Posted 12:59 am Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Randall Wayne Mays Sentence Expected Today
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
ATHENS - The jurors have listened to testimony for a week, and today they will be given the case to decide if Randall Wayne Mays will spend life behind bars or be sent to Death Row.
Staff Writer
ATHENS - The jurors have listened to testimony for a week, and today they will be given the case to decide if Randall Wayne Mays will spend life behind bars or be sent to Death Row.
During his opening remarks in the sentencing phase of the trial Monday, defense attorney Bobby Mims told jury members he is not offering excuses, but an explanation as to why his client killed two Henderson County Sheriff deputies.
Mays was convicted Friday of capital murder for the death of deputy Tony Price Ogburn during a standoff stemming from a domestic dispute. He is also accused of killing Investigator Paul Hablet and injuring Lt. Kevin Harris during the incident last May.
"Folks, we know there is going to be a death sentence in this case. The question is whether or not it will be death as a result of life in prison or a death carried out by lethal injection," Mims said.
PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION
Dr. Theresa Vail, a Tyler psychiatrist, testified she met Mays while treating him at the Smith County Jail where she is under contract to treat inmates.
During her first meeting with Mays, she said she saw a person suffering from such severe depression that he could not take care of himself. He was also suffering from psychotic episodes where he was hearing voices and seeing things that other people did not see.
"He does have a severe mental illness," she testified after a direct question from the defense.
Texas Attorney General Prosecutor Wesley Mau asked Dr. Vail how Mays seemed on her last visit with him.
"When I did speak to him last he was very delusional but polite," she said.
Mau asked Dr. Vail if a person, such as Mays, having psychosis would go from a cordial conversation to feeling threatened.
"It depends on what was said," she replied.
She testified the best prediction of future behavior was past behavior.
She testified the best prediction of future behavior was past behavior.
Mau asked if a person with Mays' kind of symptoms was closer to the dangerous or non-dangerous side in stressful incidents and the doctor said the more dangerous side.
"I believe with certainty Mr. Mays suffers from chronic delusional thinking," Dr. David Self said.
Self, a forensic psychiatrist, said he believed the illness was the reason the shooting occurred and that, when officers charged, Mays perceived that as a threat. The action triggered the psychosis and led to the shootings, Self said.
Self said Mays' two-acre home site was his sanctuary.
In cross-examination, Mau asked if Self had ever testified about the future danger of a person who could face the death penalty. Self said he would have liked to have interviewed Mays, but looked at all of the records.
"I cannot make a formal diagnosis of a person I haven't seen," he said.
When Mays was taken to Terrell State Hospital, it took five officers to get him into the vehicle. Mau asked if that showed Mays would continue having problems with uniformed officers.
"Those things are a concern but they are manageable with medications," Self said.
Mau then asked if Mays wasn't taking his medications if he could again have problems with authority, and the doctor said yes.
On redirect, Mims asked if the mental problems contributed to the slaying of the officers.
"I do not think that the capital murder would have occurred on that day if Randall Mays didn't suffer the mental illness that he does," he said.
FAMILY ASKS TO SPARE MAYS
Mays' stepdaughter, Christina White, testified she recalled one incident in which Mays attempted to reach into the television to apparently strangle a person who had slapped a woman on a television show.
"I don't remember what show it was but he got all quiet and was trying to, like, strangle the person," she said.
Other family members said Mays' personality could change so quickly and that, at many times, the only indication a change was imminent was a change in facial expressions.
Linda Ross, one of Mays' sisters, said Randall was her only living brother.
"He is a good man who did a terrible thing," she said.
Ms. Ross told the jury that she and Mays did drugs together.
Mims asked if they had a stable home life growing up. She responded by asking, what is "stable?"
Dorothy Hillis testified when her son's personality changed he would "get a wild look in his eyes."
"He is a good man, a loving father, he loved children and always played with the nieces and nephews and would always give the shirt off his back," she said.
Mims said it was a possibility her son could be sentenced to die.
"How is that going to make you feel?" he asked the woman.
"I have kept this private ..." she said, sobbing and then breaking down.
Walking from the courtroom, she looked at her son with tears streaming down her face, and mouthed she loved him.
"I love you, Mama," Mays said back.
The trial is expected to resume this morning at 9 a.m.
The trial is expected to resume this morning at 9 a.m.
