(08-22-09) Security tight at murder trial

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September 4, 2009

Originally published Aug. 22, 1992

By Steven Smith of the Daily Sun Staff The Corsicana Daily Sun Fri Sep 04, 2009, 07:39 PM CDT

Security was tighter than usual this week at the highly-publicized capital murder trial of Cameron Todd Willingham, due to rumored threats on the defendant’s life and a recent incident in which five people were shot – two killed—in a Tarrant County courthouse.

Before entering the courtroom all persons in attendance were examined with a metal detector and women’s purses were searched in what District Judge Kenneth “Buck” Douglas called “an abundance of precaution.”

There were about a dozen uniformed and plain clothes Navarro county Sheriff’s Deputies in and around the courtroom at any given time during the trial.

“The metal detector was to eliminate any possibility of anyone bringing a gun into the courtroom,” Douglas said, noting he was at first worried about any problems the extra security might cause. “Personally, I think it’s gone really well.”

Douglas told of an incident at a Navarro County capital murder trial in 1979 when the husband of the victim pulled a gun at one point in the proceedings. The man was disarmed by the sheriff and no one was hurt, but the judge said no one wanted to see the situation repeated.

The extra security measures will probably become more commonplace as officials try to avoid any more situations involving guns in the courtroom, said Douglas.

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(08-22-09) Security tight at murder trial

Originally published Aug. 22, 1992

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