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Jury finds Shuffield
guilty of murder
March 2002
NEW BOSTON, Texas-Jurors in the trial of Chris
Wayne Shuffield found him guilty Friday of
capital murder for the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old
U.S. Air Force veteran.
Shuffield, 22, now faces the possibility of
life in prison or the death penalty.
Jurors will return Monday to the 102nd District
Court in Bowie County as they consider the
Texarkana man's fate.
Shuffield's lawyer said the statements used to
charge his client were based on contrived
statements given by the Bowie County Sheriff's
Department.
Jurors disagreed and found him guilty of
capital murder after an hour of
deliberations, convicting him for the July 28, 2001, shooting
death of Lance Luke Walker of Simms.
Jurors rejected an argument by Shuffield's
defense team that the shooting was not
part of a plan to steal Walker's Dodge pickup truck and the
conviction should be for murder, not
capital murder. Prosecutors countered that
such a conviction would cheapen Walker's
life. Jurors agreed that the intent to kill
Walker was part of a preconceived plan to
steal his truck and escape the area.
As part of the defense strategy, Bill Schubert,
Shuffield's lawyer, attacked the statements
that his client gave Bowie County Sheriff James
Prince at the time of his arrest and later during a formal
interrogation. Shuffield's lawyer argued
that Prince suggested how the murder took place,
when that account was worse than the true story.
Prince said he did no such thing and decried
interrogation tactics of denying a suspect
a lawyer, lying to them or stretching the truth.
"Chris did enough talking afterwards. Chris
told people what he thought they wanted to
hear," Schubert said.
Schubert recalled statements that his client
made that indicated that Walker's shooting
was either because of an argument or simply suddenly
without reason.
While Shuffield's family and friends say that
they do not see him as a murderer, they
also told Prosecuto Al Smith while under cross-examination
that he would not kill someone without having a reason to
do it.
Smith recalled that a gunshot went through the
top of Walker's head after he had already
been shot two other times in the head.
"That's making sure. That's not mad. He has the
side of his head blown off-he doesn't even
know what's coming," Smith said.
Investigators learned that Shuffield and his
brother had been to Walker's home on July
28. he three of them drank some beer, talked, smoked
marijuana and played darts. Walker was found by Sheriff
Prince lying face down with his feet near
the duct tape line on the carpet used for the dart
starting line. He lay with his hands under his body with
two darts nearby.
Shuffield's defense team also attacked the
toxicology report of Walker's autopsy. The
report indicated that Walker had Ritalin in his system. The
defense expert, Dr. Wayne Snodgrass of the University of
Texas Medical School's toxicology
department, said the amounts found in Walker at the
time of his death exceeded the amount usually prescribed
for therapeutic dosages.
Shuffield is an admitted narcotics addict and
lost his wife and child when he refused to
give up drugs, testified Missy Mills, Shuffield's former
wife.
Smith accused Shuffield's team of throwing mud
because that was their only defense.
"(Walker) deserves better. He did nothing wrong,"
Smith said. |
