Delayed years, murder trial set
Jul. 13—The scheduled trial on a charge of murder concerning a retrial in a shooting death seven years ago in the south part of Hunt County has been reset again.
The judge overseeing the case against Carl Allen Welch only moved the trial by a few weeks, but it may not make it even then.
Welch has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder involving the 2014 death of Terry R. Cale of Wills Point. Trial had been scheduled to begin in the case on July 26.
Welch's defense counsel had sought another continuance in the case, a move which had been opposed by the Hunt County District Attorney's Office.
During a hearing Thursday in the 196th District Court, Judge Andrew Bench reset jury selection for August 16, setting it as the No. 2 case to be considered on that date.
The Hunt County Court system is still trying to recover in the wake of a year long hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hunt County currently has 10 capital murder and murder trials pending, with three manslaughter cases and multiple armed robberies, aggravated assaults, child trafficking and more major felonies awaiting trial.
Welch's case is one of two murder trials which are now scheduled on August 16, both in the 196th District Court.
A trial in the case of a local man, charged with murder involving the alleged strangulation death of his estranged wife in February 2019 is currently the No. 1 case in the court on the August 16 docket.
Matthew Kenton Pride has pleaded not guilty in connection with the death of Nicole Kennedy-Pride.
Welch's murder case has already taken many turns in the process of getting to trial.
A jury had been selected and opening arguments and the start of testimony were planned in late August 2019. But the proceedings were halted and a mistrial in the case was announced by 196th District Court Judge Andrew Bench
According to court documents, during a pretrial hearing on August 16, 2019, prosecutors requested in a Motion in Limine that the defense not be allowed to present the jury panel on the self-defense issue commonly known as the "Castle Doctrine." Bench denied the motion and allowed the defense to pursue the self-defense theory.
But during opening arguments, the defense counsel allegedly referred to Cale as a member or former member of a "biker gang" or "motorcycle club" without a previous hearing to determine whether the evidence would be admissible, which reportedly violated the Motion in Limine.
Bench reset the trial for December 2019.
The defense filed a pretrial application for writ of habeas corpus in the case, seeking relief from double jeopardy. While Bench denied the motion, he did approve an appeal to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, which issued its ruling in May — a decision covering 29 pages — denying the petition.
The Hunt County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers conducted the investigation into the homicide.
Cale, 54, was reported to have been shot multiple times outside of a residence on Archer Lane south of Quinlan late on the night of May 16, 2014. Then-Sheriff Randy Meeks said the shooting appeared to have been the result of a domestic disturbance earlier in the evening.
Welch was taken into custody following Cale's death, was charged with one count of murder and was released on $75,000 bond.
Murder is a first degree felony, punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from five to 99 years to life in prison.
