Mentally ill man found guilty again after 35 years in prison

A mentally ill Texas man imprisoned for more than 35 years despite his original murder conviction being overturned was found guilty a second time on Wednesday.

Jerry Hartfield, 59, was convicted of murder in the September 1976 slaying of 55-year-old Eunice Lowe, who sold tickets at the bus station in Bay City, Houston.

The sentencing phase will begin Thursday, the judge said. Prosecutors said Hartfield faces five to 99 years in prison or a life sentence, but said before the trial that he could be immediately eligible for parole because of time served. 

Jurors decided against a conviction of capital murder, which carried an automatic sentence of life in prison. Neither the defense attorneys nor the prosecutors would comment on the verdict, though the two defense attorneys fist-bumped after the jurors were let out of the courtroom.

 

At a hearing last Friday, a psychologist testified Hartfield's IQ is 67, below the threshold of 70 considered mental impairment. Lisa Tanner, an assistant Texas attorney general assisting prosecutors, told jurors that Hartfield 'butchered' Lowe 'for a little bit of money.'

Evidence showed nearly $3,000 and Lowe's car were taken, and the car was recovered in Houston only after Hartfield told investigators where they could find it. Testimony in the trial showed the woman was beaten with a pickaxe that left her fatally wounded and that her attacker had sex with her after she was dead.

 

'It's about what he did to that sweet lady,' Tanner said. 'She didn't deserve it.'

 

Hartfield's lead attorney, Jay Wooten, had said during closing arguments that missing and shaky evidence and a questionable confession should be enough to keep him from being convicted again.

 

The defense also had suggested Hartfield shouldn't be convicted of capital murder because the robbery was an afterthought and not directly related to the killing. 'A lot of things are missing from this case,' Wooten said. 'Like anything you have at your home since 1976, there are parts missing, there are parts that no longer fit.'