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May 9, 2008

Defense: Mays suffers from paranoia

Judge to decide if jury can hear testimony

By Angela Weatherford

The jury in the Randall Wayne Mays capital murder trial sat in the jury room all afternoon Thursday while the prosecution and defense argued over Mays’ mental state.

Mays’ defense team, led by Bobby Mims of Tyler, asked 392nd District Court Judge Carter Tarrance to allow testimony of two psychiatrists who would testify to Mays’ state of mind during the May 17, 2007, shooting and afterward.

Mims said Mays’ mental state wasn’t going to be used as a defense, but as evidence.

“The jury will make whatever decision they will,” he said. “This is not going to confuse them. It will help to clarify.”

Mays is being tried for the murder of Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Tony Ogburn, 61. If convicted Mays could receive either life in prison or the death penalty.

He pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Ogburn and Investigator Paul Habelt, 63, were fatally shot a year ago this month at the Mays residence in the Payne Springs area during a standoff.

Tarrance informed the lawyers he would make a decision about the witnesses Thursday afternoon. That decision is expected to be known Friday morning.

Psychiatrists Dr. Theresa Vail and Dr. Gilda Kessner testified outside the presence of the jury that Mays has a “paranoid thought disorder” causing him to believe people are “out to get him.”

Vail — who has treated Mays during his time at the Smith County Jail — said Mays wouldn’t take the medicine she prescribed him because he was afraid people were trying to poison him.

“He thought the black officers were out to get him and were plotting against him,” she said.

However, both psychiatrists also said Mays — even with paranoia — could knowingly pull the trigger on a gun and shoot someone.

“He can form a plan to carry out an action and would be able to know the consequences of that action,” Vail said.

Although Kessner has not personally examined Mays she has studied documentation provided to her by the defense. She said she holds the opinion that Mays is never free of his disorder.

Wes Mau, an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s Office who is assisting Henderson County District Attorney Donna Bennett with the prosecution of the case, said the defense will try to argue in its closing statements that Mays is not guilty because he was paranoid at the time he shot Ogburn and Habelt.

The defense also called HCSD Deputy Billy Jack Valentine back to the stand Thursday.

During his testimony, Valentine said one of Mays’ brothers was executed for capital murder and another was shot during a burglary.

Valentine also testified to an encounter with Mays in 1999 when he pulled Mays over for reckless driving and then was punched in the head by the defendant.

Bennett asked Valentine if he felt he could have done anything different on May 17.

“The only thing I could have changed is if I’d shot earlier,” he answered. “I did everything in my power to end it peacefully. All he had to do was come out.”

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