A Central Texas Jury Trial
[Guest post by DRJ]
This week, a Waco, Texas, jury will hear an aggravated assault case involving a country music singer-songwriter:
“Lawyers in acclaimed country music singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver’s aggravated assault trial selected a jury Tuesday at the end of a daylong session in which prospective jurors were asked their thoughts on self-defense, mean drunks and how Shaver’s celebrity could affect their verdict.
Many of the 45 McLennan County residents considered for the panel said they had never heard of Shaver, a Texas Country Music Hall of Fame member whose songs have been covered by the likes of Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and Elvis Presley.
“Until yesterday, I didn’t know who you are, and I couldn’t care less,” one female prospective juror told Shaver while being questioned by prosecutor Mark Parker.”
Shaver is accused of shooting Billy Bryant Coker, 53, outside a bar in Lorena, a small town south of Waco. Shaver admits he shot Coker but claims it was in self-defense:
“The longtime Waco resident contends that he acted in self-defense the night of the shooting, 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, who is from Houston and is one of the state’s top criminal defense lawyers, drew repeated laughs during his questioning, which he made as much about himself as about Shaver or the prospective jurors’ ability to be fair.
DeGuerin told the panel 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 also said he doesn’t like Dick Cheney, and I’m curious how that will play in Waco. In addition, while the shooting may not be in dispute, the circumstances surrounding it are:
“A police affidavit said that Shaver shot Coker in the cheek with a pistol after both men had stepped outside Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon on March 31, 2007.
Shaver has said 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.”
Sounds like the makings of a good song but read the linked article to get the full flavor. It describes connections between Shaver’s former wife and Coker’s cousin — connections that typically happen only in fiction and small towns.
Finally, during voir dire, DeGuerin asked the jury to share stories about mean drunks they’ve known. (DeGuerin apparently plans to make mean drunks an issue in Shaver’s defense.) The article says 13 jurors shared their mean drunk stories. I would have paid to hear that voir dire … and maybe the trial, too.
— DRJ
The article says 13 jurors shared their mean drunk stories. I would have paid to hear that voir dire … and maybe the trial, too.
Wouldn’t it have been great if someone would have just started quoting the lyrics to “Uneasy Rider” by Charlie Daniels?
JVW (08e86a) — 4/7/2010 @ 10:37 amI’d rather have DeGuerin involved in this than in his other current pet project, trying to get the Texas Open Meetings Act thrown out.
My biggest surprise here is there’s actually a bar in Lorena (my dad’s family’s hometown and for most of the time when I was growing up, a rural town that was shrinking instead of becoming a suburb of Waco).
John (8de657) — 4/7/2010 @ 11:17 amAh done shot him
Din’ mean to kill him
Jist git his attenshun
And later kiss ‘im.
Mean drunk love
nk who thinks high school was a waste of time (db4a41) — 4/7/2010 @ 11:38 amMean drunk love
Ain’t the best
But it’s better than no love atall.
Now I’m in jail
The jury has my fate
Ah’ll tell the judge truly
It was for love an’ not hate
Mean drunk love
Mean drunk love
(etc)
The judge he didn’t buy it
He ga’e me mah lickin’
Five years in the pokey
Ah’ll be chokin’ the chick’n.
Mean drunk love
nk who thinks high school was a waste of time (db4a41) — 4/7/2010 @ 1:28 pmMean drunk love
(etc)
I can already see how this trial is going to turn out.
Let it be a warning, drinking in Texas assumes the risk of getting shot.
Alta Bob (f57a20) — 4/7/2010 @ 2:13 pmFind the juror whose grandpa chased his kids through the cornfield with a gun.
Steve G (7d4c78) — 4/7/2010 @ 5:54 pmThen seat grandpa.
Jury of one’s peers…
Seriously, I already see grounds for reversal of any decision from this court — guilty or innocent. It sounds to me like the judge has lost control of his courtroom, to put it kindly.
nk (db4a41) — 4/7/2010 @ 6:49 pmHopefully it is just a case of the judge deciding that the public’s right to comedy gold outweighs simpler issues…
Steve G (7d4c78) — 4/7/2010 @ 6:58 pmTexas state courts do things like this all the time, nk. Many federal courts are more restrictive, though,
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/7/2010 @ 7:08 pmI see that today the defense attorney went for the “my client is missing too many fingers to have pulled the trigger and shot you in the face with his right hand” defense.
Which begs the question of then how in the hell did your client shoot me in the left cheek… right handed or left handed, the mother f****** shot me.
I believe the defense boils down to “You (guy with a bullet still wedged in your neck) are an a$$h*** and getting shot by my client was both a public service rendered and fully reflects the pinnacle of your life’s worth sum totaled thus far. GTFO”
Steve G (7d4c78) — 4/7/2010 @ 7:12 pmCook County, too. The judges conduct the voir dire and it’s rare that you will be allowed to proffer written questions for the judge to ask.
nk (db4a41) — 4/7/2010 @ 7:18 pmDeGuerin has a vivid personality. But it’s almost always a mistake for a lawyer to make a case about himself or herself. The exception is when your client is such an incredible SOB, you need to do anything to get attention off him. Even then, the effect is usually to tar the otherwise (relatively) likable lawyer.
Beldar (196d83) — 4/8/2010 @ 2:35 am