NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County jury deliberated about 30 minutes Tuesday before finding a Texas prison inmate guilty of assaulting a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit earlier this year.
Bryan Austin White, 27, was found guilty of aggravated assault on a public servant, a conviction that required the jury to find a deadly weapon, White's fist, was used in an attack that resulted in serious bodily injury. White's lawyer, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, argued that White's single punch to the side of Correctional Officer Kevin Squibb's head didn't amount to aggravated assault and asked the jury to find White guilty of the lesser offense of assault on a public servant.
Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards argued that White's attack, which rendered Squibb immediately unconscious and left him suffering daily headaches, does meet the legal definition of an aggravated assault.
"This was not a fistfight," Richards argued. "This was a sucker punch."
Witnesses testified White was not where he should have been the morning of Jan. 3 when he approached Sgt. Jewel Shaw in the prison's Building Four and asked to be placed on a work detail. Shaw testified he told White he was not on his work roster and instructed him to return to his pod in general population in Building Eight.
Video surveillance footage played during the testimony of Sgt. Joshua Grable showed White approach Squibb on the second floor of Building Eight. White holds a book in the silent recording.
As Squibb makes his way to the building's third level, White continues talking to him. At one point, White appears to be walking away as Squibb reaches for and uses his radio.
Squibb testified that White wanted to be taken to a work assignment and became "aggressive" when Squibb told him he hadn't received orders to do so. Squibb said White's demeanor led him to call for help.
In the video, White stops and begins walking with both hands behind his back toward Squibb. Squibb is not focused on White when White drops the book, squats slightly and delivers a forceful blow to the left side of Squibb's head. Squibb collapses and does not attempt to break his fall.
For a moment, White stands over Squibb's motionless body, fists clenched. Next White retrieves his book, steps over Squibb's body and proceeds to walk from the third floor back to the dayroom on the first.
Squibb testified he remembers calling a supervisor for help and that his next memory is of being home. He suffered bleeding in his left ear canal and a cut to the right side of his head as it struck the concrete. Squibb said days after the assault he learned he had broken ribs, likely from hitting a railing. He testified under questioning from Crisp that he has headaches daily and he continues to suffer bouts of dizziness. Office of Inspector General Investigator Michael Horn testified Squibb was disoriented and complaining of extreme pain in his head while in a medical area of the prison awaiting an ambulance.
Telford Warden Garth Parker testified the prison employs approximately 700 and of those, roughly 550 are correctional officers. The unit houses approximately 3,000 inmates, Parker said. He said an assault like the one suffered by Squibb at White's hands disrupts operations throughout prison.
White has elected to have his punishment decided by 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart. The state is expected to call additional witnesses Wednesday morning to testify concerning the punishment White should receive.
White faces 15 to 99 years or life. He is serving two 25-year terms for aggravated robbery he received Feb. 23, 2011, in Kaufman County, Texas, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.