NEW BOSTON, Texas-Plea bargains and jury trials were discussed this week at a pretrial hearing for a Barry Telford Unit inmate facing a minimum 15-year sentence for assaulting a guard.
Bryan Austin White, 27, allegedly punched Correctional Officer Kevin Squibb with such force Jan. 3 that he was knocked unconscious, suffered a concussion and required stitches, according to court documents used to create the following account. A Bowie County grand jury indicted White in March for aggravated assault on a public servant with a prior felony conviction. White has pleaded not guilty.
White is serving two 25-years terms for aggravated robbery he received Feb. 23, 2011, in Kaufman County, Texas, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.
White appeared with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson for a pretrial hearing Wednesday before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told Lockhart the state has no intention of offering White a plea bargain or of waiving its right to a jury trial. White has several options.
He can plead guilty in front of a jury and a punishment-only trial before the jury would follow. White is facing 15 to 99 years or life in prison.
White could plead not guilty, allow a jury to assess whether he is guilty or not and then, if found guilty, elect to have either the judge or the jury determine punishment. In any case, a jury will decide some aspect of the case, be it guilt or innocence or punishment because the state wants the citizens of Bowie County involved.
At an earlier pretrial hearing, Crisp said a video of the alleged attack has been preserved for use at White's trial.
According to court records, Squibb was performing routine duties when White, a general population inmate at the time, approached him and asked about being escorted to a work assignment. Squibb allegedly told White he had not been called to report yet but that he would escort him as soon as he was.
After being escorted to his cell, White allegedly became agitated and aggressive, facing Squibb and dropping a book he was holding onto the floor. He allegedly struck Squibb in the side of his head with a closed fist, causing the guard to fall to the floor unconscious.
White allegedly picked up the book he dropped, stepped over Squibb's motionless body and walked to a prison dayroom. The guard was treated at a Texarkana hospital for a concussion with loss of consciousness for 30 minutes or less and required three stitches to close a head laceration he suffered.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website, White's projected release date is Oct. 6, 2036, and his parole eligibility date is listed as April 6, 2024.
The Bowie County District Attorney's Office has taken on several cases recently involving alleged inmate assaults on Telford staff. Last year, Billy Joel Tracy was sentenced to death by a Bowie County jury for beating Officer Timothy Davison to death, and Alonzo Guerrero was sentenced to life by a jury earlier this year for soaking a correctional officer in feces and urine he spewed from a plastic bottle in his cell.
White's case is scheduled for jury selection Oct. 1.