Matt's Trial

Cold As Ice Matt's Trial... Guilty or Not Gulity?

I have picked the song Cold As Ice for this page. I think it fit great here!! Any other suggestions?

The State of Texas
vs.
Matthew Thomas Faulkner

Matt was arrested on April 30, 1996 for the murder of Dana, his trial started on September 8, 1996 (my 26th birthday). I'll start off by telling what happened in the months before the trial...

I have to say that in all that happened, the City of Mesquite Police Department was the best we could have had! They were as kind as someone can be when they told me that Dana had been killed. They answered all our questions, referred us to the different agency's that could help us with Dana's funeral expenses, and with counseling that they knew we would need, do to this horrendous crime. They put up with us calling them, sometimes with leads, took us to see the truck, and then gave us clearance to see it again if we still had questions. They kept us informed of all that was going on with their side of the case. They were as gentle with us as they told us of the details in Matt's confessions. So, I say Thank You, and You Did A GREAT Job!

OK...those of you who have read Dana's Story know, my phone number had to be blocked from the city and county jails due to Matt's repeated calls. In one of the calls, Matt referred to Dana as a speed bump. Well he opened his mouth and told his cell mate the same thing. It is really weird how we found out. Ya see, Dana and I had a friend named Robert. Well, Robert works with this lady (don't remember name)and they were talking a few days after Dana had been killed, and she mentioned that her son had been stopped and arrested on an outstanding traffic ticket. She went on to say that her son had told her that the guy in his cell had killed his girlfriend, and that he referred to her as a speed bump. About this time Robert is freaking out! So Robert asked her where her son is in jail...she said Mesquite. Robert went straight to the phone and called me, and I in turn called the detective on the case and told him. Needless to say, he was very interested in what I said. He called me back the next day and said we had the right guy. We had already asked the guy if he was willing to make a statement and testify in court, and he said yes. They also had a statement from a man who had seen Dana and Matt in the parking lot of Dana's apartment, stateing that Matt was harassing her...

So the Grand Jury indites him about a month later, and a court date of September 8,1996 was set (this happens to be my birthday too). I waited and waited and never heard anything from the DA who was on the case. So, me being the type of person who likes to know what's going on, called his office several times but my calls were never returned. As I said, I like to know what's going on. Finally I got mad enough and called Victim's Outreach (most states have this agency, and I highly suggest all victim's contact them) and told them what my problem was. I gave them the DA's name, and she said they tend to have problems out of him, and that I needed to call his boss and let him know what was going on and that I should get the information then, if not call them back and they would take care of it. It worked! ~ I had a return call in less than 15 minutes!

He told us the norm...what the evidence was, chances of getting a conviction...then mentioned plea bargining. I SAID GO FOR THE PLEA BARGAIN! I wanted to make damn sure that he did jail time for killing my sister! Everyone but one of mine & Dana's step-brother's and three of our step-sister's agreeded. They told my mom (their step-mother), "You don't love Dana if you plea bargain!" If you can't tell, YES, I'M VERY BITTER ABOUT THAT!!! Things will never be the same between us. I'm having a real hard time getting past that. Anyway, so when he called us back mom said to go to trial. We didn't hear from him again until the day of jury selection. Mom & I were informed that we would be testifying so we were not allowed in the courtroom until the closing arrguments. We never went over our testimony, which I think was STUPID! Not to "rehearse", but so he could follow up on some of the things we knew. Mom was offered a plea bargain right before the trial started, and again she said "No" because of my brother and sister's.

The DA took four days to present his case. Matt's lawyer put two people on the stand, which it was brought out that they didn't know Dana. The judge wouldn't let the cellmate testify. His excuse was that his lawyer wasn't there, but when the judge presiding over his trial (cellmate's) assigned a new lawyer, the judge still refused to let him testify. After that the judge told the DA to wrap up his case, none of the officer's on scene had testified yet. So the DA puts the homocide decetive on the stand, and after he testifies, the judge calls for closing statements!! The first officer on the scene and the other investigators Never got to testify!! Is this legeal?? Then came the closing statements, the judges orders to the jury and there verdict.

The jury was out for about four hours. Oh, BTW, this was a Thursday. At 10 minutes 'til 5 p.m. they sent a note to the judge asking who would decide the punishment if they found him guilty. He told them that they would, but not to worry about it, that They would be doing that the next day. 5 minutes later they came back with their verdict...

NOT GUILTY!!!!

Yes, I said Not Guilty! My question is this...If they were going to find him not guilty, Why would they want to know who would decide the punishment?!? And then come back with such a stupid verdict 5 minutes later?

Matt, my sister's killer, was released within two hours! The DA went back and talked to a few jury members after the verdict, and we were still in the courtroom. We heard one of them scream, "Why didn't they tell us that!?!" He had just told them about the cellmate's testmony that would have backed me up. I guess they thought of me as the pissed-off sister who wanted revenge.

****What I Think Went Wrong****

#1 We should have plea bargained like I said!!!!
The DA screwed up by not having the cellmates testomony arranged.
The DA screwed up by not talking to us sooner.
The DA screwed up by not put the officer's on the stand sooner.
The Judge should have let the cellmate testify.
The Judge had no right to tell the DA to wrap up his case.
The Judge made the the jury's orders to complicated.
The Jury was just lazy in their duties. I believe they just wanted to go home and Not come back the next day, a Friday.

So what do you think??

I had a hard time writing this,
so thank you for bareing with me.

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