Sentencing slated to begin today in capital murder
Inmate convicted of beating Telford guard to death in 2015
NEW BOSTON, Texas—The sentencing phase of trial is expected to begin this morning for a Texas inmate convicted of capital murder last week in the 2015 beating death of a Barry Telford Unit correctional officer.
The jury of nine men and three women seated to decide the fate of 39-year-old Billy Joel Tracy has two options: life without the possibility of parole or death by lethal injection. The state is expected to elicit testimony concerning Tracy’s long history of violence, including multiple assaults on correctional officers that occurred in the years before Tracy ended the life of Timothy Allen Davison, 47, by using a metal tray slot bar like a hammer to inflict devastating head injuries July 15, 2015. The defense is expected to present evidence that explains Tracy’s aggression in a manner that makes the convicted killer appear less responsible.
Security during Tracy’s trial has been tight. Safety measures include multiple Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officers dressed in street clothes who are seated throughout the courtroom, some within arm’s reach of Tracy. The prosecution and defense tables are outfitted with fabric skirts that obstruct the jury’s view of what lies underneath.
Tracy is wearing shackles locked to a heavy steel loop bolted to the floor and installed beneath the defense table specifically for this trial. Court bailiffs are not speaking the words, “All rise,” when 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart enters the courtroom, as Tracy’s chains prevent him from standing.
Tracy is likely wearing a shock device and a leg brace discussed at
pretrial hearings months ago. The leg brace in-custody defendants wear under street clothes during a jury trial will lock and cause a fall if a defendant attempts to run.
Similar security measures were used during Tracy’s 1998 trial in Rockwall County, where he was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years for assault with serious bodily injury, burglary of a habitation and assault on a peace officer. Since being imprisoned, Tracy has received additional sentences of 10 and 45 years for assaults on correctional officers. Many of Tracy’s prior victims are expected to testify.
Tracy spent several hours testifying during the guilt-or-innocence phase of trial. He explained that a large back tattoo visible in the video of his attack on Davison that includes the words “solo honky” means he is not a member of a prison gang. Tracy remained composed during most of his testimony, though he did specifically address Telford’s warden, seated in the first row of the courtroom last week.
“I see the warden out there giving me that look,” Tracy said. “Yeah, I see you.”
Tracy claimed razor blades found in his cell in the past were not just used to assault others but to cut his hair and “do crafts.” Tracy said he passes his time in administrative segregation by reading the same books over and over and that he has written a manual of his own titled “How to survive and thrive in prison.”
“There’s a lot of good advice in there,” Tracy testified under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.
During closing arguments, Texarkana defense lawyer Jeff Harrelson argued that Tracy meant to assault Davison but that the officer’s death was accidental. Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards argued that Davison’s death was Tracy’s clear objective and emphasized the number of times he struck Davison after he was unconscious.
After beating Davison, Tracy threw the motionless body down a flight of stairs and doused him with pepper spray. A member of the five-man extraction team that removed Tracy from cell 66 after the attack was bitten by the inmate.
Tracy’s lead defense attorney, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, is expected to handle the majority of witnesses during the sentencing phase. Tracy’s jury heard three full days of testimony and about 30 minutes of closing arguments before beginning deliberations on guilt last week.
Tracy’s punishment trial is expected to take much longer.