July 18
TEXAS:
Serving life term, inmate faces death penalty in 2nd slaying
In Beaumont, a federal prisoner serving a life sentence for the murder of
an Arkansas banker was sentenced to death Friday for the 2001 slaying of
another inmate.
Shannon Wayne Agofsky, 33, was convicted July 8 of stomping fellow inmate
Luther Plant to death at the federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. Video
recorded by a prison guard showed Agofsky, who is adept at martial arts,
stomping on Plant's head and neck inside of a prison exercise cage.
A federal jury in Beaumont took 75 minutes to convict Agofsky.
Experts testified that Plant died 2 hours after the Jan. 5, 2001, attack
because he had a crushed throat and drowned in his own blood.
Plant, 37, was a heroin addict who suffered from hepatitis C. He was
serving a prison sentence for convictions on charges of arson and being a
felon in possession of a firearm.
Agofsky is serving a life sentence in the 1989 murder of Dan Short of
Sulphur Springs, Ark. Agofsky and his older brother, Joseph, were
convicted of robbing the State Bank of Noel in Noel, Mo., where Short was
president. The older Agofsky is also serving a life sentence.
Investigators said the brothers kidnapped Short from his home and forced
him to open a bank vault at the bank, then strapped Short to a chair and
threw him off a bridge into an Oklahoma lake while he was still alive.
Shannon Wayne Agofsky was 18 at the time of the murder.
During the recent trial, prison guard Christopher Matt said he put Agofsky
and Plant in the exercise cage and detected no hostility between the 2.
But jurors heard of Agofsky's violent desires from a November 2000 letter
he wrote.
"All I do is work out, wait to leave and hope the cops mess up and let me
around some other (person) so I can test out my hand," Agofsky said in the
letter.
(source: Associated Press)
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Low turnout slows Adams murder trial jury selection
In Palesting, jury selection in the capital murder case against Beunka
Adams has hit a little snag.
More than half the jurors for a panel of 50 - from which the final 12
jurors will be selected - have been chosen, and an additional panel was
called in for the selection process, but turnout was disappointing.
"We had a horrible Thursday," said Anderson County Court Coordinator Tina
Teetz. "We called 200 people and only had 41 people fill out the
questionnaire.
"We would have expected 60-80 to have filled out those questionnaires,"
she said. "That would have been a good turnout."
400 people were originally called, and 118 showed. Each of those filled
out a questionnaire that was used by attorneys and the judge to select
potential jurors.
However, of the 118, only 29 were chosen, so Judge Bascom Bentley III of
the 369th District Court had another panel of 200 called in to fill out
the same questionnaire on Thursday.
"We all were very disappointed," Teetz said. "So now we've had to call in
another panel for the 29th."
Those who didn't appear for their jury summons aren't going to be let off
easy, though.
"The judge issued writs for the people who didn't appear," Teetz said.
"They're supposed to appear Monday the 19th to explain why they didn't
appear."
She said arrests were not served to those who didn't show, but the writs
were served to give people the opportunity to explain why they did not
respond.
"A lot who do get served (a jury duty summons) do have a legitimate excuse
(to not appear)," Teetz said, "but they have to notify the court."
Teetz said those who did not appear could potentially be arrested.
"They'll try to serve them (the writs)," she said, "but the judge doesn't
want to arrest them and throw them in jail. He needs them for jury duty.
It's a necessity.
"We would have much rather had enough jurors and finish what we need to do
and not have to call again," she said.
The individual voir dire process - individual juror questioning under oath
to determine suitability as a juror - for the 41 who did show begins
Tuesday when 8 potential jurors will be questioned each day.
Bentley and the attorneys will question 4 panelists in the morning and
four in the afternoon until July 28.
Adams, 21, of Rusk, is charged with the capital murder of Kenneth
Vandever, 37.
He and Richard Cobb, who was tried separately from Adams earlier this
year, allegedly abducted Vandever and two female store clerks, Candice
Driver and another whose name is being withheld because she was a victim
of sexual assault, from a Rusk BDJ's convenience store on Sept. 2, 2002,
during the course of a robbery.
The pair was arrested on Sept. 3, 2002, - less than 12 hours after the
crime was discovered.
In February, Cobb received the death penalty from a Cherokee County jury
for his involvement in the murder of Vandever.
Adams is also charged with raping 1 of the 2 clerks who were abducted.
After allegedly stealing $1,300 in cash from the store, the group
reportedly traveled south of Rusk on U.S. 69 to County Road 2434, where
the suspects allegedly shot the 3 victims - killing Vandever - and left
them in a field near Alto.
Both women survived and managed to walk to houses in the area to get help
after the suspects left the scene.
During his trial, Cobb testified he shot Vandever, but Adams jerked the
gun out of his hand and shot the 2 female clerks. Both women were left for
dead.
Bentley awarded Adams a change of venue April 2.
Because of the poor turnout Thursday, another panel has already been
called for questioning.
"We already called again for the 29th," Teetz said. "I think he called
350."
Teetz said although there is no way of knowing how many will be selected
from the 41 who showed Thursday, time issues are what prompted calling
another panel.
"We don't want to have any lapse of time," she said.
"The last juror of the 41 is scheduled for the 28th, and the new panel
comes in the 29th," she said.
There is no definite timeline in place as to when the jury selection
process will end or when the capital murder trial will begin.
(source: Jacksonville Daily Progress)
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BEATTY CAPITAL MURDER TRIAL TO START JULY 26
Attorneys have worked long days this week weeding out jurors to find an
agreeable 12 to decide the fate of a man charged with killing his mother.
5 jurors have been selected for Tracy Lane Beatty's capital murder trial
scheduled to begin July 26 in Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s 241st District Court.
The 43-year-old allegedly killed 62-year-old Carolyn Ruth Click, two days
before Thanksgiving and buried her body behind their mobile home on County
Road 2323.
Beatty also allegedly stole his mother's car and ATM card, making the
offense capital murder. The state intends to seek the death penalty
against him.
Out of 650 people originally summoned, 375 Smith County citizens who were
not excused through exemptions or disqualifications were called to appear
Thursday, July 8, for group voir dire, Jury Coordinator Mary Alice Dodgen
said.
More than 100 writs of attachment were sent out for authorities to locate
people and find out why they did not show up at the courthouse, she said.
At the end of the day, 202 possible jurors remained and were called back
to the courthouse this week to be individually questioned by attorneys.
Skeen found Beatty in criminal contempt of court July 6 when he refused
the judge's orders to provide the state with a handwriting sample. He was
sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Beatty is represented by attorneys Robert Perkins and Ken Hawk.
District Attorney Matt Bingham, First Assistant District Attorney Brett
Harrison and Chief Felony Prosecutor April Sikes are prosecuting the case.
The defendant was brought back to Smith County in December from Henderson
County, where he was jailed on charges of unauthorized use of a motor
vehicle and possession of a weapon by a felon.
Information from inmates at the Henderson County Jail, whom Beatty
allegedly talked to about the murder, led authorities to the body on Dec.
23.
Ms. Click may have been strangled, struck by a blunt object, smothered or
suffocated by being buried alive, his indictment states.
Mrs. Click was last seen by her neighbors Nov. 25, 2003. Beatty was living
with her at the time, having been paroled from prison to her house.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice records show he has been in and out
of prison on charges including injury to a child, theft, possession of a
controlled substance and aggravated assault.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)
