A variety of Houston-area lawmakers, judges, and elected officials have been called to a courtroom Monday as a hearing gets underway to help determine if A.J. Armstrong’s third murder trial should remain in or move out of Harris County.

ABC13 first reported on the rare move of having the judge, in this case, be the one to file a motion to move the case out of the county after Armstrong’s first two trials ended in hung juries.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner are two of the nine witnesses being subpoenaed to appear on behalf of Armstrong’s defense team, which is bidding to keep his third murder trial set for February within the county.

ABC13 obtained documentation Friday showing the various elected officials being called upon.

The subpoenas were served in concert with Armstrong’s lawyers filing an objection to Judge Kelli Johnson’s motion to change the venue of the trial, which would be the third such proceeding since 2019.

The defense argues that 12 fair and unbiased jurors can be found in among the diverse 4.7 million people who call Harris County home. In paperwork filed by the defense, attorneys point out previous highly-publicized local cases that gained national attention, yet stayed in Harris County for trial, like the David Temple murder case. Temple was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Belinda in 1999, during his second trial here.

The nine witnesses are being called to testify about how diverse the county is and that it’s the best place to have a fair trial for Armstrong, who wound up with two mistrials for the murders of his parents, Dawn and Antonio Armstrong Sr. in 2016.

The list of witnesses subpoenaed includes:

• State Rep. Gene Wu, D-House District 137
• Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Sheriff
• Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge
• Sylvester Turner, Houston Mayor
• State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-House District 134
• Marilyn Burgess, Harris County District Clerk
• Rodney Ellis, Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1
• Susan Brown, Presiding Judge, 11th Administrative Judicial Region
• Adrian Garcia, Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2

Court paperwork shows the state has subpoenaed two witnesses, who we’re told are experts in cell phone technology. It’s unclear why prosecutors have called them to testify at a change of venue hearing.

All witnesses have been told to arrive for Monday’s hearing in time for the 1:30 p.m. gavel.

Source: abc13

A Houston man was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week after he was convicted of murder for shooting a friend after smoking methamphetamine, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This man was a menace who repeatedly chose to smoke meth and get violent,” Ogg said. “He threw away every second chance he was given and ended up stealing from a friend, leading to an argument resulting in that friend’s murder.”

Sean Strout, 36, was convicted of murder after four days of trial for killing 36-year-old Erron Walker on Oct. 14, 2017. He was sentenced to 35 years by a Harris County jury late Thursday.

Strout, a longtime acquaintance of the victim, went to the victim’s home with another man to socialize. Strout had been there the day before, and the victim believed Strout had stolen some money and a pair of sunglasses. The third man left as they started to argue over the stolen property.

A neighbor heard gunshots later that day and went outside to see the victim running out of his own garage as more shots rang out. Walker was fatally wounded in the altercation.

“Every witness, including the defendant, testified about what a caring and loving person the victim was — he would have given the shirt off his back to help a friend,” said Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Scott, who prosecuted the case with ADA Michael Abner, a chief in the trial bureau. “We’re proud that the jury recognized that Strout has left a trail of victims that he has impacted over the course of his life and decided to hold him accountable.”

Jurors heard that Strout was on probation for a robbery when he was arrested for murder. He had been arrested several times for drug possession and theft. While in jail awaiting trial, he was charged with assault for hitting another inmate with a sock with a weight in it. He also was charged with harassing a public official for throwing urine and feces on a corrections officer.

A former employee of the Harris County Clerk’s Office and the United States Postal Service is accused of using her jobs to obtain people’s personal information and make fraudulent purchases, including to buy cookies, according to prosecutors.

Sharika Prejean, 30, of Houston, was arrested Tuesday and charged with the felonies of credit/debit card abuse and fraudulent use of identifying information of an elderly person, according to Harris County court documents, which show she was set to be released from jail Friday on a $30,000 bond.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office alleged during a Thursday court hearing that Prejean was in possession of stolen mail when she was arrested at the county clerk’s office, where she was hired as a mailroom clerk last July. Prejean’s employment was terminated Tuesday, the day of her arrest, according to a spokesperson for the county clerk’s office.

Stephen Touchstone, the defense attorney representing Prejean, declined to comment.

The charge of credit/debit card abuse stems from an incident in September of last year, according to court documents, which show Prejean is alleged to have used someone else’s Mastercard to make purchases. Prosecutor Hector Garza said in court Thursday that Prejean allegedly bought cookies from Tiff’s Treats, among other purchases.

The other charge against Prejean, fraudulent use of identifying information of a person at least 65 years old, stems from an incident in September 2021 when she worked at a post office in Houston, according to the district attorney’s office.

As conditions for her release on bond, a judge ordered Prejean to avoid contact with the alleged victims as well as the county clerk’s office and all of its employees. She also must wear a GPS monitoring device and is ordered to remain at home between the hours of 10 p.m.-6 a.m. on a daily basis, according to court records.

Prejean’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 29.

Source: houstonpublicmedia