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Thread: Mistrial Declared for James Earnest Floyd Jr. in 2017 TX Slaying of John Porter

  1. #1
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    Mistrial Declared for James Earnest Floyd Jr. in 2017 TX Slaying of John Porter


    John Porter





    Death penalty to be sought in TCU-area strangulation, two other cases

    BY MITCH MITCHELL
    The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    FORT WORTH - Three men — including the suspect in the strangulation of a 22-year-old woman near TCU in April — will face possible death sentences if they are convicted of the crimes they are accused of committing, according to the Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

    The office will seek the death penalty against Reginald Gerald Kimbro, James Earnest Floyd Jr. and Burnches Marskish Mitchell, said Samantha Jordan, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

    District Attorney Sharen Wilson has sought the death penalty in only one other case since she took office in January 2015. That was the case of Rodolfo Arellano, 34, who is accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Pule Arellano and tying a rope that was attached to concrete around her neck and throwing her off the Lake Worth bridge in April 2016.

    Rodolfo was in the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday with bail set at $500,000. A trial date is pending for Rodolfo; trial dates have not been set in the three other cases.

    Kimbro is charged with capital murder in connection with the April 10 strangulation of Molly Matheson, a 22-year-old woman found dead in her apartment near TCU on April 10. Matheson graduated from Keller Timber Creek High School and had attended the University of Arkansas until 2015.

    Kimbro said Matheson had texted him on the night of April 9, asking if he wanted to hang out, according to police. He said he went to her residence, an unattached apartment behind a home in the 2600 block of Waits Avenue, and that they eventually started making out.

    Kimbro told investigators he was going to have sex with Matheson but she declined, citing her boyfriend. He said he left about 1:30 a.m. April 10 and drove to Arkansas.

    Kimbro is also suspected of raping and killing Megan Leigh Getrum, a 36-year-old Plano woman whose body was found April 19 at Lake Ray Hubbard. Getrum had not been seen or heard from since the evening of April 14, when she went for a walk at the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano.

    Detectives also learned that Kimbro was a suspect in two sexual assaults in which the victims reported being choked — one in September 2012 in Plano and the other on South Padre Island in March 2014.

    According to Kimbro’s arrest warrant affidavit in the Plano case, he was not charged in the 2012 rape accusation because “there came a point during the investigation in which [the victim] no longer wished to pursue the case.”

    The victim now wants to pursue charges, the affidavit said, and police are investigating.

    Kimbro was in the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday, with bail totaling nearly $2.4 million.

    In a statement, Matheson’s family thanked the district attorney’s office for its “commitment to bringing [Kimbro] to justice.”

    “Sadly, had the jurisdictions responsible for allowing him to walk free for other previous sexual assaults in Plano and South Padre, we would not be discussing this today,” the statement said.

    Floyd is accused of beating John Porter with a metal table during a home invasion March 28 in Fort Worth, demanding his wallet and shooting him in the head.

    Authorities said Floyd also shot Porter’s wife, Diane, in the stomach and tried to tie her hands with an alarm clock’s power cord, she told police in an interview at John Peter Smith Hospital.

    As she lay bleeding on the floor, she said, Floyd demanded her bank card and personal identification number and shot at her head.

    Floyd left the couple’s home in their Kia Sorento SUV, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He was in the Dallas County Jail on Thursday in an unrelated kidnapping case with bail totaling $700,000.

    Mitchell is accused in the slaying of Khrystophir Scott, 27, at a White Settlement convenience store on Jan. 27. Scott was a customer at the Quick Sak store, at 898 S. Cherry Lane, when two men entered the store and demanded that everyone get on the ground. A struggle ensued and Scott was shot.

    Mitchell was in the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday with bail totaling nearly $1.5 million.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...#storylink=cpy
    "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

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    Only 7 spectators to be allowed in death penalty murder trial for Fort Worth shooting

    By Mitch Mitchell
    The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    A man accused in a deadly Fort Worth home invasion robbery is expected to defend himself in a capital murder trial scheduled to begin with testimony on Wednesday.

    Police say James Earnest Floyd, 53, of Terrell, got inside the home of John and Diane Porter on March 28, 2017, and shot them both.

    John Porter, 69, died more than a week later on April 6, after Floyd beat him with a metal table stand and then shot him in the head, according to a search warrant affidavit written by Fort Worth Detective J. Cedillo.

    Due to the coronvirus pandemic and to allow for social distancing, officials will allow only seven spectators inside the courtroom during the trial. This will be the first capital murder trial held in Tarrant County since the pandemic suspended in-person trials in March.

    Floyd could face the death penalty if convicted.

    Porter’s wife, Diane, was shot in the stomach but recovered. Diane Porter later identified Floyd as the suspect as she was recovering at John Peter Smith Hospital and said she watched him walk through her house and look inside several rooms, the affidavit said.

    On the morning of the incident, Floyd, who was then 50, had been at the nearby home of a man he met online, with whom he had been having a sexual relationship for several months, according to police.

    As she lay bleeding on the floor of her home in the 10200 block of Cool Spring Drive, Diane Porter said, Floyd tried to tie her hands with an alarm clock power cord, demanded her bank card and PIN number, and shot at her head.

    Floyd then left the couple’s home in their 2008 Kia Sorento SUV, according to the affidavit.

    A short time later detectives learned that Floyd tried to use the Porters’ bank card at an ATM in Terrell, east of Dallas. Investigators also found Floyd’s black Ford Focus with a flat tire less than a mile from the Porters’ home.

    Fort Worth fugitive officers and Terrell police arrested Floyd in Terrell several hours later on a kidnapping warrant out of Dallas. The Porters’ Kia Sorento was found at an apartment complex in Terrell about two miles away, the affidavit said.

    Fort Worth detectives tried to interview Floyd later that night, but stopped questioning him after he requested an attorney soon after the interview started, the affidavit said.

    A man Floyd was seeing in the Porters’ neighborhood told police Floyd was at his home the day before the attack. Floyd returned and knocked on his door the next morning, asking to use his cellphone, the man said.

    In the Dallas case, Floyd is accused of kidnapping a victim at gunpoint in the 1500 block of East Louisiana, in south Dallas, about 3 p.m. March 26, 2017. Floyd then drove the victim to Terrell and released him, police said. The victim told detectives that he knew Floyd.

    This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.

    https://www.star-telegram.com/news/l...244438197.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

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    Death penalty trial for Fort Worth home invasion murder suspect postponed until August

    A capital murder trial originally scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a second time and is now set for Aug. 10.

    Testimony in the James Earnest Floyd capital murder trial was postponed a day earlier this week due to technicalities and was scheduled to begin on Thursday.

    Floyd is charged in the death of John Porter, a 69-year-old Fort Worth man who police say was beaten with a metal table and then shot in the head during a home-invasion-style robbery on March 28, 2017.

    Police say Floyd, 53, of Terrell, also shot Porter’s wife, wounding her in the stomach and leaving her to die in her home, but not before getting the couple’s bank card and PIN number, then leaving in the couple’s 2008 Kia Sorento SUV. John Porter’s wife, Diane Porter, survived the shooting and later identified Floyd.

    Due to the coronavirus pandemic and to allow for social distancing, officials planned to allow only seven spectators inside the courtroom during the trial. This will be the first capital murder trial held in Tarrant County since the pandemic suspended in-person trials in March.

    Floyd is expected to act as his own attorney and present his defense at the trial. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

    Floyd has also been accused of kidnapping a victim at gunpoint in the 1500 block of East Louisiana Avenue, in south Dallas, on March 26, 2017. Floyd then drove the victim to Terrell and released him, police said. The victim told detectives that he knew Floyd.

    Floyd, a registered sex offender, was convicted of rape in Kaufman County in 1983 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. He was released on mandatory supervision in August 2011, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Robert Hurst said.

    https://www.star-telegram.com/news/l...244528807.html
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    Edited:

    Fortworth capital murder trial postponed till next week

    Floyd is charged in the death of John Porter, a 69-year-old Fort Worth man who police say was beaten with a metal table and then shot in the head during a home-invasion-style robbery on March 28, 2017.

    https://account.star-telegram.com/pa...sume=244856337
    "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. #5
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    Edited:

    Mistrial Declared in Fort Worth Capital Murder Case

    A mistrial has been declared in a capital murder death penalty trial because the court could seat only 10 jurors. Twelve jurors are required.

    James Earnest Floyd Jr., who was defending himself in the trial, is accused of fatally shooting John Porter, a 69-year-old Fort Worth man.

    (Fort Worth Star Telegram: source)
    "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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    James Floyd Jr. Sentenced To Life In Prison For 2017 Aggravated Robbery

    (Fort Worth, TX) – A Tarrant County jury on Wednesday sentenced James Earnest Floyd Jr., 55, to life in prison for a 2017 aggravated robbery.

    Floyd – who chose to defend himself in the trial but had three court appointed standby attorneys to help when asked – was convicted of breaking into John and Diane Porter’s home on March 28, 2017.

    He beat John Porter, 69, with metal table legs, shot him in the head, shot Diane Porter in the stomach, stole the couple’s bank card and demanded their PIN number. He said he would be back to kill them both if the number didn’t work and drove off in their 2008 Kia Sorento SUV.

    Diane Porter survived and identified Floyd.

    The couple’s ATM card and SUV were found about 65 miles east of Fort Worth in Terrell, where Floyd lived and was arrested. Hair in the Kia was linked to Floyd; the firearm used in the deadly home-invasion style robbery was linked to Floyd; a nearby resident said Floyd was in the neighborhood the morning of the assault. Floyd’s own vehicle, a Ford Focus, was found with a flat tire not far from the Porters’ home.

    Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Lisa Callaghan and Art Clayton detailed other crimes Floyd has committed, including the aggravated rape and aggravated robbery Floyd was convicted of in Kaufman County in 1983.

    Callaghan spoke of Diane Porter and how her life changed in a matter of moments because of this attack. “It cannot be remedied,” she said. “It’s time for her to have some justice.”

    “You know what the proper sentence is – it’s life,” Callaghan said. “It’s nothing more and nothing less than what he deserves.”

    Clayton told the jury that Floyd is broken and that “there’s just something wrong” with him. He talked about the trail of attacks that Floyd left in his wake when he hasn’t been locked up in prison.

    “All this is a wasted life,” Clayton said. “He has repeatedly shown that he chooses to be violent. You can put an end to that today.”

    CDA Investigator Danny Nutt worked on the case, as did victim advocate Laura Flores.

    Visiting Judge Robert Brotherton presided over the trial.

    The jury found Floyd guilty on April 14 after 1 1/2 hours of deliberation. Floyd’s standby counsel represented him during the sentencing phase of the trial. The jury came back with the sentence after 30 minutes of deliberation.

    A separate capital murder charge against Floyd is pending an appeal in the Second Court of Appeals.

    https://www.focusdailynews.com/james...vated-robbery/
    "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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