Jury selection begins in murder trial
Telford inmate accused of beating guard to death
The process of selecting a jury to decide the fate of a Texas prison inmate facing the death penalty in the July 2015 beating death of a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas, is under way.
More than 300 Bowie County citizens reported to the courthouse Wednesday and Thursday to hear preliminary instructions and complete juror questionnaires in the capital murder trial of Billy Joel Tracy. Tracy, 39, is accused of beating Officer Timothy Davison to death July 15, 2015, with a metal tray slot bar during a routine walk from a day room to his cell.
Because the state is seeking the death penalty, jury selection will take weeks. In addition to hearing instructions as a group from the judge as mandated by Texas law, each prospective juror must
be questioned individually. Wednesday and Thursday, a total of 276 people were qualified to be members of the potential pool of jurors who will decide Tracy’s case, according to the Bowie County District Clerk’s Office. A group of 172 people reported Wednesday, and, of those, 25 were released because of valid excuses such as medical issues, military service or age or because of ineligibility to serve. A group of 174 reported Thursday, and, of those, 45 were released.
The clerk’s office initially mailed 1,300 jury summonses. Some of those were returned as undeliverable and some recipients who contacted the clerk’s office were excused without reporting with appropriate documentation and court approval. Those who were unable to report Aug. 2 or Aug. 3, because of prior travel arrangements for example, will report Aug. 11.
Also expected to report that date are a number of people who did not contact the clerk’s office in advance and who failed to report as summoned. The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office is in the process of serving 456 writs of attachment issued by 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart on citizens who missed their report dates this week. The writs direct potential jurors to report Aug. 11.
Individual jury selection is scheduled to begin mid-September. Each qualified member of the jury panel will report on a specific date at a set time to undergo questioning by the court, prosecution and defense. Eight potential jurors will report for questioning each day until a jury of 12 and two alternates have been selected.
Open arguments and testimony are tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 23.
Tracy, who has a long history of violence both in and out of prison, is charged with capital murder in Davison’s death. Tracy will be wearing shackles and a device capable of delivering an electric shock during the trial, but measures are being taken to insure the jury will not see any restraints.
Tracy’s prison history began in 1995 when he was just 18 and sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is leading the prosecution. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana. If the jury convicts Tracy of capital murder, punishment options include death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole.