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Expert’ witnesses disagreeCox News Service 'ORANGE — Prosecutors Thursday presented a Dallas forensic psychiatrist to testify that convictedmurderer Robert King “Bubba” Conway Jr. islikely to commit future acts of violence, while an expert witness for the defense testified Conway did not fit into that category.Jurors spent much of the day listening to testimony in the punishment phase of Conway’s . capital murder trial.Conway, a 20-year-old from Pinehurst, was found guilty Wednesday of the slaying last December ofWilliam Hoke, owner of Hoke’s Exxoh on Interstate 10 here.Jurors must now decide whether Conway is likely to commit future violent acts that would represent a threat to society. If so, 128th District Judge PatClark would sentence Conway to death. Otherwise, he would sentence Conway to life in prison.Dr. Clyde Griffith of Dallas, a forensic psychiatrist for more than 20 years, testified for theprosecution.He said he could determine whether a person represented a future threat to society by looking over the crime file and examining a number of factors concerning the crime itself.He told jurors that a person who would commit a crime according to the scenario described in Hoke’s killing, in which the man was strangled by a garrote and severely beaten, would constitute a threat tosociety.“This was an execution type of murder,’’ he said, noting three offensive type weapons were used — the garrote. something with which Hoke was beaten and a telephone cord, which also was found wrapped around Hoke’s neck.He said there were signs of “overkill,” addingthat the individual who committed the crime “liked to kill and wanted to kill.”The defense presented its own expert in the formof Dr. Jerry Landrum, a forensic psychologist fromVidor. Landrum testified he had been in the fieldsince 1960. In this case, he said he examined notonly crime pictures from the Hoke killing butadministered a personality and ink blot test to Conway.He said the tests were to determine obvious signs of hostility or aggression and belligerence that would put Conway into the category of people whocould be generally predicted to be violent in the future.Based on his study of Conway, Landrum said there was “nothing consistent” with the defendant and the large group of repeat offenders with whom he has worked over the years.Conway, he said, did not fit into the category of people predicted .to be violent in the future.Jurors will hear final arguments in the punishment phase Friday, then begin deliberations to determine his likelihood of committing future violent acts.
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Port Arthur News
Port Arthur, Texas, US
Fri, Aug 01, 1986
Page 3
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Jared T.
NA, NA 22 Feb 2023
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