Attorneys for John Young seeking a new trial put the prosecuting attorneys and investigator from the Texas Office of Attorney General on the stand Tuesday morning to testify in Young’s hearing for a new trial.
Defense attorney Frank Sellers called Assistant Attorney General Shane Attaway to the stand first. Sellers peppered the state prosecutor with questions about the law and the burden of prosecutors to turn over all evidence to the defense. The motion for a retrial was made after Katie Hartman, the ex-wife of Sweetwater attorney Chris Hartman, signed a sworn affidavit just five days after Young’s trial ended in November. In the affidavit, Katie Hartman swears she witnessed her ex-husband forge John Sullivan’s will in the back of a prayer book. That forged will left Sullivan’s estate to John Young.
Then there was another bizarre twist. San Angelo attorney Mark Brown was sitting in the courtroom taking notes. At one point, he passed a note to prosecutors. Sellers saw the note and literally stopped the proceedings demanding to see the note. Both prosecuting and defense attorneys were summoned to the bench before District Judge Brock Jones. The content of the letter was not disclosed.
