A Texas appellate court Friday upheld the 18-year prison sentence a Bowie County jury assessed a man who drove a romantic rival to the hospital after shooting him in the back.
Barry Kendall Green, 36, pleaded guilty 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 at the end of a punishment-only trial in April 2017.
At trial, the jury watched a videotaped interview of Green by Bowie County Sheriff's Office investigators David Biggar and Robby McCarver in which 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. A doctor who treated Hooks testified that Hooks lost a kidney and adrenal gland and suffered a collapsed lung, punctured diaphragm and fractured ribs.
In his videotaped interview, Green chuckled as he described the truck after the hospital trip as "bloody and muddy."
The jury also heard testimony about Green's violent behavior toward Bourland and his former wife, who testified that Green's harassment of her intensified after the couple split.
Green appealed the sentence, complaining that Lockhart shouldn't have allowed the jury to hear testimony concerning his history of domestic violence. The Sixth District Court of Appeals in Texarkana agreed with Lockhart's decision to allow the testimony.
At trial, members of Green's defense team questioned Bourland about statements she made on a protective order about Green days after the shooting. The defense insinuated that Bourland was lying about the abuse. Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards argued that the jury had been given a picture of Green by the defense of a man who simply "snapped" and was not prone to violence. Lockhart agreed and allowed testimony from Green's former spouse.
"While these tactics mostly impeached Bourland's credibility as a witness, Green did not specify that she lied about the timing of the events only, but also implied that she lied about the abuse as well. Accordingly, Green called into question the veracity of Bourland's allegations that Green abused her during their relationship. Therefore, Green opened the door to rebuttal testimony about Green's abusive behavior with his romantic partners," the opinion states. "In addition, at a hearing on the State's request to offer evidence rebutting what the State called a 'false impression' of Green's abusive conduct with his romantic partners, the court identified and summarized a handful of cases it had read and analyzed."
Green is currently being held in the Bradshaw Unit in Henderson, Texas, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice website. According to TDCJ, Green will be parole eligible Feb. 20, 2026. If he is not granted parole, Green's sentence will expire Feb. 20, 2035.