A former Alief football coach will find out his punishment 24 years after he was twice found guilty of killing his pregnant wife.
Monday will be the first day of the trial for David Temple. There will be opening statements and testimony.
In 1999, Belinda Temple was eight months along in her pregnancy when she was shot in the back of the head. At the time of her death, they had a 3-year-old son together.
Temple Was Found Guilty of Killing Her Twice. Here’s How Things Went Down:
Temple was found guilty in 2007 and given a life sentence. In 2016, while he was still in prison, his conviction was thrown out because prosecutors had hidden evidence. He tried again after three years and was found guilty again.
The tweet below explains the book on the situation:
David Temple Has a Court Date
But when the jury was trying to decide on a sentence, they couldn’t agree on anything and were stuck.
The judge then called a mistrial, which means that a new jury will have to be chosen to decide how to punish him.
It Was Moved to March 2020 Because of Covid-19
“Back in the day, if the jury couldn’t reach a decision as to punishment, the defendant got an entirely new trial, but the legislature thought that was an unfair windfall, and so now anytime the jury is unable to reach a decision as to the jury’s punishment, the defendant only gets a new punishment hearing,” KPRC 2 legal analyst Brian Wice said.
David Temple Lost His Appeal After Being Found Guilty Twice of Killing His Wife
“If this case was being tried today, David Temple would not be eligible for probation because probation is no longer part of the applicable punishment range for murder. But because this case is so old — this crime occurred some 24 years ago — the code of criminal procedure provided for probation in an appropriate case, so the punishment range runs the gamut.”
The jury can decide between life in prison and probation as a punishment.
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