Another Intresting Trial

Last week I sat through a trial that had a few surprises. It's one of the things I like about covering court cases, because that's when all the details about a case are made public, but you have to be sitting in court to hear themt.
It was Terry Hall last week, in the 104th District Court. He was the guy who, in July of 2009, planned a home invasion robbery. He got three other people to go to an elderly man’s house and rob him. A womea knocked on the door of the elderly man's home. His name is Leon Black.
When Mr. Black looked to see who was knocking, it was a womea at the door with flowers. Thinking the flowers were for his wife, Mr. Black opened the door. That's when two others pushed their way in his home and made him get on the floor and robbed him, at gun point.
The surprise in this case was, robbing Mr. Black was not the original plan. The plan was to hold Mr. Black's wife for ransom. They were going to make Mr. Black go to the bank and pull out some money to get his wife back. What the four did not know is, Mr. Black's wife had recently died, and that is why he thought the flowers were for her, when the women knocked on his door. Terry Hall was realtor who had recently shown Mr. Black some property. So Mr. Black was targeted. Another surprise in this case, Terry Hall used to work for an agency that investigated crimes against the elderly. A point the prosecution made during the trial. Hall got 25 years for his crime, the other three are still awaiting trial.
Today in the 42nd District Court, a jury is being picked for a sexual assault trial. The defendant's name is Jose Villareal and he is charged with sexual assault. He is accused of breaking into a home of an elderly Abilene woman and raping her. I hear there are supposed to be a few surprises in this trial as well. If I hear them I will tell you about them on the news. Keep watching.

Here Comes the Summer Slump

I have now reached my two year mark, (hold the applause and the rotten tomatoes, please) and I've learned a lot about Abilene, the news, and about myself.

Skipping the deep reflection part, because honestly who cares, I will quickly point this out: Here Comes the Summer Slump!

So far the summers are feast or famine for news. Case in point, last summer, we were creeping along "scrapping the bottom of the barrel" as I frequently refer to it, and then the "flood" came. In a matter of weeks in July, we had the double homicide and the arrests that followed, and then a number of other crimes follow right behind.

It was enough to keep us working, and then it dried up! Like that, the cases were wrapped up, arrests were made, and life in the crime beat slowed down...to a slow crawl. Back to the barrel!

So this summer, I'm hoping to skip the point of frustration of admitting to my producer "There is nothing happening, today" and get the real stories out there, because as you and I both know, there is always something happening in our town. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for more crimes (especially as bad as the ones we covered last summer), I'm just wanting more stories.

Will you help me? Leave me ideas, tips, and problems.