Aug. 15
TEXAS:
Dallas County jurors hear case for death row in Christian music producer's
killing
Prosecutors continued putting on a case Friday to persuade a Dallas County
jury to send a man who admitted killing two Christian music producers to
death row.
Jurors heard testimony that James Broadnax belongs to a gang and has
broken the rules in the Dallas County Jail while awaiting trial.
Broadnax, 20, confessed in multiple media interviews to killing Stephen
Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, in June 2008 as they left their Garland
studio. Then, prosecutors say, Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings,
stole Swan's tan Ford Crown Victoria.
The same jury found James Broadnax guilty of capital murder on Wednesday
in the killing and robbery of Swan. A second capital murder charge is
pending.
Cummings, 20, is also charged, but his trial date has not been set.
Dallas police gang detective Barrett Nelson testified that he began
looking into a gang Broadnax mentioned in at least one media interview and
in multiple writings at the request of prosecutor David Alex.
"Yeah, he's representing us," Nelson said about what other gang members
would think when they saw the gang sign he made in the interview.
Nelson testified that Broadnax made a gang sign in the interview and shows
his allegiance to gang life in his writings and drawings. Before and after
his arrest, Broadnax wrote rap about murder, selling drugs and not leaving
witnesses to crimes.
Jurors have also heard that Broadnax has gotten into fights and that
jailers found contraband in his cell, including a razor blade, a pill and
pornographic pictures inside a Bible.
Prosecutors do not plan to call more witnesses and are expected to rest
their case Monday morning. Defense attorneys then will begin calling
witnesses to ask jurors to sentence Broadnax to life without parole.
(source: Dallas Morning News)