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February 15, 2012
Jury: 60 years for man in daytime attack downtown
Update 6:15 p.m. A Travis County jury has sentenced Billy Gene Faircloth to 60 years in the midday attack on a downtown office worker in Congress Avenue parking garage last year.
Prosecutor Amy Meredith had asked for a life sentence. Defense lawyer Keith Lauerman asked for the jury to show mercy with a 25-year sentence.
Meredith noted that Faircloth has been sentenced to prison three times — in 1988, 1989, and 1993, when he was sentenced to 35 years. He was released on parole in October 2008, she said.
“The defendant has proven time and time and time again he does not need to be on our streets,” she said during closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial. “He does not need to be in our community where he can hurt anyone else.”
Update 1:59 p.m.: A Travis County jury has found Billy Gene Faircloth guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for attacking a woman with a rock inside a Congress Avenue office building parking garage while she returned to work from her lunch break last year.
The sentencing phase of the trial begins this afternoon. Because of prior convictions for burglary of a habitation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and theft, Faircloth, 45, faces up to life in prison. Faircloth will be sentenced by the same jury that has found him guilty.
No possible motive for the attack emerged during two days of testimony in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court.
Earlier: Kathy McWilliams told a Travis County jury today that the first sign of trouble she saw the afternoon she was attacked last year was a shadow on the parking garage wall that looked like someone running toward her with a brick.
McWilliams, 62, had been walking been to the elevator in the underground garage of her Congress Avenue office building, returning from her lunch break.
“The next thing I knew I was being hit in the back of the head,” said McWilliams, a clerical worker for Jackson Walker LLP, a law firm.
“I turned around and I got hit on the forehead,” she said. “It blinded me and it knocked my glasses off, it knocked me off my shoes and it knocked me down.
“His eyes were angry,” McWilliams said. “He just wanted to kill me and I didn’t know why because I hadn’t done anything to him.”
McWilliams testified during the second day of the aggravated assault trial of Billy Gene Faircloth, 45, who prosecutors say attacked her a year ago today at about 12:50 p.m. in the parking garage of the building at 100 Congress Ave.
McWilliams did not identify Faircloth as her attacker, but witnesses say he was captured on surveillance video entering the garage hours before the attack and in the area of the attack shortly after McWilliams was injured.
Because of Faircloth’s previous convictions for offenses including burglary and theft, he could receive up to life in prison if convicted.
The jury in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court is expected to begin deliberating this afternoon.
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February 14, 2012
Man on trial in midday attack in downtown parking garage
Jerry Epps said he was returning from lunch with a colleague one day last year when he heard screaming and screeching in the parking garage of his downtown office building.
“It sounded like an animal or something getting caught in a fan,” Epps told prosecutor Geoffrey Puryear before a Travis County jury today.
Moments later a woman came around a corner and toward him with blood on her face and hands.
“She was, you know, compressing a wound on her head,” said Epps, who works as a lawyer, “and appeared to me at least to be in shock as she was coming toward me.”
Epps said he and his colleague, Tini Nguyen, saw another person flee into a different part of the garage.
That person, prosecutors say, was Billy Faircloth, 45, who went on trial today in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court on a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The trial is expected to last at least two days.
Faircloth is accused of striking Kathy McWilliams in the head with a rock on Feb. 15, 2011, according to the indictment against him.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Meredith told the jury during opening statements that McWilliams worked at the office building at 100 Congress Ave., which is on the northwest corner of Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street.
McWilliams worked in the building for a law firm and was attacked about 12:50 p.m. on the fifth subfloor of the building’s underground parking garage as she returned to work from her lunch break, Meredith said.
“This defendant came up from behind and started hitting Ms. McWilliams over the head with a rock.
“You are going to hear Ms. McWilliams tell you that she turned around and the one thing she remembered seeing is angry blue eyes.”
Meredith said that after workers in the building called 911, Faircloth was found about 20 minutes after the attack hiding between two vehicles in the garage.
Meredith told the jury that there was “sloppy police work” during the investigation of the case but that does not mean the defendant isn’t guilty.
She said that the two witnesses who first encountered McWilliams after the attack — Epps and Nguyen — offered to give information to police after the attack but were told that their information was not needed.
She noted that the evidence against Faircloth includes surveillance video that shows him lingering in the garage for hours before the attack.
Defense lawyer Keith Lauerman told the jury during a brief opening statement that, “this is going to turn out to be more than just sloppy police work; it is going to be a rush to judgment.”
Lauerman then asked the jury: “Hold them to that burden of beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s all I ask.”
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February 1, 2012
Former Austin officer acquitted of two charges in domestic case
Former Austin police officer Leonardo Quintana was acquitted Wednesday by a Williamson County jury of multiple charges stemming from a 2009 argument with his ex-fiancee, a current Austin officer.
Quintana — who fatally shot Nathaniel Sanders II outside an East Austin apartment complex in May 2009 — was accused of pushing Lori Noriega into a wall after the two got into an argument and Noriega said Quintana refused to leave her home. Quintana was acquitted of assault-family violence and criminal trespass. He faced up to a year in jail if convicted.
“I’m very happy that the truth prevailed,” Quintana said. “I’m taking steps still to clear my name and I’m happy to be moving on with my life.”
The charges are two of three against Quintana of which he has been acquitted. In June, a Williamson County jury acquitted Quintana of another domestic assault charge related to a separate 2008 incident between Quintana and Noriega that led to Quintana’s firing from the Austin Police Department in 2010.
One charge remains — an allegation of criminal mischief related to the 2008 incident.
Dee Hobbs, chief of the Williamson County attorney’s criminal division, said the county will evaluate the remaining case in light of Wednesday’s acquittals.
Bristol Myers, Quintana’s attorney, said that the final charge should be dropped.
“I’m hoping after beating them twice at trial, the Williamson County attorney’s office will stop using Lenny Quintana as a political football,” Myers said.
Wednesday’s case surrounded an October 2009 fight that erupted when Quintana went to Noriega’s home after a high school football game, Myers said. He said the two watched a couple of movies and then got into an argument.
Quintana was accused of refusing to leave Noriega’s house and pushing Noriega, causing her to slip and hit her head so hard that it left a hole in the wall. Myers said he told the jury during the trial that Noriega punched a hole in the wall to set Quintana up.
Myers said at the June trial that Quintana was being targeted by the Austin Police Department partly because of an arbitrator’s decision that he be reinstated after he was fired over a drunken driving arrest.
In the 2008 case, Quintana had been accused of forcefully removing an engagement ring from Noriega’s hand.
Hobbs denied all claims that Quintana was being targeted or set up.
“We would not have brought a case to trial as the prosecutors if we believed it was in some manner or means a setup or if there was some benefit to be had by a victim,” Hobbs said. “We’re not a TV sitcom or a drama or anything else. It is what it is.” Updated with comments from Leonardo Quintana.
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January 13, 2012
Man gets 50 years in attack on Capital Metro driver
After convicting him in a June attack on a Capital Metro bus driver, a Travis County jury late Thursday sentenced a man accused in a string of violent Austin robberies to 50 years in prison.
Rickey Desean Walls, 32, (at right) must serve at least half of that sentence before he is eligible for parole.
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August 31, 2011
In change of plans, NFL player Cedric Benson begins serving jail sentence
An early version of this blog incorrectly reported the length of Benson’s sentence. It also has been updated with comments from Benson’s lawyer.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson has begun serving his Travis County Jail sentence for assault, a change of course from his original plan to serve the time during his team’s NFL season bye week in October.
In a statement, Benson’s lawyer, Sam Bassett of Austin, said Benson decided it would be best to serve his sentence before the NFL season begins.
“Mr. Benson is thankful for his supporters in Austin and Cincinnati,” the statement said. “He is also grateful to the Bengals organization. Cedric looks forward to working hard on and off the field as soon as he is released.”
Benson, accused of punching a downtown Austin bar employee last year, pleaded no contest to assault Monday. He was sentenced to 20 days in a plea bargain with prosecutors.
The 28-year-old former University of Texas football star was booked into the jail at 11 p.m. Tuesday, according to jail records. Under jail policy, Benson gets credit for serving Tuesday in jail because he showed up before midnight.
Lawyers in the case have estimated that with credit for good conduct, Benson would serve about seven days. That means his release would come in plenty of time to play in the team’s NFL regular season opener Sept. 11 against the Cleveland Browns.
Benson was arrested after an incident in the early morning hours of May 30, 2010, at Annie’s West, a West Sixth Street bar.
According to a police affidavit, Benson was kicked out of the bar after he got in a fight and then was “verbally aggressive” with bar staff, the affidavit said.
Outside the bar, Benson punched employee Bryan White in the face, the affidavit said. Before a plea bargain was struck in the case Monday, Bassett asked prospective jurors in the case if they thought it was reasonable for someone to punch another if they anticipated that they were about to be attacked.
Read more coverage on Benson’s history of trouble with the law and his recent plea bargain here.
Photo above: Benson and his lawyer Sam Bassett at the Austin’s Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center on Monday. Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell
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August 29, 2011
NFL running back Benson gets 20 days in jail for Austin assault
Update 3:36 p.m. NFL running back and former University of Texas star Cedric Benson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge and was sentenced to 20 days in jail for punching an Austin bar employee last year.
Benson, a running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, will turn himself in on Oct. 17, the start of the team’s bye week, said Assistant Travis County Attorney Corby Holcomb. Holcomb estimated that with credit for good behavior, Benson would serve about a week in jail.
Benson declined to comment on the court cases as he left the courthouse, saying that he would only talk about football. His lawyer, Sam Bassett, said the decision in the case was a difficult one for Benson.
“His priority right now is to get back to work and put these legal matters behind him,” Bassett said.
The plea bargain came after a jury was selected and opening statements were ready to begin.
“We are pleased that Mr. Benson took responsibility for his actions today,” Holcomb said.
Benson also resolved a separate assault charge that his lawyers said arose from a fight with his roommate last month. In that case, Benson entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors, meaning that the charge was dismissed and that it would not be refiled if he stays out of trouble for a year.
Benson also agreed to serve 30 hours of community service and pay restitution to the victim in that case, an amount Holcomb estimated would be about $5,000.
Earlier Former University of Texas football star Cedric Benson is scheduled to go to trial today in Travis County on a misdemeanor assault case stemming from an incident at a downtown bar last year.
Benson, now an NFL running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, is accused of punching an employee last year at Annie’s West, a bar on West Sixth Street. The 28-year-old could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted.
The trial in County Court-at-Law Judge Nancy Hohengarten’s court is scheduled for jury selection this morning and opening statements after lunch.
According to an arrest affidavit, Benson (at right) got into a fight with an unknown person at the bar at about 1:50 a.m. on May 30, 2010, which was a Sunday morning. The affidavit said Benson suffered a bloody lip in the fight and shoved a bar manager because he wanted to continue the scuffle.
After Benson was “verbally aggressive” with bar staff, he was escorted out, the affidavit said.
Outside the bar, Benson told a bystander “all these white boys are ganging up on me and kicking me out,” the affidavit said.
According to an affidavit, bar employee Bryan White then told Benson: “I’m going to take time out of my busy job to kick you out?”
Benson then punched White in the face, the affidavit said.
Benson’s lawyers, including Samuel Bassett of Austin, have said there is another side of the story that they look forward to telling a jury.
The jury is expected to hear testimony from several bar employees and watch bar surveillance video.
Benson was also stands charged with a second misdemeanor assault charge after an incident in July that Bassett has described as a fight with a former roommate.
According to an arrest affidavit in that case, the former roommate contacted police about 5 a.m. and said “a hostile and aggressive Benson” had approached him at West Fifth and Guadalupe streets minutes before and said they needed to talk. The man, whom the arrest affidavit identified as Charles Clavens, told police that they were arguing about their living arrangements when Benson punched him several times in the face, resulting in severe injuries, the affidavit said.
Staff writer Steven Kreytak will be live Tweeting from the courtroom. Follow his coverage below.
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June 27, 2011
Football star Cedric Benson's assault trial delayed until August
Update 9:16 a.m.
The scheduled Travis County assault trial of former University of Texas football star Cedric Benson was postponed until August this morning after defense lawyers asked for more time to prepare their case.
Sam Bassett, one of Benson’s lawyers, said that County Court-at-Law Judge Nancy Hohengarten granted the postponement this morning after he asked for more time to review some evidence he only recently received from prosecutors.
Bassett said that a delay also gives Benson and prosecutors a chance to talk about a possible plea bargain in the case.
The new trial date is August 29. .
Earlier
Former University of Texas football star Cedric Benson is scheduled to go on trial today on an assault with injury charge in a Travis County courtroom.
The NFL running back is accused of punching an employee last year at Annie’s West, a bar on West Sixth Street.
Benson, 28, (pictured at right) could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted. The trial in County Court-at-Law Judge Nancy Hohengarten’s court is scheduled for jury selection this morning and opening statements after lunch.
According to an arrest affidavit, Benson got into a fight with an unknown person at the bar at about 1:50 a.m. on May 30, 2010, which was a Sunday night. The affidavit said Benson suffered a bloody lip in the fight and shoved a bar manager because he wanted to continue the scuffle.
After Benson was “verbally aggressive” with bar staff, he was escorted out, the affidavit said.
Outside the bar, Benson told a bystander “all these white boys are ganging up on me and kicking me out,” the affidavit said.
According to an affidavit, bar employee Bryan White then told Benson: “I’m going to take time out of my busy job to kick you out?”
Benson then punched White in the face, the affidavit said.
Benson’s lawyers, including Samuel Bassett of Austin, have said there is another side of the story that they look forward to telling a jury.
The jury is expected to hear testimony from several bar employees and watch bar surveillance video.
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June 21, 2011
35 years for man who beat Travis Heights woman
Rejecting Danny Randell Lott’s defense that he was in a Xanax-induced stupor when he pistol-whipped and restrained a woman in her South Austin home in 2008, state District Judge Karen Sage sentenced Lott to 35 years in prison today.
Sage called Lott, 49, “cruel and calculating” in doling out concurrent 35-year sentences for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery for his attack on Diana Martin in Travis Heights. She also sentenced him to 20 years for burglary of a habitation for breaking into Martin’s neighbor’s house to evade police. That sentence will also run concurrently.
Lott, who had pleaded guilty to the crimes and left his sentence to Sage, is already serving a nine-year sentence for receipt of child pornography.
Martin, 56, had testified that the attack upended her life and shattered her sense of security. After court adjourned, Martin and prosecutor Mary Farrington embraced in a long hug.
“You are so strong, so strong,” Farrington repeated.
On the other side of the courtroom, Lott’s family wept and huddled with defense lawyer Mark Sampson about an appeal.
They had earlier explained in tearful testimony that the attack was completely out of character for Lott, who they said was a mild-mannered man who was dedicated to his family and who they had never known to have ever been in a fight.
He was a youth minister and youth sports coach for his son in Abilene before the child pornography charges surfaced in 2008, according to testimony. He had been prescribed Xanax to deal with the stress from those charges and stress from his declining shipping pallet business just days before he left his family and came to Austin, his wife testified. He told her he was going on a church retreat.
Martin said he showed up to her house on Alta Vista Drive at 1:30 p.m. as she planned for an open house the next day. Because he was so clean cut, she allowed him in and showed him around, she said.
After he began beating her with a pistol, he used duct tape and a zip tie he had brought with him to bind her hands and cover her mouth and told her to get on her bed, she said.
She was ultimately able to escape and ran to a neighbor’s for help. Lott was arrested the next month in Lewisville, where he had assumed the identity of a former employee and had planned plastic surgery to change his appearance.
“I believe the reason you did that is you knew exactly what you had done and you needed to become a new person,” Sage said upon pronouncing her sentence.
She told Lott she did not believe a story he gave to Jonathan Lipman, who studies the effects of medication on behavior and who testified for the defense. Lipman said that Lott, who did not testify, told him during an interview that he had gone to Austin to investigate starting a business and flipping houses when he become intoxicated at a party.
Lott told Lipman that he went into a hazy dream-like state and only remembers bits and pieces of his visit, such as sitting in his car and ending up in Lewisville.
Lipman said it is possible that Xanax and the stress Lott was under could have brought on the amnesia and intoxicated feeling that Lott described.
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September 3, 2010
Former student gets probation for shooting near Austin High
A Travis County jury late Thursday sentenced former Austin High School student Jay Carbullido to seven years probation for firing a .22-caliber rifle at a car full of people near the school last year.
The jury earlier in the day had found Carbullido, 18, guilty of four counts of aggravated assault in the November shooting, said prosecutor Amy Meredith.
Carbullido, at right, faced up to 20 years in prison but since he had not previously been convicted of a felony was eligible for probation. If he violates the probation he could receive up to 10 years in prison, Meredith said.
She said prosecutors asked for a prison sentence but did not suggest to a jury a number of years. Defense lawyer Kent Anschutz asked for probation.
An arrest affidavit said after Carbullido and another boy threw acorns at two girls waiting for a ride near the school, and that one of the girls called her boyfriend and told him.
When the boyfriend arrived just after 5 p.m., he and two friends approached Carbullido, the affidavit states.
“I ain’t scared of you ,” Carbullido told the trio, using expletives, according to the affidavit.
Next, Meredith said, Carbullido, “says I have a gun in my car. He sprints down to his car as the victims are driving out of the parking lot.
“They turn left and as they are going by his car… he actually shoots toward the hike and bike trail. He shot a total of nine times.”
One round struck the driver’s window, and several more rounds struck the car as it drove away on Stephen F. Austin Drive, he affidavit said. A picture of the car after the shooting is shown at right.
No one was shot.
“He did testify at trial that the only reason he stopped shooting was because the gun jammed,” Meredith said. The gun holds 19 bullets, she said.
Carbullido was initially charged with one count of aggravated assault for each person in the car but one of those victims could not be located for the trial so that charge was dismissed, Meredith said.
The verdict was read in state District Judge Bob Perkins’ court at about 10 p.m. Thursday, Meredith said.
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April 12, 2010
Billy Joe Shaver wants his bullet back
After a jury in Waco found Billy Joe Shaver not guilty of aggravated assault on Friday, the country music singer/songwriter struck a conciliatory tone when asked about Billy Coker, the man he shot in the face behind a bar in 2007.
“I am very sorry about the incident,” Shaver said while standing in front of the McLennan County Courthouse. “Hopefully things will work out where we become friends.”
Hours later, at a gig at the Firehouse Saloon in Houston, Shaver had a different message for Coker, according to a video taken that night and posted on Youtube by TotalEBitchinNetwork.
“They asked me… what are you going to do about that boy you shot,” Shaver told a jovial crowd. “I said I’m getting the damn bullet back.
“That’s true. You all think I’m joking. Walking around being famous with my bullet in him. Stealing all my press.”
The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame member, who said the shooting was in self defense, continued: “I swear I’m sorry all that…happened but it did and God was good enough and you all were good enough to give me prayers and everything…”
According to testimony, Shaver used a tiny .22 caliber gun to shoot Coker. Coker testified that the bullet entered through his “mustache area,” knocked out a tooth and a crown and ripped through his mouth before lodging in the back of his neck. He has mostly recovered, he said.
After bantering with the crowd to start the Firehouse Saloon gig, Shaver, 70, launched into his “Georgia on a Fast Train,” which featured members of his band playing like they had been cooped up in a courtroom all week. Members of Shaver’s band sat through some of the trial, along with Willie Nelson and actor Robert Duval.
Later in the show, according to the Culture Map Houston Web site, Austin’s Dale Watson joined Shaver on stage. Together they performed “You Asked Me To,” a song written by Shaver and once covered by Elvis Presley. Next, Watson played his song “Where Do You Want It,” which is what several witnesses said Shaver said before shooting Coker on March 31, 2007 at Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.
Read a story on the verdict.
Here’s a clip of Watson playing “Where Do You Want It.”
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April 9, 2010
Shaver is not guilty of aggravated assault in bar shooting
UPDATE 7:06 PM
WACO - A McLennan County jury has found country music songwriter Billy Joe Shaver not guilty of aggravated assault in the March 31, 2007, shooting of a man at a bar.
Shaver let out a big long exhale after state District Judge Matt Johnson read the jury’s verdict.
In court, Billy Coker, the man who Shaver shot, looked stunned. He said he was disappointed but would respect the justice system’s outcome. Prosecutor Mark Parker told Coker he was sorry.
Shaver, meanwhile, hugged supporters who numbered in the dozens. His band, his agent and other supporters waited at the McLennan County Courthouse for the verdict. Willie Nelson, who watched the day’s testimony from the courtroom gallery, had left.
Nick Gaiton, the upright bass player in Shaver’s band, said he was relieved. “We feel great. We’re going to play some music. Now this won’t be on his heart and mind.”
Shaver still faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a handgun for bringing his gun to Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon the night of the shooting.
Shaver’s attorney Dick DeGuerin said he hopes a plea bargain can be struck with prosecutors on that charge.
Outside the historic courthouse, which opened in 1902, Shaver and DeGuerin were all smiles. DeGuerin said it was a fair trial.
Shaver said: “I knew in my heart we would win.”
When asked about Coker, he said, “I am very sorry about the incident. Hopefully things will work out where we become friends.”
Shaver said he would head to Houston, where he is scheduled to play a gig tonight.
Photo: Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald
Country singer Billy Joe Shaver walks with his attorney Dick DeGuerin after being found not guilty Friday.
UPDATE 4:52 PM
WACO - The jury in Billy Joe Shaver’s aggravated assault trial began deliberating at 4:30 p.m. today after prosecutor Beth Toben told them that the country music singer and songwriter acted like a bully in shooting a man in the face in 2007.
“He may be a honky tonk hero,” Toben said, referring to the title of Shaver’s autobiography, “and he may have written a lot of wonderful songs… but on that day, he was a honky tonk bully.”
Shaver’s lawyer Dick DeGuerin told the jury that Shaver, 70, acted in self-defense in shooting Billy Coker, 53, with a .22 on the bar’s back patio on March 31, 2007.
“The defense to aggravated assault is self defense. It’s a God given right that is recognized by our law since time began,” said DeGuerin, of Houston.
DeGuerin said that Coker had intimidated Shaver by brandishing a knife in the bar and telling Shaver to shut up when Coker was talking to Shaver’s then wife.
“Did they prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Billy Joe Shaver was not in fear?” DeGuerin said.
While several prosecution witnesses said Shaver asked Coker to go outside, Shaver said it was Coker’s idea.
“Ask this question: how does a 67-year-old man who had his neck broke 5 months earlier defend himself against a 51-year-old aggressive….arrogant… bully with a knife?” DeGuerin said.
Toben said the stories of several prosecution witnesses who said that Shaver was not provoked by Coker immediately prior to the shooting and told Coker after the shooting that nobody tells him to shut up were too similar to discount.
She said if Shaver’s story that it was Coker’s idea to go outside were true and Shaver was scared of Coker then Shaver should not have gone outside.
“Not only did he not retreat, what did he do, he scooted around in front of him. He was not going to get ambushed,” Toben said.
“He had a gun going to a knife fight and he knew he was going to win. That’s why he wasn’t scared going out there,” Toben said.
UPDATE 12:35 PM
WACO — Billy Joe Shaver grew testy during cross-examination at his aggravated assault trial today, bristling when a prosecutor suggested that he has cultivated an outlaw reputation.
“More like an outcast, “ Shaver said under questioning by McLennan County Assistant District Attorney Beth Toben.
Toben suggested that Shaver had many opportunities to leave Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon on March 31, 2007, if he felt threatened by Billy Coker, the man Shaver shot that night.
Shaver said his wife was still in the bar, and he didn’t want to leave her there.
“If I was chicken (expletive), I would have left, yes,” Shaver said, adding that people need to be tough in entertainment business.
Toben asked Shaver to restate what he said before the shooting.
“I actually asked him ‘Why do you want to do this.’ For one reason or another someone turned it into ‘Where do you want it,’ ” he said.
“You’re still gonna write the song but,” with different lyrics, Toben asked.
That comment caused an objection by Shaver and his lawyer and verbal outbursts by some of those in state District Judge Matt Johnson’s courtroom. One man was escorted from court for yelling “come on, woman.”
Shaver later explained that in an earlier comment he was referring to how Dale Watson, of Austin, wrote a song about the incident called “Where do you want it.”
Toben asked whether the shooting happened because Shaver was jealous that Coker at the time was talking to his wife, Wanda Shaver.
“I get more women than a passenger train can haul, I’m not jealous,” Shaver said.
Toben later asked: “I am still trying to understand why you were so worried about the knife when all he was doing was putting it in his drink and stirring it?”
“Give me a break ma’am,” Shaver responded. “You would too.”
Toben referred to Shaver’s autobiography several times during her questioning to suggest that Shaver should not have been scared of Coker’s knife because he has had previous brushes with guns and knives.
At one point, when Toben went back to the book, Shaver said: “I wish I had a book on you, I tell you that.”
That comment drew hardy laughter from the courtroom gallery. Johnson ordered one man, who was among the loudest laughers, from the courtroom.
“I am sorry I said that,” Shaver said.
“I am sorry I laughed,” the man said.
Lawyers have concluded their questioning of Shaver. Court resumes at 1:30 p.m.
The jury could begin deliberating today.
Follow live updates from Twitter here.
UPDATE 11:34 AM
WACO - Country music singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver told a McLennan County jury today that he feared for his life when he shot a man outside a bar just south of here in 2007.
“I wanted to scare him… I wanted to beat him to the punch… I feared he was going to kill me,” Shaver said under questioning by his lawyer Dick DeGuerin at his aggravated assault trial.
“I meant to stop him and I swear I don’t know how the hell in the world I even hit him with that little pistol,” Shaver said.
Shaver, 70, shot Billy Coker, 53, with a .22 through the upper lip. Coker, who recovered, testified earlier in the trial. Shaver faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The jury could begin deliberating today.
Shaver said he had spent the early part March 31, 2007, with his wife, Wanda, taking pictures around the Waco area as potential album art for an upcoming release.
They stopped at Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco, at about 7:30 that night, he said.
He said he did not even finish one beer that day.
After the bar’s owner introduced him to the Coker, Shaver said he quickly became annoyed at Coker and later, intimidated.
Coker at one point poured Shaver’s drink into a cup, Shaver said. Shaver said it bother him but he decided to let it go.
“My mother was 18 years old and she was a honky tonk girl, sure enough,” Shaver said. “I know honky tonks. I said ‘oh that’s okay.”
Later, Shaver said, Coker forcibly moved him to a different table.
“I should have stopped it then,” Shaver said. “But I was so happy that day. I said, well, let it go.”
Shaver said that Coker used his knife to stir the drinks of people in the bar.
“Apparently he did that all the time,” Shaver said of the knife. “But to me, it intimidated me.”
“It scared me because I was in the condition I was in,” Shaver said, alluding to some shoulder and neck injuries he suffered about five months earlier.
“I couldn’t fight him, no way, he was built like a doggone fireplug. He’s younger than I was.”
Shaver said when Coker realized Shaver’s wife had previously been married to Coker’s cousin, “he went bad real quick.” Wanda’s former husband had committed suicide and there was bad blood between Wanda and Coker’s side of the family, according to earlier testimony.
When the conversation between Wanda Shaver and Coker grew uncomfortable, Shaver said he suggested they leave.
At that point, Shaver said, Coker “swiveled around in his chair with the knife in his hand and he said “shut the (expletive) up as loud as he could. It didn’t hurt my feelings but he did scare me.”
Soon after, Coker asked him to step outside, Shaver said.
“Next he headed for the door,” Shaver said. “And being a John Wayne type of person I went ahead and got to the door too.”
Shaver said he went out first and waited a short time for Coker. Shaver said he watched a member of the band that was playing that night hand something to Coker.
Shaver said he thought it could have been a gun.
Shaver said he searched his pocket and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt his .22.
“I said where do you want to do this. Why do you want to do this. I mentioned it several times.” Shaver said.
Then Coker came “stomping” at him, “ Shaver said.
“I was supposed to run I guess,” Shaver said.
He said he grabbed his gun “and raised it up as his arm was coming up. And pow. ”
“I wanted to scare him,” Shaver said. ” I wanted to beat him to the punch… I feared he was going to kill me.”
Follow live trial updates on Twitter here.
UPDATE 10:20 AM
WACO - A man who said he saw Billy Joe Shaver shoot a man behind a bar in 2007 said the man Shaver shot was heading for Shaver with a knife in his hand before Shaver shot the man.
The testimony by Daniel Silvas of Waco casts a completely different light on the shooting than has emerged from other shooting witnesses to testify at the trial.
The previous witnesses said that Shaver was unprovoked by Billy Joe Coker when he shot Coker in the face with a .22 on March 31, 2007. Shaver said he acted in self defense.
Silvas said he was passing out business cards for his air conditioning business when he stopped at Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.
He said he backed his pickup truck into the corner of the back parking lot of the bar when he saw two men who appeared to be arguing on the back patio.
One of them, he said he knows now, was Billy Joe Shaver.
“The other guy tried to like walk up to (Shaver) a little bit,” Silvas said under questioning by Shaver’s lawyer Dick DeGuerin. “Then I saw the other guy step back.”
“Which guy stepped back,” DeGuerin said.
“The one that shot,” Silvas said. “To me it looked like he was just trying to … to get away.”
The man who came at Shaver, Silvas said, was holding a knife.
“Could you see it clearly,” DeGuerin asked.
“Not clearly so I could tell what color it was but I saw it was a knife,” Silvas said.
Silvas said he left the scene after the shooting. When he saw an article in the newspaper he called a number that was included to report that he had witnessed the shooting.
He said he spoke to an investigator after that and did not speak to anyone else about the shooting before a defense investigator approached him about the incident about a month ago while he was fishing.
Silvas said he preaches to troubled youths at a Texas Youth Commission lockup to warn them to avoid the mistakes he has made as a child.
On cross examination, prosecutor Mark Parker pointed out that Silvas was convicted of forgery in 1992 and theft in 2002.
EARLIER TODAY
Glenn Moon said he had been a fan of Billy Joe Shaver’s for decades when he ran into the country singer and songwriter at a Waco bar and restaurant two years ago.
Moon said when he approached the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame member at the venerable George’s near downtown, Shaver treated him like an old friend, sat down at Moon’s table, had a beer and visited with Moon and his family for about half an hour.
Moon said that interaction - not the prospect of seeing Willie Nelson, another of his longtime favorites — is what drew him to the McClennan County Courthouse before it opened at 7:30 a.m. today to make sure he got a seat for the fourth day of Shaver’s aggravated assault trial.
“I am here to support Billy Joe Shaver,” said Moon, 60, who was dressed in a denim shirt, blue jeans and a jean jacket and said he often takes pictures with people who think he resembles Nelson.
Waiting with Moon, who does tree work and lives in Axtell, near Waco, was Janet Farris of Waco, a songwriter who says she has known Shaver for years.
“He’s a very good person,” Farris said. She said she doubts the stories of the men who testified that Shaver was unprovoked when he shot Billy Coker outside Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in March, 2007.
Shaver claims it was self-defense.
“You know how country boys stick together,” she said of the testimony implicating Shaver, remarking that the stories of the Papa Joe’s regulars seemed to match too closely to be believable.
By 8:30 a.m. Moon and Farris were seated in the front row of Judge Matt Johnson’s courtroom with about 15 other people. Most of the others in attendance appeared to be there for cases set before Shaver’s trial resumes at 9:15 a.m.
Shaver could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He could also receive probation.
Shaver is expected to take the stand in his own defense today. Willie Nelson could also testify, Shaver’s lawyer has said.
When Nelson’s name came up in a brief exchange between Moon and a McLennan County sheriff’s deputy, Moon said: “I’ve been a fan since the Liberty Hill concert (in 1975). But I didn’t come here to see him as a fan.
“I came here to support Billy Joe Shaver.”
Follow live trial updates on Twitter here.
Read a story about Thursday’s court proceedings, including appearances by Nelson and actor Robert Duvall, here.
Permalink | Comments (71) | Categories: Assault cases
April 7, 2010
Witness said man Billy Joe Shaver shot did nothing to threaten musician
UPDATE 2:50 PM
WACO - After Billy Joe Shaver shot a man in a face outside a bar in 2007, the country musician told the man “You are going to apologize,” a man who said he witnessed the account told a McLennan County jury today.
Leslie Moss plays guitar in the band Neon Texas and was to play a gig that night at Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.
He said Shaver came out followed by another man.
“I heard Billy Joe go, ‘Where do you want it,” said Moss. By the time he looked up, “Shaver had already spun around and bang, I heard a shot,” he said.
Moss was standing a few feet away from the shooting.
After the shooting, the man asked Shaver why he did that, Moss said, then Shaver told him to apologize. Then, a woman Moss did not know came out of the bar, he said.
Shaver told her: “I am tired of this crap happening every time we go somewhere. I’m leaving. Are you coming.”
Shaver is on trial in state District Judge Matt Johnson’s court, charged with aggravated assault. He faces up to 20 years in prison in convicted.
His lawyer said he acted in self-defense.
Moss did not say that the man who was shot did anything threatening immediately before the shooting. He said he had been setting up for the gig and did not witness any interactions that Shaver and Coker had before the shooting.
On cross-examination, Shaver lawyer Dick Deguerin held Coker’s knife and asked Moss whether he would feel threatened by the knife.
Prosecutor Mark Parker objected to the question and to DeGuerin flipping the knife open and closed.
Johnson later told DeGuerin not to handle the knife in court without his permission.
Follow live updates of the trial on twitter.com/StevenKreytak
UPDATE 12:33 PM
WACO - A man who said he saw country music singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver shoot Billy Coker in the face outside a bar south of here in 2007 said Coker did nothing to provoke Shaver immediately prior to the shooting.
“He (Shaver) just spun around and put his hand about a foot and a half, two feet, from Coker’s face and shot him,” said Michael Strickland, a welder who said he frequents Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon on Interstate 35 in Lorena, where the shooting took place.
“There was no active aggression on Coker’s part,” Strickland said.
Strickland said that after shooting Shaver said: “nobody sees nothing or says nothing.”
Shaver, 70, is on trial in state District Court in McLennan County on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Strickland said he refused to give a statement to police the night of the shooting because he was afraid for his safety and the safety of his children, feeling that a man of Shaver’s popularity must have a lot of friends.
He later agreed to talk to police. During cross-examination by one of Shaver’s lawyers he said that he has not had any threats or other fallout from his cooperation.
Strickland said he had arrived at Papa Joe’s about 15 or 20 minutes before the shooting and ordered a beer. Then he was introduced to Shaver and saw him talking to Coker, another regular patron who Strickland had previously met.
Strickland said at one point he overheard Coker and Shaver saying “they weren’t gonna fight no more, they were too old to fight.”
At another point, Strickland said: “Shaver kept interrupting or talking across Coker.”
Strickland also said that some time before the shooting Coker told Shaver to shut up.
Strickland said he went to the bar’s back patio because he sensed tension. He said he was talking to a member of a band that was unloading some equipment in preparation for their gig later that night when he saw Shaver come out with a gun in his hand, turn and fire at Coker.
Follow live updates of the trial on twitter.com/StevenKreytak
EARLIER TODAY
WACO — With the exception of Billy Joe Shaver questioning him for stirring his whiskey and water with a pocketknife, Billy Bryant Coker said he had casual interactions with the country music singer and songwriter at Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon on March 31, 2007.
At one point, Coker testified, he took a picture of Shaver and a woman at the bar with his cell phone camera and showed it to them, eliciting smiles from the pair. At another point, Coker spoke with Shaver’s then wife Wanda about his cousin, who Wanda had previously been married to, he said. That cousin committed suicide and the two recalled him as a good man who they missed, Coker said.
Shaver got up from a table they had been sharing at one point and soon after tapped Coker on the shoulder and asked him to step outside of the bar, which is in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.
Coker, 53, said he agreed, curious as to what Shaver wanted.
“We went through the back door out on to the patio,“ Coker said. “He went off to my left. Took several more steps.
“As soon as he turned around he said, ‘Where do you want it,’” Coker said.
“I said ‘Where do a want what?’ And then bam,’” Coker said, holding his hand up as if he had a gun to signal that Shaver shot him.
He testified under questioning by prosecutor Beth Toben.
“At first I thought it was some kind of a joke. It burned.”
Later, Coker said, he felt blood coming from his upper lip and walked back inside the bar and said he had been shot.
Coker said the bullet knocked a tooth and a crown out, went through his gums and cheek and lodged in his neck, where it remains.
Earlier in his testimony, Coker said that Shaver seemed “a little annoyed” that he stirred his whiskey and water drink with a knife.
“He made the comment, what did I think I was doing,” Coker said. “I said ‘I am stirring my drink. They have no stir sticks.’ ”
Shaver, 70, is on trial on an aggravated assault charge in state District Judge Matt Johnson’s court in McLennan County. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, but could receive probation.
His lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, told the jury during opening statements today that the shooting was in self-defense.
DeGuerin said that Coker had cussed at Shaver at one point and stirred Shaver’s beer with his knife at another point before wiping the knife on Shaver’s sleeve.
DeGuerin said it was Coker’s idea that the two exit the bar.
“When they’re out there, Billy Joe knew that Billy Coker had a knife and he thought he had a gun,” DeGuerin said.
“And he said in a warning way, ‘Where do you want this?’”
DeGuerin said Coker “kept coming so Billy Joe shot him.”
DeGuerin said Shaver was in fear for his life.
“You have to put yourself in Billy Joe Shaver’s boots,” he said.
Related story: Jury picked for songwriter’s assault trial
An earlier version of this post included an incorrect spelling for McLennan County.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Assault cases
April 6, 2010
Jury selected to hear Billy Joe Shaver's assault case
UPDATE 4:54 PM
WACO — A McClennan County jury has been selected to hear the aggravated assault case of Billy Joe Shaver, the country singer and songwriter who shot a man in the face at a roadhouse south of Waco in 2007.
Shaver, 70, claims he acted in self-defense. State District Judge Matt Johnson scheduled opening statements in the case for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
The jury of 12 people includes eight men and four women. The trial is expected to last about four days.
UPDATE 2:03 PM
WACO — Lawyers in the aggravated assault trial of country singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver have devoted much of their questioning of potential jurors today to how Shaver’s celebrity would affect their verdict.
Many of the jurors say they have never heard of Shaver, a Texas Country Music Hall of Fame member whose songs have been covered by the likes of Bob Dylan and Waylon Jennings.
“Until yesterday I didn’t know who you are and I couldn’t care less,” one prospective juror told Shaver while being questioned by prosecutor Mark Parker. “I am not being tacky. I really am not.”
Shaver, sitting at the defense table, appeared to respond by saying: “Ditto.”
Another potential juror told Parker that performers like Shaver should be held to a higher standard given the number of people they come in contact with.
Others said they know Shaver and his songs but would judge him just like any other man.
Shaver, 70, is on trial in the state District Court in McLennan County in the March 31, 2007, shooting of Billy Bryant Coker, 53, at a roadhouse in Lorena, a city about 15 miles south of Waco. Shaver could receive up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The 70-year-old longtime Waco resident contends that he acted in self-defense that night, Dick DeGuerin, one of his lawyers, told the jury.
“There’s not going to be any question that Billy Joe Shaver shot Billy Coker,” DeGuerin told the jury panel. “ The question you are going to have to answer is whether he did it in self-defense.”
DeGuerin, one of the state’s top criminal defense lawyers, has drawn repeated laughs during his questioning with jurors. He has made the questioning as much about himself as he has made it about Shaver or the jurors ability to be fair.
DeGuerin told the jurors that he represents former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and has had several famous former clients, including U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. He said that he and three associates are not charging Shaver for their work.
DeGuerin talked to jurors about their answers to a written questionnaire. Then he walked them through his answers to a written questionnaire that he had filled out himself. Among his answers: he admires John Kennedy and his father, has a permit to carry a concealed gun and that he does not like Dick Cheney.
DeGuerin grew emotional in questioning an Iraq war veteran about acting in self-defense. DeGuerin told the man that while he does not agree with the war, he appreciates the man’s service.
“We know you and others like you, that’s why we’re standing here,” DeGuerin said.
Other members of the jury panel broke out in applause at the statement.
Follow trial updates on statesman.com and on Twitter.
EARLIER TODAY
WACO - Jury selection in the aggravated assault trial of famed country music singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver began today in a Waco courtroom. Shaver is charged in the 2007 shooting of a man at a bar in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.
A panel of 43 McClennan County residents reported to state District Judge Matt Johnson’s court for jury selection this morning. As the jurors entered Johnson’s wood-paneled courtroom one-by-one, Shaver stood at the defense table. He is wearing a leather and suede sports jacket, a brown tie over a white pearl-button shirt and jeans.
Several of the jurors appeared to recognize Shaver, 70, and to smile at him when they took their seats.
A police affidavit said that Shaver (pictured) shot Billy Coker, 53, of Waco in the cheek with a pistol after both men had stepped outside of Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon on March 31, 2007.
Shaver has claimed he acted in self-defense after Coker brandished a knife.
Several witnesses quoted in a police affidavit said the shooting was unprovoked. A witness said Shaver followed Coker outside and asked, “Where do you want it?” before firing, according to the affidavit.
The incident began after Shaver and his wife Wanda learned that Wanda had been previously married to Coker’s cousin, who was by then deceased.
Shaver has been free on $50,000 bail since his arrest and has continued to play shows. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Because he has no previous felony convictions, he could receive probation.
According to his Web site, Shaver is scheduled to play a concert Friday night in Houston.
Shaver is a member of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and has been particularly praised for his songwriting. His songs have been covered by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.
Shaver’s life has provided plenty of fodder for his writing. His son and sometimes guitar player died after overdosing on heroin on New Year’s Eve, 2000, and several months later his first wife Brenda, who he had several times divorced and remarried, died of cancer.
Shaver arrived about 15 minutes late to Johnson’s wood-paneled courtroom in the historic McClennan County Courthouse. He greeted friends and his lawyers with handshakes and hugs.
He has several lawyers in court, including Dick DeGuerin of Houston, widely considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the state.
Follow trial updates on statesman.com and on Twitter.
Permalink | Comments (30) | Categories: Assault cases
March 25, 2010
Travis jury gives abusive spouse 65 years
A man convicted this week of assault, family violence — usually a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail — was sentenced by a Travis County jury Wednesday to 65 years in prison.
Several previous assault convictions involving other women made Ruben Guerrero’s latest charge of beating his wife a third-degree felony. His previous felony convictions for driving while intoxicated meant that after he was convicted Tuesday, he faced a minimum of 25 years in prison, said prosecutor Christopher Baugh.
“This is a really, really, really bad guy,” Baugh said.
Guerrero, 37, had twice been to prison for felony driving while intoxicated, most recently in 2007 when he was sentenced in Travis County to six years, Baugh said. He also had been convicted of assaulting three other women, Baugh said.
On March 27, 2009, shortly after he was released on parole, he agreed to drive his wife to her job as a waitress, Baugh said. But instead of driving her to work Guerrero made his wife take off her undergarments and drove around near the bars on East Sixth and East Seventh streets offering her to men on the street for prostitution, Baugh said.
At one point Guerrero drove up to a man on the street and lifted his wife’s dress so the man could see her private area, Baugh said. When she refused to have sex with them, Guerrero slapped her in the face and arm, Baugh said.
He was convicted of assault for those strikes, Baugh said.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury learned more detail about Guerrero’s three previous assaults, with two of the victims testifying. They also learned that his wife accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2009. That charge is pending.
Prosecutors did not ask for a specific sentence, Baugh said.
“I asked them to think of each one of the victims when they came up with a number,” Baugh said. “People were shocked at the number of years. I think it was totally appropriate.”
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Assault cases
August 3, 2009
Another conviction in West Campus toilet bowl cleaner attack
Travis County prosecutors on Monday secured another conviction in a 2008 West Campus attack in which a man was beaten, cut and injected with toilet bowl cleaner at an abandoned house.
State District Judge Bob Perkins said that Matthew Brandon, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for hitting victim Adrian Lopez with a baseball bat. Under the terms of a plea bargain, Perkins sentenced Brandon to ten years in prison.
Lopez testified at the June trial of another man charged in the incident that he went to a house on 22 1/2 Street on Sept. 28 to meet his friend and buy marijuana. Soon, he was accused of stealing some heroin and was ordered at gunpoint to the house next door. At one point while he was locked in a closet he became so convinced that he was going die that he wrote the initials of his attackers on the wall using his own blood, Lopez testified.
On Friday, the man prosecutors called the ringleader of the attack — Victor Sanborn, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to 25 years. Daniel Silverly, 21, pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity in the case and was sentenced to seven months in state jail. A jury found Brian Vanfossen, 22, guilty of aggravated assault and kidnapping and sentenced him to 16 years. Charges against two others are pending.
Read more on the incident here and here.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Assault cases
November 13, 2008
Heroic photojournalist Alan Pogue gives account of attack
We missed this last week, but Alan Pogue, the noted activist and photojournalist beaten in East Austin earlier this year, has weighed in with Austin Legal with a first-person account of the incident.
Pogue, 62, was brutally beaten when tried to help a woman who he thought was going to be killed by two others.
Willie Calvin McDade Jr., 25, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated assault in the April attack. Read an Austin Legal blog post on the case here.
Pogue’s comments, which he posted in the comments section of last week’s blog, are copied here:
For the record. This happened at Rosewood and Chicon. There was not much light. Tracey was face down on the street being badly beaten by two women. I drove at them to scare them but they never missed a swing or kick at Tracey. I feared they would kill her any second. McDade, Jr. had two prior assault convictions which triggered a 25 year mandatory minimum. He showed no remorse. He did not apologize in court. He did nothing to help himself in this case. He will have to serve at least seven years before he is eligible for parole but he will have to not fight with guards and other inmates. His defense attorneys did their best job for him. I will be more careful but I will never let anyone be killed if I can do anything to stop it. If it were you face down being beaten what would you want others to do? Wave as they drove by?
Permalink | Comments (22) | Categories: Assault cases
