By Matthew Jackson
CENTERVILLE — A jury of seven women and five men heard testimony from six witnesses, including three Texas Department of Criminal Justice offenders, during the opening day of the capital murder trial of Jerry Duane Martin at the Leon County Courthouse in Centerville on Thursday.
The day begin with a reading of Martin’s indictment by a Walker County grand jury by Walker County District Attorney David Weeks, followed by Weeks’ opening statement, in which he gave a brief summation of the incident that led to the death TDCJ Officer Susan Canfield during Martin and fellow inmate John Ray Falk’s Sept. 2007 escape from Huntsville’s Wynne Unit.
“We will ask you to return the verdict of guilty of capital murder against Jerry Duane Martin,” Weeks said at the close of his statement.
Martin’s defense team, led by William Carter, deferred their opening statement.
The first witness of the day was Susan Canfield’s husband, Charles Canfield.
Canfield, a retired Houston police officer, was visibly emotional when he was asked to recall how he met his wife, as well as the day he learned of her death.
While questioned by Walker County Assistant District Attorney Jack Choate, Canfield recalled his wife’s love of horses, as well as her strong horsemanship abilities and her love of her work at TDCJ.
The defense declined to cross examine Canfield.
The second witness was TDCJ Sgt. Larry Grissom, who was head of the field squad of which Canfield was a member.
Using aerial photographs of the onion and pepper patches outside the Wynne Unit where the escape took place, Choate asked Grissom to give a detailed recollection of the events leading up to the escape, as well as the events during the escape, Canfield’s death, and the immediate response by TDCJ officials.
Specific attention was given to the moment of Canfield’s death, when a City of Huntsville truck driven by Martin struck the horse she was riding.
Canfield was thrown from the horse and struck the windshield and hood of the car before landing on her head in the parking lot of the City Service Center, suffering severe skull fractures.
In the days leading up to the start of the trail, Weeks emphasized the importance of proving that Martin had an “intent to kill” when he struck Canfield.
Defense attorney William Carter then cross-examined Grissom.
Third to the stand was Joe Jeffcoat, a former TDCJ employee who was overpowered by Martin and Falk during the escape. Martin initially approached Jeffcoat and asked him to hold his broken watch, at which time both Martin and Falk assaulted him.
Martin attempted to grab Jeffcoat’s service revolver, and eventually succeeded, while Falk attempted to throw Jeffcoat from his horse.
Questioned by Choate, Jeffcoat gave a detailed account of his efforts to defend himself against Martin and Falk, and detailed his observations of the crash that killed Canfield. He was first at her side after the impact.
“I just can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Jeffcoat said when recalling the moment he saw Canfield’s body. “She wasn’t there anymore.”
Jeffcoat underwent disciplinary hearings following the incident and was later dismissed from TDCJ. He was cross-examined by Carter.
The final three witnesses were all TDCJ inmates present in the onion and pepper patches at the time of the incident. Samuel Alexander, Terrence Wright and Jonathan Gomez all gave brief testimonies near the end of Thursday’s session.
Particular attention was paid to Gomez, who was questioned by an investigator for the defense in the weeks leading up to the trial.
Carter read aloud several of the claims he made in his statements to the investigator, among them that he heard the sound of squealing brakes shortly before Canfield was struck by the truck, and that he did not see Canfield fire any shots during the incident, though her service revolver was found to be emptied of all rounds by TDCJ investigators.
The defense also questioned Alexander and Gomez as to whether or not they had been approached and questioned by the district attorney’s office prior to the trial. Both replied that they had not and had only been notified of their court appearance Thursday morning.
Throughout the day, several members of the Canfield family sat near the front of the courtroom, several of them wearing medallions bearing Canfield’s photograph.
Martin, dressed in a dark blue suit, was largely expressionless throughout the proceedings.
State District Court Judge Kenneth H. Keeling of the 278th District Court dismissed the court shortly before 5 p.m. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. today.
