NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Texas prison inmate's desire for a new lawyer in his Bowie County capital murder case was the subject of much discussion at a pretrial hearing Friday.
"If I wanted him off my case, I could just assault him and he'd be off my case. But I'm not going to do that. That wouldn't help me at all," Billy Joel Tracy said of his lead defense attorney, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, at a hearing before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, Texas. Tracy clenched a cuffed fist as he spoke. Cobb was seated next to him at the defense table.
"I know what my odds are in this courtroom. This man here made it clear to me what he wants to do with me," Tracy said, referring to Bowie County District Attorney Jerry Rochelle.
At an earlier hearing, Rochelle told the court his office is taking extraordinary measures to work with Tracy's defense team, so that "when the time comes to put a needle in that guy's arm," there won't be any doubt that the state has followed the law.
Tracy, 39, is charged with capital murder in the death of Correctional Officer Timothy Davison, who was beaten to death July 15, 2015, while working at the Barry Telford Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Tracy was allegedly caught on multiple video surveillance cameras wielding a metal tray slot bar like a baseball bat to deliver blows during an attack lasting less than a minute, which proved fatal to Davison. The state is seeking the death penalty.
Tracy recently filed motions on his own behalf asking for Cobb's removal. Lockhart addressed the concerns outlined in Tracy's motions, including complaints that Cobb wouldn't allow him to take possession of copies of court records at the courthouse following a previous pretrial hearing.
"Defense counsel cannot hand you documents," Lockhart said. "They could be subject to criminal prosecution if they give you unredacted information."
Information, such as the address of a witness, is removed from copies of court documents provided to criminal defendants by law. Lockhart said he has learned that Tracy currently has redacted copies of all the discovery, or information the state has provided the defense, in his possession. Lockhart pointed out that reading through and redacting the thousands of pages of documents in the case is a lengthy process.
"It could take days, if not weeks, to go through all that," Lockhart said.
In response to Tracy's complaints about Cobb, Lockhart explained the logic behind his decision to appoint Cobb as lead counsel and Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson as second chair.
Lockhart said he was impressed with Cobb's performance as a defense lawyer in a case in Red River County. Cobb's grasp of the law, criminal procedure, his experience as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor, and the opinions of other judges who've seen Cobb in the courtroom led to Cobb's appointment, Lockhart said.
"I deliberately didn't want a local attorney for lead counsel," Lockhart added.
Lockhart spoke of Harrelson's experience and ability as well, mentioning a capital murder case Harrelson tried, which ended with a verdict of life in prison from a jury that had the death penalty as an option as well.
"The state of Texas is trying to take your life. I have appointed you the best lawyers I could find. It would behoove you to pay attention to them," Lockhart said. "I will do this for you though; I'll let you speak at pretrials if you wish to speak again."
At Friday's hearing, Lockhart expressed concern that Tracy's abundant pro se motions are filed with the purpose of delaying the trial or to establish grounds for appeal, particularly ineffective assistance of counsel. Tracy assured Lockhart that he wants to get the trial over with and that his complaints about Cobb are based in his desire to have good representation.
Lockhart told Tracy that case law in Texas clearly establishes that a defendant does not have the right to "hybrid" representation, or to represent himself or herself at the same time they are being represented by a lawyer.
"Hybrid representation has a great potential for chaos," Lockhart said, quoting Texas case law. "I want the record to show that this court is not ruling on any of the motions provided by the defendant unless they are adopted and re-urged by defense counsel."
Lockhart told Tracy he is free to file whatever he wants and that the court will read the pro se motions and letters but that he will not rule on them. Lockhart asked Cobb and Harrelson to provide Tracy with copies of the opinions that deny a defendant the right to hybrid representation in Texas. Lockhart asked Cobb if he had any reservations about continuing to represent Tracy. Cobb said he has had similar, not identical, but similar experiences in other cases and doesn't plan to leave the case.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the court that the state and defense made a site visit to Telford with the Texas Rangers recently and that copies of technical drawings and other analyses performed will be provided to the defense.
Tracy has a long history of violence in and out of prison. Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was just 18 and sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, 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.
Jury selection, which could take weeks, is scheduled for September. If convicted of capital murder in Davison's death, Tracy faces life without the possibility of parole or death by lethal injection.