Juror Excused for Letter in Dragging Death
JASPER, Texas — A prospective juror in the trial of a white man accused of dragging a black man to death was excused Tuesday after disclosing that a relative received letters from the defendant laced with racist remarks.
Donald Halmon, a construction worker, was one of seven people released from jury service in the murder trial of John William King, the first of three white men to be tried in the June 7 slaying of James Byrd Jr.
King, Shawn Allen Berry and Lawrence Russell Brewer are accused of killing Byrd, 49, because he was black. The men allegedly beat him, chained him to a pickup truck and dragged him for 2 1/2 miles, tearing his right arm and head from his body.
Halmon told attorneys his step-granddaughter, Michelle Chapman, received letters from King that espoused anti-black views. Chapman is one of 48 people subpoenaed as potential witnesses in the trial.
Chapman is one of several girls King contacted by letter while he was imprisoned from 1995 to 1997 for violating probation in a 1992 burglary, authorities said.
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