“Thank you, God,” Parham mouthed quietly toward the ceiling of the courthouse after the not guilty verdicts were read aloud by District Court Judge Mike Welborn.
Parham, 53, shook each of the jurors’ hands as they left the courtroom. Then he hugged his family and friends and clasped his attorney around the shoulders and thanked him.
Parham was indicted in January on five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, each count a second degree felony offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Jury selection began Monday and testimony began Tuesday morning. Testimony ended around noon on Thursday.
The prosecution and the defense offered closing arguments after lunch and the jury began deliberating at 2:20 p.m. The jury returned to the courtroom with the five verdicts at 5 :20 p.m.
Welborn read each verdict aloud, and Parham was acquitted on all five counts.
“We are extremely pleased by the verdict,” said Victoria attorney Tali Villafranca, who represented Parham. “We understand the jury had a very difficult time going through all the evidence and we appreciate their hard work.”
God Bless America!
In this case, once the State's Witnesses took the stand and were subject to cross examination and the interview recordings were played, the their credibility suffered mightily.
The jury simply followed their oath and allowed the presumption of innocense to prevail.
Administration
I perused the tdcj website for standards in employing “prison guards”, there are none. In fact the State of Texas has no such position. The position is correctional officer. No surprise as erroneous reporting is apparently the standard for this rag.
HAVE A GOP DAY!!!