Across Texas: As it is !

Rusk County woman in jail after telling police she killed husband

By JIMMY ISAAC and MIRANDA HARRIS
Monday, September 19, 2005

A Rusk County man died early Sunday after his wife said she shot him.
Sheriff's investigators say the woman called emergency officials around 5:30 a.m. to report that she had shot her husband. Deputies responded to a residence in the 3900 block of Rusk County Road 292 East and found the man in his bathroom. He was pronounced dead after being taken to Laird Memorial Hospital in Kilgore.
Sheriff's investigators would not release the couple's names or the type of gun used.
Family members, however, said the man was the Rev. David Daniels, pastor of Fredonia Baptist Church near Tatum, and that his wife, Sharon Daniels, was being held at the Rusk County Jail.
She will be arraigned today in Henderson.
"I don't know. I'm bumfuzzled," the suspect's mother, Mary Rossum, said while waiting outside the jail Sunday morning. "But when I heard what had happened, I knew Sharon was involved."
Longview Independent School District Superintendent Dana Marable said a teacher named Sharon Daniels works at McClure Elementary School, but she said she didn't know whether that is the same person suspected in the shooting.
"I think we are just going to have to wait and see if we are officially contacted," Marable said. "If we are, I will meet with my people in human resources, and we will develop a plan."
News of the fatal shooting spread quickly through the Fredonia church community, about eight miles southwest of Tatum.
"We're all shocked and saddened. You wouldn't expect that to happen here right here at home at our church," said church member Dean Centers. "I know when you get up on Sunday morning, that isn't what you expect."
Daniels had been Fredonia's pastor for two years, said member Shirley McCoy. "I'm sorry for both parties ... I'm sorry for Sharon," she said.
Centers said the couple "looked good" on the surface when they joined Fredonia's church in 2003, but added that he later noticed problems.
"I knew they were having some difficulties but not to that extent," he said. "You just wouldn't think it would come to this."
The couple was married in April 2002, his family said. Rossum said the marriage was her daughter's second and David Daniels' fourth.
David Daniels also worked at Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson and was a Kilgore Independent School District bus driver.
His sister, Kathy Kennedy, said her brother had helped her with a garage sale at her home on Dudley Road until about 7 p.m. Saturday. Kennedy and David Daniels' father, Orell Daniels, of Dallas, said they both received an e-mail chain letter from Sharon Daniels about 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
Neighbor Irene Portley, who lives across the street from the residence, said the shooting was the second time law enforcement had been called there.
source: Longview News Journal
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Jury selection begins in prison rape case
Man suing 7 Allred officials for allowing sex abuse

By Trish Choate/Times Record News
September 19, 2005
A federal judge questioned 82 potential jurors today for a prison sex-slave lawsuit about how they felt about homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Attorney General's Office.
"I'm standing here with a homosexual being represented by the ACLU against the state of Texas, and I don't see how I couldn't have a bias," one potential juror said. "But I think I could overcome it."
Jury selection for the well-publicized case was expected to last all day today in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas in Wichita Falls.
Roderick Keith Johnson is suing seven Allred Unit officials.
Johnson, a 37-year-old gay man, claims he suffered daily rapes and that prison gangs forced him to be a sex slave or die for 18 months, according to the lawsuit filed in 2002.
Prison officials ignored his pleas to be moved to safety, taking "sadistic pleasure in his victimization," according to the lawsuit. Allred officials also discriminated against him based on his sexual orientation, according to the lawsuit.
Allred officials have denied his allegations. Lawyers from the Texas Attorney General's Office are representing them because the officials work for the state.
The seven Allred officials include Richard E. Wathen, Tracy Kuyava, Tina Vitolo, Jimmy Bowman, Onessimo Ranjel, David Taylor and Tommy Norwood.
Johnson was serving time after bouncing a $300 check caused his burglary probation to be revoked, according to previous Times Record News reports.
Only two potential jurors didn't answer the summons today, officials said.
Attorneys will select 12 jurors and two alternates, according to court records.
Federal Judge Barbara Lynn questioned potential jurors all Monday morning. She said that Johnson contends he was especially vulnerable in prison because he is gay.
Two potential jurors said they disapproved of homosexuality for religious reasons and didn't believe they could find in favor of Johnson.
Wichita Falls had a prior experience with ACLU lawyers during a controversy over two children's library books that dealt with homosexuality, "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Roommate," according to previous TRN reports.
In 2000, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional a library policy the City Council approved in response to the two books. The ACLU had sued on behalf of 19 residents who protested the policy.
Today, the judge said she planned to turn questioning over to lawyers Monday afternoon.
Johnson, now out of prison, is seeking damages for physical injury, emotional pain, degradation, humiliation and psychic trauma, according to the lawsuit.
Projects Reporter Trish Choate can be reached at (940) 763-7533, (800) 627-1646, Ext. 533, or via e-mail at choatet(at)TimesRecordNews.com.
source: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_4092762,00.html
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Civil suit filed against five defendants in Linden beating case

By SHEILA FLYNN
Associated Press Writer
DALLAS — A lawsuit was filed Monday by a civil liberties group on behalf of a mentally disabled black man who suffered permanent brain damage after he was beaten and dumped in an East Texas field.
Four white men already have faced criminal charges in Cass County for the 2003 incident. Two entered plea deals and juries recommended suspended sentences for the other two, sparking criticism from civil rights groups alleging racism within the justice system.
"We're seeking compensation for serious and permanent brain injury suffered by Billy Ray Johnson at the hands of these four white thugs, who received little or no criminal punishment for their actions," said Morris Dees Jr., chief lawyer of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Montgomery, Ala.-based civil liberties group filed the suit in Cass County District Court.
Johnson, 44, who functioned at the mental level of a child at the time of the attack, was found unconscious on a fire ant mound.
Authorities said the Linden resident suffered a serious concussion and bleeding in the brain when one of the defendants,Christopher Amox, punched him and he collapsed. The assault occurred after Johnson was lured to a pasture party, plied with alcohol and taunted for the defendants' amusement, authorities said.
Johnson now lives in a nursing home and is unable to walk without help or speak clearly.
Criminal charges were filed against Amox, 20, John Wesley "Wes" Owens, 22, Dallas Stone, 19, and James Cory Hicks, 26.
Owens and Stone pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony charge of injury to a disabled person by omission. Hicks was found guilty of that charge, but Amox was acquitted of the felony and convicted of misdemeanor assault.
All were fined and sentenced to probation and jail time, but none served more than 60 days behind bars. They could have faced up to 10 years in prison on the original charges.
The civil suit names all four men as defendants, as well as Lacy Dorgan, a woman who was present at the party.
Dorgan declined comment Monday and attempts to reach the other defendants were unsuccessful.
Dees said he hoped the suit would secure some justice for Johnson after the Cass County legal system "let him down."
"I do believe that once the good people of Cass County know the real facts in the case — and have an opportunity to see the serious injury caused to Billy Ray — that they'll return a substantial verdict and compensation for his permanent injuries," Dees said.
source: www.wacotrib.com