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MRT.com
Shanna Sissom
Clinton Lee Young apologized to two murder victims before allegedly shooting them, a co-defendant in the capital murder trial testified Monday.
“I heard Clint say, ‘Sorry, Sam, you know too much. You have to die,” Page, 21, said.
Page is a discharged Army soldier who turned himself into Midland police following the Midland murder. He is also charged with murder.
It is unknown if Young, who has not had a chance to tell his side of the story in court, will later testify on his own behalf. Page is expected to be cross-examined by Young’s lawyers today.
Page said Young had earlier told Samuel Petrey, 52 of Eastland he would release him after allegedly car-jacking him from the only store in his small town of Eastland, but later changed his mind.
Young, 19 is charged with capital murder for the deaths of Petrey and Doyle Douglas, 41.
Petrey’s body was found in a Midland oil field after Page turned himself into police and led them to the crime scene.
As for the first murder, Page also testified of an apology from Young just before pulling the trigger.
“I heard Clint say ‘Sorry Doyle, I need your car.’ And then two shots,” Page said of the murder of Douglas, which took place in East Texas before Young and Page allegedly headed to Midland in the victim’s car to see Young’s girlfriend.
Page claimed Young threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone and forced him to travel to Midland through intimidation.
“He told me he would kill me and my family if I told anyone,” Page said.
Once Petrey was allegedly car-jacked on the night of Nov. 25, 2001, the Douglas vehicle was discarded on a four-wheeler trail hidden in some underbrush.
Petrey was leaving the grocery store with a loaf of bread when approached by Young, who was asking for directions, according to Page’s testimony.
“He asked how to get back to I-20,” Page said, describing Petrey as a “good Samaritan.”
“Petrey said, ‘Can I help you with anything else?’ And Clint pulled out a gun,'” he testified.
With Young taking the wheel, testimony showed the three men then traveled westward on I-20, stopping occasionally for sodas and cigarettes. All the while, Page said Young remained armed with a gun.
Once arriving in Midland at around 2 a.m., Page said Young wanted to impress his girlfriend’s grandmother with some new clothes.
Young then allegedly coerced Petrey to purchase clothes at Wal-Mart, where Young was said to be interested in a new gun, even though Petrey supposedly said he did not have enough money in his checking account to make that purchase.
After leaving Wal-Mart, the three drove to Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, allegedly looking in the garage for another car to steal. Demonstrative evidence for the prosecution included a video photograph from the hospital’s security camera.
The plan was to get another car and let Petrey go home in his own truck, testimony showed.
But, Page said Young instead drove to the oil field and killed Petrey.
Afterwards, Page said he persuaded Young to drop him off at the Midland IHOP, from where he walked to the Midland County Courthouse and turned himself in.
Young was arrested shortly thereafter with Page describing the stolen vehicle he was driving.
Before the crime spree, testimony indicated Page and Young were friends who used drugs together.
Page, who said he “sat around and partied” after leaving the military, gave blood to help pay for alcohol, marijuana and amphetamines.
On the night of the first murder Young, Page and two other men, Mark Ray and Darnell McCoy, had been drinking beer together before deciding to take a trip to Longview to purchase marijuana cigars, according to testimony.
All allegedly witnessed Young shooting Douglas, and claim they were forced to help put the dying man in the trunk of his own car.
With Douglas in the trunk, Page said Young stopped off to purchase a pornographic magazine and listened to the radio.
Later, the men disposed of the body in a creek, though it is uncertain as to whether Petrey was dead at that time.
“He said if those two shots didn’t kill him, the creek would,” Page said.
“Then, Clinton told Mark he would have to prove himself. He wanted him to fire one more shot to Douglas’ head,” Page said.
“Clinton told him if you don’t do this, you’ll be laying in the creek with Doyle.”
Ray did fire that shot, testimony from witnesses revealed.
DNA evidence presented Monday linked Young, Page and Ray to the first murder.
McCoy is the only witness to that murder not currently facing criminal charges.
The case is being prosecuted by Midland County District Attorney Al Schorre and First Assistant Teresa Clingman. Defense attorneys are Ian Cantacuzene and Paul Williams. Judge John G. Hyde is presiding.
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Young v. Stephens
CIVIL NO. MO-07-CA-002-RAJ
02-07-2014
CLINTON LEE YOUNG, TDCJ No. 999447, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM STEPHENS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.
Excerpts from Trial Transcript
On February 7, 2002, a Midland County grand jury indicted petitioner [Young] on two counts of capital murder, two wit (1) the murders of Samuel Petrey by fatally shooting Petrey on or about November 26, 2001 and fatally shooting Doyle Douglas on or about November 25, 2001 in a different criminal transaction with both murders having been committed pursuant to the same scheme and course of conduct and (2) the murder of Petrey in the course of committing and attempting to commit the offense of kidnaping and robbery of Petrey…
The Prosecution’s Case-in-Chief
The prosecution presented testimony establishing (1) on November 23, 2001 petitioner participated in the burglary of a sporting goods store in which a shotgun and multiple handguns were stolen and display cases smashed, (2) on November 20, 2001, petitioner participated in a home invasion in which petitioner and Patrick Brook violently entered the residence of Carlos Torres,…(3) as Brook and petitioner fled the scene in a vehicle belonging to one of their accomplices, petitioner suggested they return to the house and kill Torres, (4) petitioner and an employee of a fast food restaurant planned and carried out a staged robbery in September, 2001 in which petitioner made off with the restaurant’s night deposit bag, (5) during a brief stay at a youth psychiatric facility in Waco in 1998, petitioner assaulted another youth who refused to fight back… (6) petitioner was discharged from the Waco facility because the facility’s staff were not capable of handling petitioner’s aggressive behavior… (7) petitioner displayed violent behavior in first grade, (8) in the fourth grade, petitioner brought a gun to school which resulted in petitioner being assessed by a psychologist for emotional disturbance, (9) in middle school, petitioner once slammed a door on a teacher in anger, (10) prisoners within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s prison system have access to materials they can fashion into weapons and, despite the best efforts of prison officials, prisoners still commit acts of violence inside Texas prisons, (11) while a juvenile, petitioner was charged with a wide variety of criminal offenses, including multiple thefts, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, burglary of a building, burglary of a habitation, indecency with a child, and assault causing bodily injury,… petitioner assaulted and exposed himself to another patient at the Waco Center for Youth, which led to petitioner’s transfer to the Texas Youth Commission), and (12) during his stay in the Texas Youth Commission, petitioner served as a gang leader and led multiple assaults upon other youth and TYC staff…
84. A social worker employed at the Waco Center for Youth in 1998 [Young would have been 14 yrs old] testified without contradiction (1) the Waco Center for Youth is a residential treatment facility where most youth were admitted voluntarily, (2) upon petitioner’s involuntary, court-ordered, admission, petitioner displayed problems related to ADHD… (13) petitioner also displayed serious symptoms including suicidal ideation, severe obsessional rituals, shoplifting, and serious impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning, (14) petitioner took Ritalin, which helped, but petitioner developed a tolerance to it – the same thing happened when petitioner was prescribed Cylert…
85. Petitioner’s first grade teacher testified in pertinent part (1) petitioner bit other students and struck other students continuously… (5) petitioner was not taking his prescribed medication…
86. The psychologist who evaluated petitioner following the incident in which petitioner brought a gun to school testified in pertinent part (1) petitioner, then a nine-year-old fourth grader, appeared to be ADHD with a possible conduct disorder,petitioner was on Ritalin when he saw petitioner but the medication did not appear to render petitioner well controlled…
Before resting, the prosecution called Dr. Helen Short, the staff psychiatrist from the Waco Center for Youth who treated petitioner during his stay of approximately 100 days at that facility in 1998. Dr. Short testified in pertinent part as follows: (1) the usual stay at the Waco Center is approximately nine months, (2) petitioner was 14.6 years of age upon admission (4) during the admissions process, she observed obvious signs petitioner was ADHD (16) petitioner entered the Waco center on a low dose of the stimulant Adderrall [sic -sb Adderall], which was continued, (17) petitioner had been on Ritalin, a stimulant similar to Adderrall, and had a “fairly good response” to same when he was younger, (18) petitioner was switched to Adderrall because it has a longer half-life and must be taken less frequently than Ritalin (19) shortly after petitioner’s admission, she increased petitioner’s Adderrall dose from five mg to ten mg twice daily because petitioner was hyperactive and impulsive, (20) on February 6, 1998, she changed petitioner’s medications because petitioner was physically aggressive, i.e., he got into fights with his peers, (25) throughout early-February, 1998, petitioner continued to display aggressive behavior, on one occasion, throwing poker chips and attacking another youth, (26) on February 19, 1998, she stopped petitioner’s Adderrall and substituted a mixture of Clonidine and Dexedrine (another stimulant), (27) there is no easy way to determine the best stimulant regimen for a patient with ADHD, (28) Clonidine is often used with a stimulant to help hyperactive people sleep, (32) she bumped petitioner’s Dexedrine up to ten mg twice daily on March 3-4 and added Mellaril but halted his Dexedrine on March 5 after petitioner displayed aggressive behavior toward staff and had to be restrained, (33) on March 16, she increased petitioner’s Clonidine and added Benadryl, (36) on April 6, she started petitioner on Wellbutrin, an anti-depressant, and later bumped it up when petitioner requested to be taken off Clonidine because it was making him tired, (37) she tried reducing petitioner’s Clonidine but, by April 27, petitioner was again having problems so she bumped it back up…