2002-07-31
Testimony: Britton shot, killed deputy
Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2002
GREG CUNNINGHAMgcunningham@amarillonet.com
Prosecutors continued to build their case against Christopher Chad Britton as the Canadian man's capital murder trial moved into the second day with dramatic testimony from witnesses to the shooting death of Hemphill County Deputy Jim Bruce Graham.
A string of witnesses testified that Britton visited several people on Red Deer Street in Canadian the morning of June 17, 2001, and was leaving the area when Graham pulled up beside him. Several people on the stand said they had alerted authorities that Britton - who had warrants out for his arrest - was in the area, which brought Graham to the fatal meeting on Red Deer Street to make an arrest.
Kathy Sirmans told the jury how the two men struggled briefly on the street in front of her house and how she saw Britton, still seated in his vehicle, fire the fatal shotgun blast, which she said looked "like fire" exploding out of the barrel.
"I saw Chad reach for a gun out of the seat and then, boom, he fired at point-blank range," Sirmans said.
"Something came out of Jim Graham's head, then he kind of twisted around and just collapsed."
The shotgun blast instantly killed Graham, leaving bystanders with little to do but alert authorities.
The courtroom was in stunned silence when prosecutors played a tape of the 911 call. Jurors and courtroom observers leaned forward, straining to hear the faint sounds as Sirmans called dispatcher Luz Arriaga.
Little was audible on the tape except Sirmans frantically screaming "Oh my God" over and over, then at the end, "It was Bruce Graham."
Britton showed little reaction during the tape or the preceding testimony, keeping his eyes straight ahead and sitting motionless for most of the day.
Britton's attorneys stuck to their plan of demonstrating on cross examination that Britton was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the shooting.
Attorneys Warren Clark and Mark Buzzard repeatedly questioned witnesses about Britton's demeanor prior to Graham's death.
"The thing that was different about Chad that day was his eyes," said Britton's friend, James "Tiger" Henson. "It sounds silly, but he had cold eyes. You can look in a guy's eyes and see."
The defense had its best success in demonstrating their client's mental deterioration with Britton's grandfather, Dondle Fuller, who gave nearly two hours of emotional testimony about how the man he raised as his son had changed so drastically that he feared for his safety.
Fuller told the jury that the day Graham was killed, he left Canadian for Perryton, because he wasn't sure what his grandson would do to him, repeatedly saying, "Chad was not in his right mind."
Clark cut to the central issue for the defense in questioning Fuller.
"Do you believe that during this time frame, before and leading up to this shooting, that Christopher Chad Britton knew the difference between right and wrong?" Clark said.
"I don't believe he did at the time," Fuller said after a prosecution objection to the question was overruled.
Prosecutors countered the claim that Britton was deteriorating mentally in the weeks leading up to the shooting. Prosecutors questioned witnesses about violent incidents in Britton's past, trying to demonstrate a history of violence beginning long before Graham's death.
Testimony will continue in the trial today at 9 a.m. in Potter County's visiting courtroom, where the trial was moved due to publicity in Hemphill County.
"You and only you took away my husband, exactly one month shy of our 28th wedding anniversary," Graham said to Britton as she fought back tears. "You and only you took Sherry's father on Father's Day and a few days before her 25th birthday. There will not be a father to walk his pride and joy down the aisle. You took away the joy that Jim would have had if he had the chance to be a grandfather."
Britton, 27, continued to stare at Lynda Graham, rocking back and forth slightly as she concluded her statement.
"Chad Britton, it was you who cut a wound in our hearts so deep that it will never completely heal," Graham said, openly weeping. "We've been told that time helps ease the pain, but the wound will never heal completely. Now it is you who must face your punishment."
That punishment will be a trip to death row and execution by lethal injection after a six-man, six-woman jury spent three hours and 30 minutes debating Britton's fate.
The jury ruled that Britton presents a continued threat of violence, then decided that there were no mitigating circumstances to warrant a life sentence instead of death.
The courtroom was stone silent as District Judge Steven Emmert imposed the death sentence mandated by the jury's findings. Britton, standing shackled at the wrists and waist before the verdict, never reacted.
District Attorney Rick Roach, who said from the day of the June 17, 2001, slaying of Graham that he would pursue the death penalty, said the verdict was a just one, but not a happy one.
"Our society cannot tolerate attacks on peace officers," Roach said. "We're talking about an assault on the fiber of our society, not unlike what happened on Sept. 11.
"I'm never happy to be involved in the taking of another human's life. The jury had a difficult decision to make, and I know they didn't take it lightly. They made their decision for our society."
Defense attorney Warren Clark said the death sentence was disturbing, but he also supported the jury in making a tough decision.
"I'm disappointed, but I'm not going to quibble with the decision," Clark said. "This is what we call a hard case. When you're dealing with so much evidence against you, it is difficult."
The jury had little difficulty in coming to its sentence, according to three jurors, who asked not to be identified by name.
As the two-week trial went on, the prosecution's mounting evidence of bad acts by Britton was never balanced by defense testimony, the jurors said.
"There were just no redeeming qualities about (Britton)," the first juror said.
"The defense couldn't present anybody to get up there and say much good about him. We were expecting more evidence of mitigating circumstances."
When deliberations began, all the jurors were in agreement about the verdict, the second juror said.
"We didn't have to sit down and convince anybody," he said. "There was no argument. We wanted to be thorough, so we reviewed the evidence, but then everybody felt the same way."
Britton will be transferred to the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, probably in the next few days, then he will take his place on death row, Roach said.
Appeals in death penalty cases are automatic, and Clark said he felt a few issues came up at trial that he could use on appeal.
As for Jim Bruce Graham, friends and family of the slain officer said they were satisfied with the verdict but wanted people to focus on a good man who was lost to the citizens of Hemphill County, rather then the result of the trial.
"Jim was a fine human being," said Texas Ranger Gary Henderson, a friend of Graham's who investigated the deputy's murder.
"Anytime you lose someone of that caliber and character, you just can't replace him. There's a void. We'll go on, but that void will always be there."