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(Editor's Note: Updates are being provided during the day from the trial of Randall Wayne Mays, charged in the May 2007 killings of two Henderson County Sheriff deputies as they responded to a 911 call at his home. More recent updates will be posted at the bottom of this story throughout the day.)

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

ATHENS – The defense team began its case in the Randall Wayne Mays trial this morning by asking the court to allow certain witnesses to testify in areas dealing with mental illness, despite an earlier motion to keep the subject out of the guilt / innocence phase of the trial.

Bobby Mims, the lead attorney on the defense side, said he believed it may be possible to finish their case by noon tomorrow.

Mays, wearing a brown suit after three days of wearing black, sat quietly waiting for Judge Carter Tarrance to make his ruling.

Mays could face the death penalty if convicted of the May 17, 2007 shooting deaths of Tony Price Ogburn and Paul Habelt, both deputies with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.

The two men were shot and killed and another deputy was injured during a domestic disturbance call on Crawfish Ranch Road.

Tarrance said he would rule on whether or not the defense team could delve into mental illness in the guilt / innocence phase after the cross examination of Deputy Billy Jack Valentine.

Texas Attorney General Prosecutor Wesley Mau said the state objects to the defense being allowed to bring up the mental illness issue in this portion of the trial.

“Its going to be apparent to the jury that this training they (the deputies involved in the shooting) were given predominantly deals with mental illness.”

Judge Tarrance said the scope of mental illness was very broad, as Mims said he wants to use the training the officers received in dealing with domestic disputes.

Brian Ruthven, director of East Texas Police Academy in Kilgore, testified about crisis intervention training that several of the first responding law officers received just days before the shooting.

Mims produced the transcripts of Valentine, Dewayne Sanders and Eric Ward for the Intermediate Crisis Prevention training course 3841 that the deputies took. Ruthven said the deputies passed the course, according the records.

Next Mims called Brownsboro Police Chief Ron Shields, who taught the course. Shields did not want to testify, but due to the subpoena, he had to testify.

Shields said he worked for Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for 22 years. He told the jurors that he is a certified Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

Shields said a mentally distressed person is four times more likely to be killed by police than the average individual, and it could overlap to include persons involved in domestic dispute situations. He said the course teaches officers how to deal with mentally distressed people and how to calm situations where the person is upset.

Mims asked if Shields taught a course days before the shooting and if he remembered the deputies attending. Shields said he taught the course and remembered two of the deputies, but couldn’t remember the others.

Shields said it was his opinion the officer must decide when to use force to ensure officers' safety.

“You have to try and calm them down,” he said.

Shields said mentally unstable people could be hearing voices and not even know the officer is talking to them. He said active listening is one of the most important tool officers can use to evaluate the situation.

“Sometimes we don’t listen like we should,” he said. But he continued by saying that each situation is different.

Mau, on the cross examination, asked if the course dealt with mentally distressed or any other person with a firearm. Shields answered, “Whenever weapons are involved, this training pretty much goes out the window.”

He added if a person was separated from a weapon, police should use any means necessary to keep that person from obtaining the weapon again.

When asked if he had looked at any of the officers’ reports in the case, Shields took a moment and then in between sobs said, “I haven’t had the heart to look at any of that.”

Mims called Valentine back to the stand and cross examined the deputy. He asked Valentine if he had attended a memorial for fallen police officers the day of the shooting, and the deputy said he directed the memorial.

Valentine said in 1999 he was pulling out of his driveway and a car came off the road and almost struck his vehicle. He said that he followed the car in plain clothes and when the vehicle stopped he identified himself as a peace officer. He said the person then hit him and the two began fighting. He pointed to Mays as being the person who fought him.

Valentine said Mays was known to law enforcement because they had been to the home several times.

Mims questioned the deputy about the day and how everything was calm and courteous until Valentine attempted to read Mays his rights.

Valentine said as he grabbed Mays when he ran, the man used a knife in an attempt to cut him to get away from the deputy.

Mims then began playing portions of the dashboard video of the shooting again to question Valentine on his client’s demeanor throughout the incident.

During the time Valentine was waiting to hear if Mays had any felony convictions, Mays and Ogburn have a conversation about it being a beautiful day.

Then as Valentine told Mays he had to read him his rights, Mays runs, slashes with a knife and then grabs the rifle once inside the house.

“Athens, he has a gun outside right now,” Valentine shouts. “Athens, get me some more help. Athens, he’s pointing a gun at us.”

On the tape, Mays keeps saying that they (deputies) killed his three brothers, and they just want to kill him.

Valentine testified he did not know about what Mays was talking about until later. The deputy testified that one of Mays' brothers was executed for murder, one was shot and killed during a burglary and another died of an overdose.

Updated Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. CDT

Texas Department of Criminal Justice records indicate that a Noble Mays was executed in 1995 for stabbing a Wichita Falls man to death in 1979 during a robbery.

Mims asked why Valentine called for a negotiator, and the deputy said it was standard practice when there was a subject barricaded in a home with weapons.
Valentine said he believed Mays knew that he was going to be arrested and just didn’t want to go to jail.

Mims asked about some of the wild rants made by Mays, and he said he thought Mays knew what he was talking about.

Valentine told jurors that he tried to get Mays out of the house safely. He also explained the Johnny Cash tune “Walk the Line” playing in the background as being his cell phone ring tone that his son downloaded to “Keep his heat next to mine.”

Valentine said the reason he was unable to prevent Mays from returning to the house to the guns was because he tripped on a water hose.

Mims asked if it was a fair statement that if Valentine could have stopped Mays, it would have all been over with then and Mays would have been in custody.

Valentine said, “If I could have stopped him, then yes.”

Mims asked if there were a lot of things wrong out at the scene that day.

“We’ve got two deputies dead. That’s what’s wrong,” Valentine replied as he stared at the defense lawyer.

Updated Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 12:11 p.m. CDT

Henderson County District Attorney Donna Bennett asked why Valentine called for a negotiator, and he said because they had more experience in dealing with that kind of situations.

She then asked why he continued talking to Mays after he called for a negotiator, and he said to keep open lines of communication.

“You try to keep it going, and I have been doing this a long time, and I have talked people out,” he said.

Bennett asked Valentine if analyzed what he and the other deputies did out there and if anything could have changed.

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

Mims on cross asked if there was really any reasoning with Mays that day, and Valentine said Mays was reasonable up until the shooting.

Valentine it wasn’t reasonable for anyone to run in the house and start shooting at police.

Upon return from a lunch recess, Judge Tarrance asked Mims what the purpose of him admitting testimony from mental health professionals who have been treating Mays for the past 10 months for what he called paranoia.

Mims said “intentionally and knowingly” are needed in the state to be convicted of murder. He added further that the state of mind could be used in the defense. The prosecution objected, saying they believed the testimony about Mays would only confuse the jury.

“I believe there is ample and sufficient evidence that this man has a mental illness,” Mims said.

Tarrance told Mims to call his witnesses outside the presence of the jury so he could rule whether to allow their testimony.

Dr. Theresa Vail, a Tyler psychiatrist, testified that she has treated Mays since he was incarcerated and that she had prescribed both anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications.

“He has thought disorder. He had thoughts that people were trying to poison him or hurt him in jail,” she said. Dr. Vail said she did not know how long Mays had suffered from the psychotic disorder.

On cross-examination, Mau asked if it was true that the doctor was told by Mays of the fixed and false beliefs he was suffering, and she said it was.

“Randall believed someone was putting something in his food,” she said.

Dr. Vail said she believed Mays was able to carry out a plan and able to understand the consequences of his actions, adding that Mays expressed fears of black officers in the jail.

Gilda Kessner, a forensic psychologist hired by the defense, told the court she has never seen Mays, but had looked at records of the incident, including records of Mays' two hospitalizations at Terrell State Hospital.

Using those records, the videotapes and the interviews of deputies on the scene, Ms. Kessner said in her opinion, Mays suffered from a paranoid issue during the incident.

She said there may be times when he is calm and other times when the problem is exacerbated.

Mims asked if she thought Mays was in a psychotic state during the shooting.

“His verbalizations indicate the paranoia was very active,” she said.

Ms. Kessner said that the tape indicated that Mays did not trust Valentine, and as long as the deputy remained in the forefront of the situation, he withdrew inward even more.

Ms. Kessner said her opinion was that Mays knew what he was doing, but was under the influence of his delusional processes.

When asked by Mau if Mays knowingly or intentionally took Ogburn’s life, she could not offer any testimony to say he did not.

Mau said Kessner’s testimony did not serve to clear up the issue of Mays’ state of mind. Judge Tarrance then asked Kessner if Mays was insane, and she replied she had not tested him.

Updated Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. CDT