NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Simms, Texas, man who shot a man and then drove him to a Texarkana hospital is expected to learn his punishment today.
Barry Kendall Green, 35, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with serious bodily injury involving the use of a deadly weapon earlier this month at a hearing before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart but asked that a jury assess his punishment. Five men and seven women were chosen Tuesday from a panel of Bowie County citizens to serve as the jury in Green's punishment trial.
This morning the jury is expected to hear opening arguments and testimony from the first of the state's witnesses. Green is facing two to 20 years in prison. Because he has no prior felony convictions, Green is eligible for probation if sentenced to 10 or fewer years and if the jury recommends it.
Green shot Michael Hooks in the back with a shotgun Sept. 18 around noon at Hooks' home on County Road 4240. Deputies were first called before the shooting to respond to a disturbance between Green and his ex-girlfriend on County Road 4239, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
The woman told police that Green grabbed a shotgun and threatened to kill Hooks during an argument between her and Green. Before deputies could get to the home on 4239, dispatchers advised that Green was on his way to Hooks' house on 4240.
Before deputies could get to 4240, Hooks had been shot. Hooks' son told investigators he heard his father yelling and came to his voice. The son told police he saw his father lying on the floor with Green standing over him and noticed blood on the front porch.
"(The son) stated the suspect advised he would take the victim to the hospital in Texarkana," the affidavit states.
Bowie County deputies and members of the Hooks, Texas, Police Department attempted to pull Green over as he traveled on Interstate 30 in his white 2009 Silverado pickup but Green refused to stop until he reached the emergency room at CHRISTUS St. Michael's Health System in Texarkana, Texas.
Green's truck's passenger seat was covered in blood and several 20 gauge shotgun shells were discovered in the driver's seat and floor. An emergency room doctor told investigators that Hooks suffered kidney and liver damage and was to undergo emergency surgery.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is prosecuting. Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker is representing Green. A verdict on Green's punishment could come today.