An Innocent victim of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Injustice System

08/04/2004

Shelia Stephens
901 Aspen Drive
Desoto, TX 75115
972-228-4560

To whom it may concern:

                 My name is Shelia Stephens I am writing to you in regards of my husband Larry Stephens who was wrongfully convicted in Collin County. We use to live in Allen, TX at 1604 Wagon Wheel Dr. on February 25,2003 Larry, our two younger kids an myself were watching a movie on TV our younger daughter look out the window and said mama someone is messing with your car I jump up and ran outside and got in my car, my husband was in the door way calling 911 the police came out and told me to get out of my car and the officer followed me in and at that point the officers made all of us sit in our living area the officers told us the repo people said that Larry pull out a gun and threatened to shoot them we told the officers that was not true and the officer ask us if we owned a gun we said yes they ask could they see the gun I ask why they said the repo people described the gun but when I ask how did they say the gun looked the officers told me I need to show them the gun because they had a search warrant at that point I showed the officers were the gun was at the officer took the gun outside and showed it to the repo people, then the officer came in and told the other officer to cuff him he's going to jail the repo people said that was the gun he pulled on them.

 The officers took Larry to jail and charged him with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Larry stayed in jailed three days because of the bad weather the judge did not come in. After that we hired James Bush we paid him $1,300 I was not happy with his representation so he withdrew from the case and at that point we hired John C. Hardin he offer Larry two years deferred adjudicated probation and a $500.00 with some community service. We were very unhappy with the 2 years probations that Mr. Hardin offered because Larry was not guilty, and we faxed Mr. Hardin a letter and ask for our money back in the amount of $2,600 that we had paid to him to get another attorney, he said he could not return the money.   We found another attorney by the name of Robert Michael Thomas and  Mr. Thomas stated that he could get Larry a fine and said the worst that could happen is Larry could be offered probation again and he would only charge us $900 to represent Larry.

             Mr. Thomas said That Larry was to go before the judge on 06/20/04 on that date Mr. Thomas told us that Larry should do a jury trial because if the judge finds him guilty he could not give him probation on that same day they started jury selection out of the fifty jury members only one was African American she was on the front row along with a judge out of Plano by the name of Judge John Payton when the D.A Sharon Curtis turn around and saw the one African American on the front row next to judge Payton she ask for a jury shuffle and when they came back  the African American lady was on the 4th row and Judge Payton was still on the  first row, of course the African American lady did not get pick but judge Payton did get pick.

             The next day Mr. Thomas told me he was in AA meaning he had a drinking problem and I was shocked so I call my sister in-law (Eunice Davis) and ask her to call the state bar and check his history she did and we found out he was on a probated suspension and he had a total of three grievance failed on him starting in 1998 after finding that out I went and ask the judge could we find another attorney and he stated no, I needed to be quite because I was a witness and was not suppose to be in the court anyway and that I was to step outside the court room. Mr. Thomas did not get Larry's medical records he did not try to get any information in Larry's defense at all he never got Larry's medical records  I tried to go get them from social security but they would not give them to me without Larry. Mr. Thomas also understood that Larry was disabled but did nothing in his defense.

             Mr. Thomas ask us to bring picture of Larry and the kids we did so, the D.A Sharon Curtis instructed the jury to look past the sympathy meaning the kids and to look at the crystal, oil painting and the craving on the wood, the picture she was talking about was Larry's sister house not our home.  She also told the jury this is not Dallas County, Harris County or L.A County this is Collin County and we do not tolerated those type things. Mr. Thomas also knew that Larry lost his father in 1994 found his mother at home dead on new years day 1/01/1995 at her home and his older brother died in 1998, Larry took an overdose more than once because he could not deal with the deaths and that Larry mind was like a kid that he don't understand things as an adult do. 

              The jury found Larry guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in prison on 06/24/04.

               As of this date the news media refuses to tell our story.  The police did not have a seach warrant when the got the gun and they can not find the 911 tape which would clear my husband.  My husbands medical records which would have helped in his defense were not allowed to be admitted as evidence.

Thank You

Shelia Stephens 

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