Judge delays trial to decide on allowing evidence
Jury to decide punishment of man confessing to shooting another
NEW BOSTON, Texas—An unexpected development led a Bowie County judge to delay proceedings in the trial of a man accused of shooting a romantic rival before driving the injured man to a hospital.
Barry Kendall Green, 35, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury last week but asked that a jury assess punishment. A jury of seven women and five men listened to testimony Wednesday until about 2 p.m. when Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked to argue a matter outside the jury’s presence.
“The jury has been given the mistaken impression that this is an isolated incident,” Crisp argued.
Crisp asked 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart for permission to introduce evidence of other violence in Green’s past. Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker objected and asked for a continuance to give him time to acquire a transcript of a protective order hearing allegedly held several years ago in Little River County, Ark., concerning Green and a former spouse. Shumaker argued that without the documents, he is unable to adequately cross examine witnesses.
Lockhart agreed and put the jury in recess until Thursday afternoon when testimony is expected to resume in the pun-
ishment-only trial. Green faces two to 20 years in prison but could receive probation if sentenced to 10 or fewer years and the jury makes a probation recommendation.
The jury heard opening arguments and testimony from the bulk of the state’s witnesses Wednesday including testimony from the woman over whom Green claims he was motivated to shoot Michael Brad Hooks.
Bourland and other witnesses testified that she and Green had been romantically involved off and on since December 2014 until about July 2016 when a quarrel turned physical and ended with Bourland being seen in a Titus County, Texas, hospital. Jurors were shown a photo of a bruise on Bourland’s shoulder which Green is accused of causing when he struck her in July with the barrel of the same 12 gauge shotgun he used Sept. 18, 2016, to shoot Hooks on the porch of his home on County Road 4240 in Bowie County.
Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards, Bourland said she returned to Green’s home on County Road 4239 several days before the shooting to collect belongings and that in the days she spent with Green leading up to the shooting, she and Green had been intimate.
Shumaker confronted Bourland with a sworn statement she signed in protective order proceedings against Green in September in which she claims to have arrived at Green’s home on the day of the shooting, not three days prior. Shumaker also showed text messages from Bourland to Green which give a confusing picture of the relationship between Bourland and Green in the days leading up to the confrontation on Hooks’ front porch.
Bourland testified she became romantically involved with Hooks after splitting with Green in July but that their relationship had cooled before the day of the shooting. Hooks testified Bourland had asked him the morning of the shooting to drive by Green’s and check on her while she was there packing.
Hooks testified he did as he was asked and drove by Green’s driveway the morning of the shooting, revving his truck’s engine and squealing his tires when he did. Hooks’ appearance led to a verbal conflict between Green and Bourland.
Bourland testified Green began to threaten Hooks’ life after she called Hooks, at Green’s request, and asked him to “please don’t come by again.” Bourland said Green was angry that she used the word “please” with Hooks while speaking to him with less respect.
In a videotaped interview with Bowie County Sheriff’s Office investigators David Biggar and Robby McCarver, Green said Bourland responded to his unhappiness with the word “please” with Hooks by stating in colorful language that she would ask Hooks if she could “please” be intimate with him again.
“I said, “You ain’t gonna have a chance,’” Green said in the video interview.
Green grabbed his lime green 12 gauge shotgun, jumped into a Suburban he had been working on, and headed down the driveway after promising to kill Hooks, Bourland testified. After getting the Suburban stuck in a ditch at the driveway’s end, Green walked back to the house, got in his mother’s pickup and headed to Hooks’ home.
Hooks said he never saw a weapon while he spoke briefly with Green, whom he has known since childhood. Hooks said he stood on his porch and Green remained in the truck. Green said he “could feel myself getting angry,” and had turned to walk back inside when he heard a “boom” and was blown through his doorway.
“I stood up and said, ‘What the hell Barry,’ and he said, ‘I’m sorry man, that b **** just makes me crazy,’” Hooks testified.
Hooks told his 18-year-old son to call 911 before Green picked him up and put him in the truck. Members of law enforcement responding to calls from Hooks’ son and Bourland began following Green as he drove the wounded Hooks on Interstate 30 toward Texarkana. Green refused to pull over until he reached the ambulance bay at CHRISTUS St. Michael’s Health System in Texarkana, Texas.
Green was quickly taken into custody and Green, who was suffering from a variety of life threatening conditions caused by the 12 gauge slug, was rushed into the emergency room and quickly underwent emergency surgery. Dr. John Baugh, the first physician to treat Hooks, testified that one of Green’s kidneys and an adrenal gland were shredded and had to be removed. Hooks suffered a collapsed lung, a punctured diaphragm and two fractured ribs as well, Baugh said.
Testimony is expected to resume this afternoon.