NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Simms, Texas, man who shot a romantic rival and then drove him to the hospital was sentenced to 18 years in prison Thursday by a Bowie County jury.
Barry Kendall Green, 35, pleaded guilty last week to assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury but asked that a jury assess his punishment in hopes of receiving a recommendation for probation. The jury of seven women and five men was instructed by 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart that Green could receive probation if sentenced to fewer than 10 years and if the jury recommended it. Green faced two to 20 years, with probation possible, for the offense.
The jury opted for prison time and assessed a $5,000 fine.
"The jury heard evidence demonstrating a pattern of rage and violence which Barry Green inflicted upon multiple individuals over the course of years," Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said. "We appreciate the work of the Bowie County Sheriff's Office and the jury's reasoned judgment in sentencing Green to a lengthy and justified prison sentence."
In a videotaped interview of Green by Bowie County Sheriff's Office investigators David Biggar and Robby McCarver, Green explained that he was so angry at Cherie Bourland, who had also been romantically involved with his friend and neighbor Michael Brad Hooks, that he told Bourland he would make sure her relationship with Hooks was over.
Green grabbed a lime green 12 gauge, jumped into a Suburban he'd been working on for a friend, and headed down his long driveway on County Road 4239, according to testimony. After spending about 10 minutes trying to get the Suburban out of a ditch at the end of the driveway where he'd wrecked it moments before, Green walked back to his house, got in his mother's pickup, and left a second time.
Green and Hooks spoke briefly at Hooks' home on County Road 4240. Hooks stood on his porch. Green stayed in the truck. Hooks testified he realized the conversation was useless and turned to go back into his home when he heard a shot and the force of a shotgun blast knocked him into his house.
Hooks' son called 911 and Green put Hooks in the truck and drove him to a Texarkana hospital, ignoring the lights and sirens of a bevy of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies as he drove along Interstate 30. Dr. John Baugh M.D. testified Wednesday that Hooks lost a kidney and adrenal gland, which were shredded by the slug that tore through his back. He suffered a collapsed lung, a punctured diaphragm and two fractured ribs as well. In his videotaped interview, Green chuckled as he described the truck after the hospital trip as "bloody and muddy."
Thursday, the jury heard from Green's ex-wife, Lacy Meyer. She testified that Green had been abusive to her just as he had to Bourland and that Green's harassment of her and her children intensified after the couple split.
Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker argued that Green's life had been relatively free of unlawful conduct and described the shooting as "Barry just snapped."
But Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards described Green as an abusive man who is "out of control."
"When you reach a point in your life when a woman can say something to you, and you go through a 15- to 20-minute process, and then go shoot a man in the back, you're a danger to society," Richards argued in closing remarks Thursday. "If you want to give him credit for driving his victim to the hospital, shave a couple of years off, but give him what he deserves."