Temple’s murder defense advances

Judge allows deposition from his elderly father

Former Alief ISD Coach David Temple appeared in court Friday morning for a hearing that advanced the defense of his nearly 20-year-old murder case.

His attorney, Stanley Schneider, secured permission from state District Judge Kelli Johnson to take the deposition of Temple’s 75-year-old father while his health is stable.

Ken Temple, who has heart ailments and diabetes, needs to have his words captured while he is not in a health “crisis,” Schneider said.

The elder man’s testimony, which involves video evidence and a statement from the night in 1999 when David Temple’s pregnant wife was killed, will show that it was “impossible for David to have committed the offense,” Schneider said. “I’m just trying to protect Mr. Temple’s right to

present a defense.”

Temple, 48, was found guilty of murder in 2007 in the execution-style shooting of his wife, Katy High special education teacher Belinda Lucas Temple. She was 8 months pregnant. The couple also has a son, who is now an adult.

The state’s highest criminal court, however, tossed out the conviction and ruled that prosecutors improperly withheld evidence in the murder trial, including details about what the Harris County District Attorney’s Office have revealed are “additional possible suspects.”

A judge ruled in 2015 that Temple deserved a new trial because prosecutors withheld evidence that might have helped his defense.

He was released from prison last year after he had served 10 years of a life sentence.

Friday’s 10-minute hearing also determined how evidence will be shared.

David Mitcham with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said his agency is prepared to transfer copies of its case files, which fill “33 banker’s boxes,” to the Texas Attorney General’s Office and to Temple’s defense team.

Bill Turner, one of two special prosecutors with the Texas Attorney General’s Office chosen by Johnson after Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg withdrew from the case, joined the hearing by phone.

Ogg’s potential conflicts of interest led her to seek the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Victims’ advocate Andy Kahan, who has spoken for the Lucas family since the shooting, continues to maintain that Temple is responsible for the death.

“David Temple is guilty of first-degree murder, and he’ll go back to prison for the rest of his life,” he said.

The case is scheduled for another hearing in July.

Temple and his lawyers did not comment Friday as reporters followed them to an open elevator and the doors closed.