Jury pool at 331 in death penalty case
NEW BOSTON, Texas— The preliminary stage of jury selection finished up Friday for a Texas prison inmate accused of beating a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston to death in July 2015.
Earlier this month 276 Bowie County citizens were qualified as members of the pool from which 12 jurors and two alternates will be chosen in the capital murder trial of Billy Joel Tracy. Tracy, 39, is accused of beating 47-year-old Timothy Davison to death during a routine walk from a prison day room back to Tracy’s cell in administrative segregation July 15, 2015. Friday, an additional 55 prospective jurors received general instructions and completed
questionnaires meant to aid the court, prosecution and defense in the next phase of jury selection.
Because the state is seeking the death penalty, the jury selection process will take much longer than in a typical Texas felony trial. The 331 current members of Tracy’s jury panel have each been given dates and specific times to report in September and October for individual questioning. Eight jurors per day will undergo questioning until the jury and alternates are selected. Opening statements and testimony are expected to begin in late October.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp, who is leading Tracy’s prosecution, said in an earlier pretrial hearing for Tracy that the case is not a whodone-it. Davison’s murder was captured on video surveillance from multiple angles and 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart has already ruled that footage can be shown to the jury at trial.
Tracy’s trial may be more about determining whether he should receive a death sentence or life without the possibility of parole. Tracy is accused of slipping a hand free of its cuff, knocking Davison to the floor and using Davison’s metal tray slot bar to beat him fatally in an attack that lasted minutes.
The state has given the defense notice of its intent to introduce evidence and testimony concerning Tracy’s propensity for violence both in and out of prison. Tracy’s prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, 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. Included in the state’s notice are numerous other events of violence toward prison staff and other inmates.
The defense is expected to present evidence and testimony meant to lead jurors to opt for a life sentence and reject the death penalty. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana.
The trial itself is expected to take two to three weeks.