Posted 11:54 pm Thursday, June 04, 2009
Closing Arguments Made In Stalking Trial; Judge To Return Verdict
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
After hearing two days of evidence, 7th District Judge Kerry Russell said Wednesday he would take about a week to rule on whether a 26-year-old Waskom man is guilty of stalking a Tyler woman, threatening her for four years with repeated phone calls and text messages.
Harmon Lee Manuel II remains out of jail on bond on the third-degree felony stalking charge, which carries a punishment range of two to 10 years in prison. He opted to have Russell hear the evidence and decide his guilt or innocence instead of having a jury trial.
Cidney Legg testified that from 2003 through 2007, she received repeated calls -- often more than 100 a day and up to as many as 500 per day -- from Manuel, as well as text messages, some including threats to kill her. She contacted three different law enforcement agencies, including the Smith County Sheriff's Office, because she was afraid Manuel might do something to her, she said.
In some of the voicemails, Manuel said he was coming to her house and that she belonged to him, she said. He referred to himself as her boyfriend although he never was, she said.
Ms. Legg said Manuel posted profiles on her Myspace page and threatened to put her personal information, such as her Social Security Number and address, on the Internet. Manuel referred to himself in some messages as her Myspace profile manager.
The indictment states that Manuel made threatening calls and text messages to Ms. Legg on eight days in August, June and July 2006.
Smith County Sheriff Detective Ira Earls said they tried to locate Manuel several times when he told the victim he was coming to Tyler. He said they worked with Ms. Legg to bring him into custody.
Ms. Legg text messaged Manuel to meet her at a Tyler restaurant.
Former Tyler Police Officer Russell Richardson said he spotted Manuel driving near the restaurant on Aug. 20, 2006, and arrested him after Manuel pulled into a nearby apartment complex.
Jessica Riley, Crystal Brewer and Kellie Everett, all friends of the victim, testified Manuel contacted them.
Ms. Riley said she received an e-mail in 2006 from "Cidney's profile manager" telling her to take a picture of Ms. Legg and a man off of her Myspace page or watch what would happen to her. He threatened to put Ms. Legg's personal information on the Internet and said he would find out her new cell phone number after she changed it. He also told Ms. Riley he wouldn't leave Ms. Legg alone until she saw him because "she belongs to me."
Ms. Brewster received an e-mail in June 2006 from a sender listed as "Mike," which said he would have Ms. Legg's new cell phone number very soon. He said he was angry with Ms. Legg, she would not be left alone and she would learn her lesson. "If she got a restraining order, I might not be able to come near her, but a bullet can," the e-mail stated.
Ms. Everett said she saw Manuel once and he gave her a ring to give to Ms. Legg.
Leigh Ann Roberts, the victim's mother, said from the time Ms. Legg was a junior and senior in high school, until her sophomore year in college, Manuel called her repeatedly when she lived with her parents in Tyler. She said she was concerned for her daughter's safety and she had to change Ms. Legg's cell phone number two or three times and put it under a false name.
Mrs. Roberts received an e-mail in August 2006 from "Cidney's boyfriend's personal assistant publisher," which said "Cidney's boyfriend" made the decision to not let Ms. Legg have her voicemail box because no one should call her of he couldn't see her. He said Ms. Legg would also be his girlfriend and she would come to realize that; he would remind her all day, every day, Mrs. Roberts said.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance said Manuel stalked Ms. Legg, ruining her year in college and ruining her parents' lives. He said Manuel e-mailed the victim's brother, stating that no one could prove he said or wrote any threats so they couldn't prove he threatened her. Vance said the defense's only argument is "you can't say I did it" and the defendant used different names on the computer to send e-mails and text messages but the victim knows his voice and his phone number. He said all of the texts, calls and e-mails mentioned the same things. Manuel also sent e-mails to Ms. Legg's boyfriend threatening to kill Ms. Legg, he said.
Defense attorney F.R. "Buck" Files Jr. said there was nothing to tie the defendant to the e-mails or text messages and the voice mails were never threatening so the state only proved Manuel committed telephone harassment, not stalking.
Defense attorney Brett Harrison said the threatening text messages Ms. Legg received did not include any identifying information of who they were sent from. He asked the judge to find his client not guilty.
"It's a no-win situation," Vance said. "It's an impossible burden they (the defense) want." He said the question was whether a man could stalk a young girl while hiding behind a phone and a computer. He asked the judge to find him guilty of stalking.
Russell said he would review all of his notes and the evidence from the trial and do a "letter ruling," probably in a week or so.
Manuel is also charged with stalking Audrey Brown in 2004. That indictment states that he went to her house and chased her on Dec. 21, 2004 and went to her house again, threatening her on Dec. 27, 2004. He also called her and sent her repeated text messages threatening her on five days in December 2004 and January 2005, the indictment states.
