Published: May 07, 2008 09:12 am      

Jurors view dramatic shootout video

Killings not seen, but audio stirs emotions at Mays trial

Emotions ran high during the second day of arguments in the capital murder trial of Randall Wayne Mays with the viewing of a video and autopsy photos.

The day began with testimony from Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Billy Jack Valentine — among the first officers dispatched to a domestic violence call at Mays’ residence in Payne Springs on May 17, 2007. It was on that day that 61-year-old Tony Ogburn and 63-year-old Investigator Paul Habelt were shot and killed.

If convicted Mays could receive life in prison or the death penalty.

He pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Valentine — who was trapped between the windows from which Mays was shooting — said he heard the last shot from the window on his left side.

“I heard a thump (after the gunshot), looked back, and saw red in the air around my car and a cowboy hat flying,” he said.

The hat belonged to Ogburn.

“I started crying,” Valentine said while fighting tears on the stand.

He then heard a fellow officer, Kevin Hanes, yell for him to run for cover behind a shed on the property, he said.

“Paul was looking over the top of a truck telling me which way to go,” he said, “and then he gets shot.”

In an hour-long dashboard video shown to the jury Tuesday, Valentine can be heard sobbing loudly over the deaths of his colleagues.

The video — which doesn’t show much, but provides audio of the incident — left many people in the courtroom in tears.

Valentine can be heard in the video talking to both Mays and his wife, Candace. Candace Mays can be heard yelling at Valentine and saying he is not needed.

Deputies Eric Ward and Dwayne Sanders arrived near the same time as Valentine. Sanders drove to a neighbor of Mays who had called in the disturbance to the sheriff’s department.

During this time, Mays is heard on the tape telling Valentine his wife was sexually attacked and that she needed some help. Valentine then called Sanders, who told him the neighbors would press charges if Mays was arrested.

Valentine walked over to Mays and said, “Don’t make this any harder than it’s gonna be.”

“His face changed,” Valentine testified, “and he started backing away.”

According to Valentine, Mays ran toward the house, but Valentine grabbed his shirt.

“He began slashing at me with a knife and the shirt ripped,” Valentine said.

Ward, who was also at the scene, told the jury he did not remember seeing Mays with a knife.

Defense lawyer Bobby Mims of Tyler questioned both Hanes and Ward about training for police officers in a crisis situation. He also pointed out officers had attended a crisis intervention training on May 7, 2007 — 10 days before the shooting.

When Hanes arrived at the scene he said he saw Mays standing outside his house talking to Deputy Kevin Harris.

Hanes said he observed Valentine slowly moving toward Mays.

“It appeared to me that he was trying to get between Mays and the open window,” he said.

Mays looked back at Valentine, turned and jumped head-first into the window he had crawled out of minutes earlier.

Mims asked Hanes if the incident would have had a different ending if Valentine hadn’t tried to approach Mays.

“I don’t see anything law enforcement did wrong,” he said. “The last thing you want to have happen is for them to have access to the weapons.”

Arguments are scheduled to continue Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.