Update on James Clayton's trial proceedings - Updated!

Update - Hey kiddos, just read this over on the TXBRA Forums, posted about 20 minutes ago:

Clayton case re-update posted by journo on 4/9/2009 3:14:00 PM.

Clayton appeared before the judge this morning. He was unwilling to take the plea offer from the state. He is hoping to get parole. His own lawyer said jail time is pretty much unavoidable. The judge re-set his court appearance for April 29th and said he needed to come back with a decision on whether he wanted to accept the plea offer or take the case to trial.

Looks like Mr. Clayton's going back in the hole until April 29th, when he gets to see the judge again. Damn, that's gotta suck.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Rob D'Amico actually showed up for James Clayton's (alleged) hearing yesterday, which didn't actually happen. It's been rescheduled for today, but still the scene yesterday sounded rather interesting:

Just fyi for y'all's reporting....

A pre-trial hearing for James Clayton was held--sort of--yesterday in the 299th Criminal District Court, with Judge Charlie Baird. Clayton's attorney, Brian Bernard, and prosecutor Meg McGee spoke with the judge briefly before agreeing to reset the hearing to today, April 9. Clayton did not appear.

Although most of the conversartion was out of reach for those watching, we did pick up that Bernard was, of course, noting that he would be arguing for probation, while the prosecution laughed off the idea and explained the seriousness of the case and that it invovled several burglaries, not just theft.

In the galley were Jack Armstrong and Javier Juarez, both friends of Clayton's girlfriend (or possibly ex at this point) Layne Severson. Both told the prosecutor after the hearing that they believed Layne was duped and ensnared by Clayton and thus was not at fault for the money laundering charges now pending against her. Severson still has not been indicted, although she has a court hearing in May.

Also in attendance was Ian Dille, a local writer who contributes to national bicycle magazines. Bernard came over and briefly spoke with myself, Dille, Armstrong and Juarez and was jovial and still curious about the interest in the case. He repeated a comment to me that he had made in a previous phone conversation: "Why has this caused such an uproar."

It's unsure if Clayton will actually appear in court this morning. Although the hearing is set for 9 a.m., there is no set order, which means Clayton's case could come up at any time, but likely before noon. We'll also have to wait and see if the two sides strike a deal, which seems likely at some point.

"Why has this caused such an uproar?"

"WHY HAS THIS CAUSED SUCH AN UPROAR?"

Really dude, are you kidding? Maybe Mr. Bernard is paid well enough as a criminal defense laywer that a $10k-15k loss goes un-noticed, but in our community when a friend is taken by another supposed "friend" for 10+ grand, that causes a little bit of uproar. Thanks for keeping us in the loop Rob! You rule.