel.
The guilty verdict and sentence came Wednesday.
Deputy Tom Barr observed a traffic violation in Blossom at
10 p.m. on Jan. 7.
“The driver had no ID and lied about her name,”
Whelchel said. Alcohol was in the car, and the counterfeit money
was found when she was searched at the county jail.
Also, Davis’ address book — found in the car —
contained credit cards and checks belonging to someone else,
according to trial testimony.
About the same time, Davis’ boyfriend was under investigation
in Collin County for the alleged forging of checks and printing
of money using a home computer, Whelchel said.
Davis was jailed on two misdemeanor charges of failure to
identify a fugitive from justice, a misdemeanor charge of purchasing
or furnishing alcohol to a minor and a felony charge of forgery
of a financial instrument.
Meth cook sentenced to 40 years
in prison
From staff reports
The Paris
News
Published June 01, 2005
A 35-year-old Paris man pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession
of more than 20 ounces of liquid methamphetamine that he admitted
cooking up.
Marvin Dewayne Lester waived a jury and put himself in the
hands of State District Judge Jim Dick Lovett, who sentenced
him to 40 years in prison.
Lester was arrested in March 2003 after law enforcement officers
approached his residence while looking for a family member, one
of three burglary suspects being hunted.
“We got a call of a house being burglarized south of
Kimberly-Clark,” said district attorney investigator Chris
Brooks, who was an investigator with the sheriff’s office
at the time. “DPS had their helicopter up, we had a private
plane up, TDC had their guards out searching.”
A search warrant was obtained for Lester’s home because
Brooks smelled chemicals consistent with producing methamphetamine.
First Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said investigators
found materials consistent with Lester having cooked the drugs.
Lester testified during his bench trial that the incident in
question was his “second time to cook,” Whelchel said.
Lester testified the drugs were for his personal use only.
Drug Task Force Assistant Commander Tommy Moore testified
that the final product would have been approximately 100 grams
of methamphetamine and that once cut — or had materials
added to it to make the quantity larger — would have had
a street value of approximately $20,000.
June 2, 2005
For Immediate Release
25 years for woman who had counterfeit money made on computer
Brenda Kay Davis, 34, was sentenced to 25 years in prison
Wednesday for being in possession of counterfeit money made with
a computer.
Davis, who lists an Allen, Texas, address, was found guilty by
a Lamar County jury and given the prison sentence by District
Judge Jim Lovett as prosecutors put to rest several cases this
week.
Davis was arrested by Lamar County Sheriff's deputy Tom Barr
January 7 of this year on two misdemeanor charges of failure
to identify fugitive from justice, purchasing or furnishing alcohol
to a minor and one felony charge of forgery of a financial instrument.
She has remained housed in Lamar County Jail since that time
and was indicted by the grand jury in March.
"Deputy Barr observed a traffic violation in Blossom
at 10 o'clock at night," First Assistant County Attorney
Lloyd Whelchel said. "The driver had no ID and lied about
her name." Evidence showed alcohol was in the car and that
when Davis was searched at the county jail, counterfeit money
was found on her person.
Testimony in the trial also showed the defendant's address
book was found in the car and contained credit cards and checks
belonging to someone else without their permission.
"Around the same time, Ms. Davis' significant other was
being investigated in Collin County for forging checks and printing
money using a home computer," Whelchel said.
Davis testified in the trial and denied knowing the money
was counterfeit. "But the jury saw the truth and the judge
sentenced accordingly," Whelchel said.
June 2, 2005
For Immediate Release
Meth chemicals lead to 5 year sentence
Tammy L. Thornton, 44, a Clarksville resident formerly of
Blossom, was found guilty Thursday by a Lamar County jury of
possession and transport of chemicals with the intent to manufacture
a controlled substance, namely methamphetamine.
District Judge Jim Lovett sentenced Thornton to 5 years in
prison after the jury deliberated less than 25 minutes.
Thornton was arrested December 15, 2002, by Assistant Commander
of the Regional Drug Task Force Tommy Moore and Paris Police
Narcotics officer Leigh Foreman.
"We got information telling us that two women were buying
chemicals consistent with cooking meth. We followed them to two
different convenience stores where they bought additional materials,"
Moore said. "We stopped them for a traffic violation a short
time later and caught one of the passengers with the actual drug
methamphetamine."
Moore and Foreman testified that the chemicals found in Thornton's
car are commonly used in the production of methamphetamine. "We
found a variety of chemicals, including a large amount of pseudoephedrine
pills," Moore said.
"This county's very fortunate to have dedicated law enforcement
who continuously work to rid the community of meth. This is a
fine example. These officers were off duty and got a call at
home, went out there and did their job," First Assistant
County Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said.
Thornton testified in her own defense and denied knowing anything
about the chemicals being used to make methamphetamine. "She
had explanation for every chemical found in her car," Whelchel
said.
Co-defendant Mary Campbell received three years deferred adjudication
probation in November 2004 under a plea bargain agreement reached
with former assistant county attorney Karen Ditsch, now in private
law practice in Paris. Thornton was also offered a plea bargain
deal, but rejected it and demanded a jury trial through her defense
attorney, George Preston.
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