Press release
From March 7 to March 29, Henderson County prosecutors Dan Hunt and Elizabeth Miles have tried three cases to a jury along with two additional bench trials in late February in Judge Dan Moore’s 173rd Judicial District Court. While the 173rd keeps up an active trial docket, this was a particularly active month.
On March 7, a jury heard The State of Texas v. Cecil Ray Collum, 50 of Malakoff, who was indicted for Failure to Comply with (Sex Offender) Registration Requirements, a state jail felony with a punishment range between 180 days to two years plus up to a $10,000 fine.
After the jury returned a guilty verdict, sentencing was set for the following day. Although the jury was ready and waiting, Mr. Collum chose not to attend the sentencing portion of his trial and a warrant was issued for his arrest with bond increased to $100,000. As the law allows, the trial proceeded “in abstentia”, and the jury assessed Collum the maximum sentence of two years in a state jail facility.
The defendant has yet to be arrested on the outstanding warrant but has been charged with the additional offense of Failure to Appear, a third degree felony.
On March 21, Hunt and Miles tried the case of The State of Texas v. Kelly Dwayne Slate, 50 of Malakoff for the third degree felony offense of Assault (Impeding breath, family violence).
After hearing the evidence, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and sentencing is scheduled for June 6 before Judge Moore where he faces from two to ten years in prison plus up to a $10,000 fine, or community supervision (probation) for a period not to exceed ten years in addition to a fine.
The following week, March 28, Hunt and Miles were back in court trying The State of Texas v. Amber Suzanne Schlicht, 33 of Seven Points, before another Henderson County Jury. Ms. Schlicht was charged by indictment for the second degree felony offense of Unauthorized Use or Possession of Identifying Information. A second degree felony carries a penalty range between two and twenty years in prison or community supervision up to ten years.
After the state rested its case, the Defendant changed her plea to guilty and received a sentence of ten years in TDCJID (Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Institutional Division), probated for 10 years.
Meanwhile, in the 392nd District Court during the same week as Ms. Schlicht was tried in the 173rd, assistant district attorneys Danny Cox and Jessica Bargmann began a retrial of The State of Texas v. Jamie Dean Boswell, for the third degree felony offense of Assault (Family violence). The penalty range was enhanced to that of a second degree felony by virtue of a previous felony conviction. The case had originally been tried in late January, but resulted in a mistrial.
On the second day of the retrial, the Defendant changed his plea to guilty in exchange for a five year prison sentence.
“I’m really proud of the hard work and long hours that our assistant D.A.’s have been putting in the last several months”, said District Attorney Mark Hall. “Dan Hunt has been with us for less than a year, and Elizabeth Miles just came on board at the beginning of February, so to say that they have ‘hit the ground running’ would be an understatement. But they, along with all our other assistant D.A.s have done a fantastic job. I couldn’t be more pleased, and am fortunate to have such a great staff of lawyers, investigators and support personnel.”
“I also want to thank the people of Henderson County that make up our venire panels and juries. It can be a real burden in terms of time and emotion to sit on a jury, but it is one of the most important aspects of a well-functioning criminal justice system,” said Hall.
Things won’t be slowing down anytime soon, as several additional cases are scheduled for trial well into summer, in all three Henderson County District Courts.