KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Kaufman County 422nd District Judge B. Michael Chitty denied a motion for retrial for 34-year-old Warren Ray Patton Jr. who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for manslaughter.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Kaufman County 422nd District Judge B. Michael Chitty denied a motion for retrial for 34-year-old Warren Ray Patton Jr. who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for manslaughter.
Patton was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Kaufman County jury on September 11, 2014, after being found guilty on September 7, 2014, for manslaughter in a 2012 head-on collision which killed 40-year-old off-duty Dallas County Constable Guy Farley of Crandall, Texas.
Patton was indicted for intoxicated manslaughter and manslaughter and ultimately only convicted for manslaughter after the defense successfully suppressed state’s evidence and called into question a blood draw taken at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
In a hearing today, Patton’s new defense attorney Dan Wood sought a retrial based on the first defense’s objection to testimony from Parkland Hospital Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Steve Gibbs who testified about Patton’s blood alcohol level and the effects of extrapolation to determine Patton’s blood alcohol level at the time of the accident despite the jury not finding Patton guilty of intoxication manslaughter.
Additionally, defense attorney Brandi Fernandez, who represented Patton in his first trial, stated in a sworn affidavit a juror feared retaliation from two individuals in the courtroom because they knew where she worked. The state objected and said the statements were hearsay.
Judge Chitty denied Patton’s motion for a retrial. It is unknown if Patton will seek an appeal with a higher court at the time of press.
