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Thread: Billy Joel Tracy - Texas Death Row

  1. #21
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    Jury pool at 331 in death penalty case

    By Lynn LaRowe
    Texarkana Gazette

    NEW BOSTON, Texas — The preliminary stage of jury selection finished up Friday for a Texas prison inmate accused of beating a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston to death in July 2015.

    Earlier this month 276 Bowie County citizens were qualified as members of the pool from which 12 jurors and two alternates will be chosen in the capital murder trial of Billy Joel Tracy. Tracy, 39, is accused of beating 47-year-old Timothy Davison to death during a routine walk from a prison day room back to Tracy's cell in administrative segregation July 15, 2015. Friday, an additional 55 prospective jurors received general instructions and completed questionnaires meant to aid the court, prosecution and defense in the next phase of jury selection.

    Because the state is seeking the death penalty, the jury selection process will take much longer than in a typical Texas felony trial. The 331 current members of Tracy's jury panel have each been given dates and specific times to report in September and October for individual questioning. Eight jurors per day will undergo questioning until the jury and alternates are selected. Opening statements and testimony are expected to begin in late October.

    Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp, who is leading Tracy's prosecution, said in an earlier pretrial hearing for Tracy that the case is not a who-done-it. Davison's murder was captured on video surveillance from multiple angles and 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart has already ruled that footage can be shown to the jury at trial.

    Tracy's trial may be more about determining whether he should receive a death sentence or life without the possibility of parole. Tracy is accused of slipping a hand free of its cuff, knocking Davison to the floor and using Davison's metal tray slot bar to beat him fatally in an attack that lasted minutes.

    The state has given the defense notice of its intent to introduce evidence and testimony concerning Tracy's propensity for violence both in and out of prison. Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas. Included in the state's notice are numerous other events of violence toward prison staff and other inmates.

    The defense is expected to present evidence and testimony meant to lead jurors to opt for a life sentence and reject the death penalty. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana.

    The trial itself is expected to take two to three weeks.

    http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news...y-case/686029/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #22
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    Five jurors selected for murder trial

    Inmate accused of beating a Telford guard to death could face death penalty

    By Lynn LaRowe
    Texarkana Gazette

    NEW BOSTON, Texas — Five Bowie County citizens were selected last week to be part of the jury that will decide the fate of a Texas prison inmate facing a possible death sentence in the July 2015 murder of a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas.

    Billy Joel Tracy, 39, is accused of beating 47-year-old Timothy Davison to death the morning of July 15, 2015, during a routine walk from a prison day room back to Tracy's one-man cell in administrative segregation. Tracy, who had allegedly packed all of his personal belongings before walking out of his cell for an hour of recreation, attacked Davison after slipping his left hand free of its cuff. After knocking the officer to the floor, Tracy allegedly grabbed Davison's metal tray slot bar and used it to pummel him.

    The state is seeking the death penalty. Bowie County District Attorney Jerry Rochelle made the announcement not long after a grand jury indicted Tracy for capital murder in late 2015.

    The last time a death sentence was sought in Bowie County was in 2004 when Stephon Lavelle Walter was tried for the 2003 Labor Day weekend murders of three employees of Outback Steakhouse in Texarkana, one of whom was in her third trimester of pregnancy. A Collin County jury declined to sentence Walter to death, opting for a sentence of life instead, after a change of venue was granted in the case. At that time, Texas law did not include life without parole as a possible sentence for capital murder as it does today. Walter, 25 at the time of the murders and now 38, will be eligible for parole Sept. 4, 2043, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

    The last time a death sentence was pronounced in Bowie County was in March 2001. James Scott Porter was already serving time for murder when he killed a fellow inmate at the Telford Unit with a shank and a rock in May 2000. He was executed Jan. 4, 2005.

    The month before Porter was sentenced to die, a Bowie County jury sentenced Deon James Tumblin to death for the June 2000 murder of a 75-year-old woman. Tumblin hanged himself in his cell on death row in 2004.

    Lee Andrew Taylor was sentenced to death by a Bowie County jury in 2000 for the 1999 murder of a fellow inmate at the Telford Unit where he was serving time for aggravated robbery. He was executed June 16, 2011.

    Since 1980, seven men have been sentenced to death for crimes committed in Bowie County. Of those, two have had their death sentences commuted to life, and Tumblin hanged himself. There are currently no Texas death row inmates whose sentences originated in Bowie County.

    If Tracy's jury convicts him of capital murder, the jury will have the option of death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole. In August, 331 individuals were qualified to serve as members of Tracy's jury pool.

    Beginning Sept. 13, eight panel members per day have been scheduled to report to the Bowie County courthouse to undergo questioning by the court, state and defense. Because the state is seeking the ultimate punishment for Tracy, jury selection is a far lengthier process than in a typical Texas felony trial.

    As of Friday, five panel members—three men and two women—had been chosen to serve as jurors. Eight members of the jury pool are scheduled to report at varying times each week day until 12 jurors and two alternates are seated. At earlier pretrial hearings, 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart tentatively scheduled opening arguments and testimony to begin in late October.

    Tracy's trial is likely to be more about punishment than establishing guilt, as Davison's murder was captured from multiple angles by prison surveillance cameras. Lockhart previously ruled the state can play some of the footage for the jury during Tracy's trial.

    The state has given the defense notice of its intent to introduce evidence and testimony concerning Tracy's propensity for violence both in and out of prison. Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas. Included in the state's notice are numerous other examples of violence toward prison staff and other inmates.

    The defense is expected to present evidence and testimony meant to lead jurors to opt for a life sentence and rejection of the death penalty. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana. Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is leading the prosecution.

    The trial itself is expected to take two to three weeks.

    http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news...-trial/691635/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #23
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    Selection of jury done; trial date set

    Billy Joel Tracy faces possible death penalty over prison guard's murder

    By Lynn LaRowe
    Texarkana Gazette

    NEW BOSTON, Texas — Jury selection in the case of a Texas prison inmate facing the death penalty in the 2015 fatal beating of a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston is finished.

    Nine men and three women will decide if Billy Joel Tracy, 39, is guilty of capital murder in the July 2015, death of 47-year-old Timothy Davison. Two women were chosen to serve as alternates in the event one of the 12 jurors is unable.

    The lengthy process of selecting a jury began with premliminary qualification and jury questionnaires in August, which resulted in a 331-member pool of Bowie County citizens from which the jurors would come. Beginning Sept. 13, eight prospective jurors reported most weekdays for individual questioning from 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart, the state and defense.

    When the second of the two alternates was chosen Tuesday, the selection process ended. Opening statements and testimony are tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 23 at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston.

    "I was excited that they were able to get a jury selected in the time they did," said Bowie County District Attorney Jerry Rochelle. "The DA's office worked tirelessly to be as efficient and effective as possible to see that it was done."

    Tracy has objected to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's plans to house him at the Telford Unit during his trial, complaining that his physical safety is at risk and that he doesn't trust Telford staff to serve him untainted meals. TDCJ's website shows Tracy's unit of assignment as Telford.

    Tracy is accused of beating Davison to death the morning of July 15, 2015, during a routine walk from a prison day room back to Tracy's one-man cell in administrative segregation. Tracy, who had allegedly packed all of his personal belongings before walking out of his cell for an hour of recreation, attacked Davison after slipping his left hand free of its cuff. After knocking the officer to the floor, Tracy allegedly grabbed Davison's metal tray slot bar and used it to pummel him.

    If Tracy's jury convicts him of capital murder, the trial will enter a second phase during which both sides will present testimony concerning the punishment Tracy should receive: death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole.

    The last time a death sentence was pronounced in Bowie County was in March 2001. James Scott Porter was already serving time for murder when he killed a fellow inmate at the Telford Unit with a shank and a rock in May 2000. He was executed Jan. 4, 2005.

    Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas.

    Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is leading the prosecution. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana.

    http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news...te-set/694323/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #24
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    Last pretrial hearing Thursday in Telford death penalty case

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    New Boston, Texas: Outstanding motions and other issues were discussed at a hearing Thursday in the case of a Texas prison inmate accused of capital murder in the July 15, 2015, beating death of a Barry Telford Unit correctional officer.

    Billy Joel Tracy, 39, could receive a death sentence or life without the possibility of parole if convicted of killing 47-year-old Timothy Davison during a walk from a prison dayroom to his cell in segregation. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday, Oct. 23, at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston.

    At a hearing Thursday, Tracy’s defense team, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, said they still want the case moved out of Bowie County. Cobb said he is filing a supplemental change of venue motion and Harrelson said the defense wants its objections to two seated jurors put on the record.

    Lockhart said that the average age of the seven men and five women chosen as jurors is 48. Two women will serve as alternates.

    Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked that the defense provide her with information concerning the science and any testing their experts intend to rely on during the trial. Crisp said she believes those experts are expected to take the stand during the punishment phase of trial if Tracy is found guilty. Crisp said she would like to review brain scans and other reports before the witnesses are called so that if a hearing to determine whether they are admissible can be held before the jury is in the courthouse.

    According to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice report, Tracy was able to slip his left hand free while cuffed and attack Davison, knocking him down. Tracy allegedly grabbed Davison’s metal tray slot bar, a tool used to open the slots in cell doors, and beat him to death.

    The Bowie County District Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty for Tracy, who has a long history of violence in prison since he was assessed a life term by a jury in Rockwall County for burglary and assault in 1998. Since then Tracy has been a constant disciplinary problem, has repeatedly tried to escape, and has been sentenced to additional 10-year and 45-year terms for assaults on correctional officers.

    Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards are prosecuting the case.

    http://txktoday.com/around-town/last...-penalty-case/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #25
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    This thug will very likely be our next death row inmate.

  6. #26
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    TXKtoday: Jury in death penalty case watches video of Texas correctional officer's murder

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    NEW BOSTON, TX -- A video of the beating that killed a correctional officer in July 2015 at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston was played for the jury Monday morning in Billy Joel Tracy’s capital murder trial.

    A man identified by multiple witnesses as Tracy leaves his cell the morning of July 15, 2015, without a shirt, wearing basketball shorts and tennis shoes as a female correctional officer escorts him to a dayroom in building 12 of the prison.

    Tracy occupied cell 66 of E pod where he was housed in administrative segregation, in the surveillance video played as former Telford video supervisor Mark Adcock Jr. testified under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.

    The offender walks with his hands behind his back as if cuffed as Correctional Officer Timothy Davison, 47, escorts Tracy up a flight of metal stairs to the hallway in front of cell 66.

    Once the cell door is opened, the offender slips his hand free of the cuffs and attacks Davison, who falls to the floor. The offender takes Davison’s metal tray slot bar, which is a 16-inch metal tool used to open the slots in cell doors, and repeatedly smashes an unconscious Davison in the head and face. Tracy then throws his body down the stairs, revealing a puddle of blood where Davison’s head had been. The offender uses Davison’s pepper spray to fill the air in the stairwell and throws the metal slot bar down the stairs before entering cell 66 and shutting the door.

    http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news...29ff70cd5.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #27
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    Testimony continues in inmate’s death penalty trial

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    New Boston, Texas: A Dallas medical examiner testified Wednesday in the trial of capital murder defendant Billy Joel Tracy that the correctional officer he is accused of beating to death in 2015 suffered massive skull fractures.

    Tracy, 37, is facing the death penalty if found guilty of capital murder in the July 15, 2015, beating death of Correctional Officer Timothy Davison. Davison, 47, was attacked by an inmate at the end of a routine walk from a dayroom at the Telford Unit in New Boston, surveillance video shows. Multiple witnesses testified Monday that Tracy is the inmate in the video who slips a hand free of cuffs and punches Davison with a closed fist moments after Davison opens the door to cell 66 in administrative segregation.

    The offender in the video uses the officer’s metal tray slot bar, a 16 inch pipe with a forked end used to open the slot in cell doors, to repeatedly strike Davison in the head and face. Medical Examiner Chester Gwin testfied late Wednesday afternoon under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp. Gwin said Davison suffered numerous “depressed skull fractures” from being struck with “tremendous force” which caused pieces of his skull to penetrate the brain. Gwin testified as a photo of the right side of Davison’s face was displayed showing a perfect outline of the slot bar.

    Gwin testified that measurements from that wound and from the bar itself led him to conclude the slot bar caused Davison’s fatal injuries. Gwin testfied that the bones around Davison’s left eye were “pulverized” and that their destruction caused Tracy’s eye to collapse. Like a trauma surgeon who took the stand Monday, Gwin said he typically sees fractures of the severity found on Davison’s head only in car accident victims.

    Texas Department of Criminal Justice Major Wade Alexander testified that an “extraction team” was quickly mobilized to remove Tracy from cell 66 after Davison was attacked. Alexander said each member of the team, wearing numbered vests, helmets, protective equipment and gas masks, has a specific job during an extraction.

    The first team member carries a shield. The second member is supposed to secure any weapon the inmate may have and secure the inmate’s right arm while the third team member’s job is to secure the left arm. The fourth and fifth team members secure the right and left legs.

    Video and audio recorded by a correctional officer with a handheld camera was played for the jury Wednesday. A Telford sergeant reads commands from a sheet of paper instructing the inmate to submit to a strip search and hand restraints or face the consequences of being sprayed with a chemical agent and the use of a five-man extraction team.

    Alexander said Tracy’s non-compliance with the orders, including placing some sort of covering over the rectangular window next to his cell door, led the officers to deploy pepper spray twice into the cell before entering. The chaotic scene in the video continues until Tracy is removed from the cell in handcuffs and shackles.

    Under questioning from Texarkana defense attorney Jeff Harrelson, the remainder of the extraction video was shown. A member of the prison medical staff wipes Tracy’s face of blood and chemical spray. A photo showing Tracy’s face, bloody from a cut above his left eye, was shown. Alexander said it is not unusual for offenders to sustain some injuries during an extraction.

    Correctional Officer Latresse Sharp testified that she was assigned to film Tracy while he waited in a holding cell to be transferred to a different TDCJ unit as is the policy following a serious incident. Sharp said she was ordered not to speak to Tracy and was told to keep others from speaking to him as well. Sharp said Tracy bragged about beating Davison and made insulting comments to her and threatening comments to a passing correctional officer.

    “Yeah, I beat his ass,” Sharp quoted Tracy as saying. “He made a statement that I should read about him, that there is a video we’re shown in training.”

    Sharp said Tracy told him supervisors or “rank” at Telford should have warned officers about his violent history and that extra security was nearby whenever he was moved from his cell at the last unit in which he was housed.

    TDCJ Office of Inspector General Investigator Ronald Stafford testified as photos of the area where Davison was attacked were shown. In the spot where Davison was attacked, knocked unconscious and continually beaten was a pool of blood which dripped down onto the surface of the floor below in a large stain. Along the stairwell where Davison’s body was tossed after the attack were several large blood stains and drips as well as a number of spots of splattered blood.

    TDCJ OIG Investigator Michael Horn testified as photos of the inside of cell 66 were shown the jury. Horn said that Tracy’s personal belongings were packed in plastic bags and stacked in the cubby or bed area of his cell. Horn said it appears Tracy prepared in advance for the immediate or “non-routine” transfer to another TDCJ unit which occurs when an inmate is involved in a serious incident.

    Photos of a pair of white tennis shoes found on top of the cell’s bunk were shown. The shoes appeared to have droplets of blood on them. Horn testified as the video of the attack was played for the jury a second time. Horn said the offender attacking Davison strikes him in the face and head at least five more times after Davison is obviously unconscious.

    Department of Public Safety Crime Lab forensic analyst Kristen Cosota testfied under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards that the blood found on the shoes in Tracy’s cell match Davison’s DNA. Samples collected from the forked end of the tray slot bar match Davison’s DNA also.

    Shortly after 5 p.m., 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart released the jury for the day with instructions to return Thursday morning. Crisp told Lockhart the state has presented all evidence it planned to introduce at this point in the trial and said she may rest the prosecution’s case in the morning, allowing the defense to begin calling witnesses.

    The jury has the choice of sentencing Tracy to death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole. If Tracy is convicted, the punishment phase of trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.

    Tracy was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years in 1998 by a jury in Rockwall County for aggravated assault, burglary of a habitation and assault on a peace officer. Attacks on correctional officers at other units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice have resulted in additional sentences of 45 and 10 years.

    Tracy is being held at the Telford Unit during his trial.

    http://txktoday.com/courts/testimony...penalty-trial/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #28
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    Billy Joel Tracy found guilty of capital murder in correctional officer’s death

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    New Boston, Texas: Texas prison inmate Billy Joel Tracy was found guilty of capital murder Friday morning after a jury deliberated for about an hour at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston.

    The jury will return next week to hear testimony in the sentencing phase of Tracy’s trial. The state is asking the jury to sentence Tracy to death by lethal injection for the July 15, 2015, beating of 47-year-old Timothy Davison. Tracy attacked Davison at the end of a routine walk from a prison dayroom back to Tracy’s cell in administrative segregation at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston.

    Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards argued that Tracy is a cold-blooded killer who has planned for years to murder a correctional officer. Since being imprisoned for aggravated assault, burglary of a habitation and assault on a peace officer in 1998 by a Rockwall County jury, Tracy has received 10-year and 45-year sentences for attacks on correctional officers.

    Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson, who is representing Tracy along with Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, argued that Tracy didn’t intend to kill Davison and that he is guilty only of felony murder.

    “Timothy Davison died a hero for us,” Crisp argued. “He is someone who has given his life for something bigger than himself…Justice has been a long time coming for Billy Joel Tracy.”

    https://txktoday.com/courts/billy-jo...fficers-death/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #29
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    Punishment trial underway for inmate facing death penalty

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    NEW BOSTON, Texas: Testimony in the sentencing phase of Billy Joel Tracy’s capital murder trial began Wednesday after jurors heard opening remarks from the prosecution and defense.

    Tracy, 39, is facing a possible death sentence in the July 15, 2015, slaying of 47-year-old Correctional Officer Timothy Davison at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston. Tracy slipped a hand free of its cuff, something witnesses testified he has done before, and attacked. Tracy fatally beat Davison with a metal tray slot bar and was found guilty of capital murder last week by a Bowie County jury.

    Wednesday the jury heard gripping testimony from a woman who was 16 when Tracy attacked her in the bedroom of her Garland, Texas, home in 1998. Kasey Kuhn, now 36, said she and a boyfriend, who was a friend of Tracy’s, went to Tracy’s apartment and drank beer. Kuhn said Tracy knew she was involved with his friend, Chris, but that he repeatedly made sexual advances and “disgusting” suggestions to her. After returning home, Kuhn said she was dressed for bed, watching television and smoking a cigarette when she heard tapping on her window.

    Because she had cracked open the window to allow smoke to escape, Tracy was able to get inside after bending the window frame. The woman said Tracy removed his shirt and shoes despite her pleas for him to leave. When she bit him when he tried to kiss her, prompting Tracy to attack. Tracy struck and strangled the victim until she lost consciousness, waking to find herself bloody and bruised in the floorboard of Tracy’s moving car. After continuing his assault, Tracy pulled his car into a grassy park in Rockwall, Texas, and dragged the victim into the woods.

    A young Rockwall police officer, Paul Britt, who spied the car in the park, thought he had come upon a drunk driving accident. Tracy fought the officer and others who arrived before fleeing into the woods. Britt testified he started to chase Tracy but stopped when he saw Kuhn, covered in blood, stand up in the woods.

    Rockwall home owner Joyce Lemmons testified Tracy was in her home when she and her daughter entered the afternoon of Jan. 28, 1998, prompting them to flee to a neighbor’s. Tracy was arrested after leaping from the top of a three-story house nearby. Tracy was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years by a jury in Rockwall County on July 31, 1998.

    Anthony Allison, a supervisor with Office of Inspector General, interviewed Tracy July 23, 2015, about the attack that ended Davison’s life. Allison testified that Tracy claimed he did not mean to kill Davison, just assault him. A recording of the intreview was played Wednesday for the jury.

    Tracy told Allison he would not have attacked Davison if he had been accompanied by a female officer because of the “stigma” assaulting a woman brought him with other inmates after he stabbed a female officer in 2005. Tracy said he believes assaulting women should be acceptable because women want to be treated as equals.

    TDCJ Classification Team staff member Kelly Enloe testified Wednesday that Tracy has been housed in administrative segregation for approximately 17 of the 20 years he’s been in prison. Enloe said inmates in administrative segregation are frequently evaluated and that it is possible Tracy could be returned to general population in a prison if he is sentenced to life without parole, the only other sentencing option available to Tracy’s jury than death by lethal injection.

    In opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the jury Tracy has been and will continue to be a threat while in prison. Tracy’s lead defense attorney, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, asked the jury to reserve judgment until all of the evidence is presented. The jury was told by 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart to expect the punishment phase of trial will last longer than the portion of trial concerning guilt.

    https://txktoday.com/courts/punishme...death-penalty/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #30
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    Death penalty trial continues; more witnesses say Tracy a threat

    By Field Walsh
    TXK Today

    NEW BOSTON, Texas: Witnesses who testified for the state Thursday in the sentencing phase of Billy Joel Tracy’s capital murder trial described the Texas inmate as a trouble maker bent on taking the life of a correctional officer.

    Tracy, 39, was found guilty last week by a Bowie County jury of capital murder in the July 15, 2015, beating of Correctional Officer Timothy Davison. Davison, 47, died within hours of being beaten with a metal tray slot bar at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston as he was walking Tracy from a dayroom to his cell in administrative segregation.

    The jury heard testimony Thursday from two men who were in their early twenties and working as detention officers in the Rockwall County jail after Tracy was arrested for assaulting a 16-year-old girl, assaulting a police officer and burglarizing a house. Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office Detective Glen Hill testified Tracy was the most difficult inmate with whom he’s ever been faced, under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.

    Hill said Tracy nearly killed him and former jailer Trey Leftwich two days after a Rockwall jury sentenced Tracy to two life sentences and an additional 20 years. Hill said he and Leftwich were nearby when a call came over the radio for help Aug. 2, 1998. The officers realized it was a fellow officer who was outside supervising inmates in the recreation yard who made the call and quickly headed to his aid.

    Leftwich testified Tracy had made it over a razor wire fence by using a sheet he’d wrapped around his body under his jail clothes to cover the wire and climb over to an area where an armed officer was on patrol. Leftwich and Hill said Tracy was on top of the officer when Leftwich tackled Tracy.

    “I did not see he had the officer’s duty weapon when I was running down there,” Leftwich testified. “The first shot went off when I tackled him. I could see the barrel. If I hadn’t of acted he’d have shot me in the head.”

    Leftwich and Hill testified that as the second shot from the .45 caliber pistol rang out, Leftwich managed to move the gun and knock it from Tracy’s hand. The men struggled with Tracy and had to use pepper spray to get him under control.

    Leftwich testified that Tracy had to be housed in a cell by himself because he assaulted other inmates. A letter Tracy wrote before his trial in Rockwall included threats to kill a “bitch ass rent a cop,” referring to jail and prison officers.

    Hill said Tracy had a particular dislike for Leftwich, who testified Tracy threw urine and feces on him and repeatedly threatened him. Hill said members of the Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office transported Tracy to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice Unit the day after he nearly killed Leftwich and Hill in the recreation yard.

    Multiple TDCJ officers testified Thursday about Tracy’s disruptive conduct in prison. TDCJ Correctional Officer Johnathan Estepp testified Tracy constantly shot at officers with handmade darts, flooded his cell and made threats while housed in the Allred Unit near Wichita Falls in the late 1990s.

    Former Correctional Officer David Byrd testified Tracy once told him he was, “going to kill a C.O. before it was all said and done.”

    Tracy was eventually transferred from Allred and moved to the Clements Unit in Amarillo where he was housed in general population until late 2005. As TDCJ Lt. Jimmy Bagsby testified, a video of Tracy stabbing a female correctional officer with a homemade knife was played for the jury.

    A friend and now retired co-worker of the wounded officer testified he didn’t know if it was a man or woman when he ran to assist the day of the stabbing.

    “She was covered so much in her own blood I didn’t know whether it was a male or female until she started yelling, ‘help me,’ and I recognized her voice,” retired officer Robert Mitchell testified.

    Mitchell testified that as medical staff and officers lifted Katie Stanley onto a backboard to transport her, the weapon fell out of her body and onto the floor. Tracy was sentenced to an additional 45-year term for his assault on Stanley. She is expected to take the stand Friday morning.

    Tracy’s jury has the option of sentencing him to death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole. At the start of the punishment phase of Tracy’s trial Wednesday, 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart told the jury he expects this part of the trial to take longer than the guilt or innocence phase, which took about three and a half days.

    Tracy is being held at the Telford Unit during his trial.

    https://txktoday.com/courts/death-pe...-tracy-threat/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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