Brown described as model inmate
Employees of the Hunt County Jail Wednesday described Micah Crofford Brown as a model inmate who has caused no problems during his almost two-year stay inside the facility.
And a psychologist who examined Brown testified the defendant showed no violent tendencies prior to murdering his ex-wife, Stella Michelle “Doc” Ray, in July 2011.
“He had no history of violent behavior until the shooting,” said Dr. Paula K. Lundberg-Love, the final witness to testify Wednesday during the second day of a punishment hearing for Brown, who has been convicted of capital murder in connection with Ray’s death.
The jury in the 354th District Court which delivered the guilty verdict will decide whether Brown will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or receive death by lethal injection.
The punishment hearing is scheduled to resume this morning, with testimony expected from at least one more defense witness addressing “mitigation” factors, or reasons why Brown should not receive the death penalty.
Following the conclusion of all witness testimony, and the presentation of any rebuttal witnesses, attorneys for both sides will present closing arguments before the jury receives the case to decide punishment.
Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks and two jail employees were among the witnesses testifying during the morning session Wednesday.
Love, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Tyler, testified during the entire afternoon session, noting she was asked to perform a “psychopharmacological assessment” on Brown.
“To look at the history of his drug use, abuse,” she said.
Brown had been using various substances — including cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and alcohol — off and on since the age of 18, including prior to the shooting.
Ray, 36, from Greenville, was shot and killed in Greenville on the night of July 20, 2011.
Ray had been working as a school teacher in Caddo Mills but at the time of her death had just completed a doctorate program at Texas A&M University-Commerce and was moving from Greenville the next day to take a job teaching at a college in Marshall.
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