Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 68, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 25, 2013 Page: 1 of 30
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SPORTS
Lady Lion volley-
ball team sweeps
Coldspring
See Page 9A
Polk County
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VOLUME 131 NUMBER 68
......
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County for more than 100 years
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013
CLASSIC
COUNTRY
Mel Tillis steps onto
age i
Aug. 31.
> steps ontc
the stage in Lufkin
See Page IB
50 CENTS
B
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Wilson sentenced 14 years for
sexual assault at house party
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/JENNIFER B1RDWELL/LISD
Livingston students
and their parents head
to campus droves for
LISD meet the teacher
night Friday. Pine Ridge
teachers had hugs for
some of their new stu-
dents. Standing — and
parking— room only
crowds lined up for the
chance to visit with
staff, drop off school
supplies and take care of
as much back to school
It ..;r? • ;t • "
business as possible on
r Friday
DETCOG hosts legislative update
■
- GROVETON - Senator
Robert Nichols and Rep.Trent
Ashby were guest speakers at
Thursday’s Deep East Texas
Council of Governments
(DETCOG) Board Meeting
m Groveton. Ashby led off
by saying the legislative
session had been particularly
productive for Deep East
Texas.
, “The legislators
representing Deep East
Texas met on a regular basis
throughout the session to
)vork on the issues that were
pf particular importance to the
region.” said Ashby. Nichols
opened by congratulating
Representative Ashby for
Being named "Outstanding
Republican Freshman
of the Texas House” and
serving Deep East Texas on
the House Appropriations
Committee. The senator
went on to say that Deep East
fexas did well this session
when it came to the three
top priorities of education,
water and transportation.
Nichols, who is the chair of
the Senate Transportation
Committee, said it was a
busy time for him because
of the transportation funding
measures he authored. He
admitted feeling the pressure
when the third special session
could only consider the issue
of transportation funding
and the bill originated in
his committee. Senator
Nichols closed by thanking
the officers and DETCOG
Executive Director, Walter
Diggles, for their repeated
visits with him before and
during the sessions and for
“speaking in one voice” in
issues effecting Deep East
Texas .In other business, the
board approved the DETCOG
Annual Budget of $22 million
dollars for 2014 and 3 to 5
percent merit raises for its
employees. The board also
acted on the recommendation
of its Economic Development
Committee and approved
three more forgivable
loans. The loans totaled
over $1,123j000 and went
to companies proposing to
create a total of 84 jobs for
low to moderate income
workers in Nacogdoches,
Newton and Trinity Counties.
Those loans were reviewed
using commercial loan
standards and the borrowers
will have to provide collateral
before the funds can be
disbursed.In closing the
meeting DETCOG President.
Angelina County Judge, Wes
Suiter, noted the DETCOG
Offices would be closed
Monday, Sept. 2, for Labor
Day. The next DETCOG
Braid Meeting is scheduled
for Thursday, Sept. 19, a
week earlier than normal. It
will be held in Tyler County.
BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
polknews@gmail. com
(Editor's Note: Some of
the descriptions of witness
testimony in this story may
not suitable for young or
sensitive readers.)
LIVINGSTON - It took
jurors about 40 minutes to
find Keith Ladale Wilson
guilty of sexual assault for
an Aug. 29, 2010 incident
that took place on Liberty
Drive. But, the nine women
and three men deliberated
about an hour and a half to
sentence him to 14 years
in the prison for the felony
offense.
By the end of the trial,
the defendant had conceded
that he and the victim, who
will be referred to as Joyce
Doe in this report did have
sex during a party held on
Liberty Drive.
The party was an end of
school celebration at the
home of Will and Caroline
Hon and the victim’s older
sister attended the University
of Mississippi with Caroline
Hon. She brought her best
friend from Huntsville with
her to spend the weekend in
Livingston.
The Hons’ mother,
Nancy Greer is a teacher
at Livingston ISD where
Wilson’s mother is also
employed and Wilson had
been a regular visitor at the
Greer/Hon home. The Hon
children testified that their
mother was aware that many
of the party guests would
be drinking alcohol, even
though they were not legally
old enough.
Each of the party goers
testimony differed as to
where the alcohol came
from, except that Will and
Caroline Hon believed that
the victim and her sister
had brought a bottle of
strawberry vodka with them.
The victim’s sister could
not recall if she brought any
alcohol with her or not and
the victim herself — by the
end of the night witnesses
said — was too intoxicated
to form sentences or walk
steadily when they moved
her from the pool area, to a
KEITH LADALE
WILSON
couch inside the house for
about 30 minutes. Then, the
victim’s sister and Caroline
Hon walked her upstairs to
the game room where the
assault occurred about an
hour later.
Witnesses did agree that
the victim was checked on
periodically by her sister
and R J. Austin who stayed
in the room. While he was
out of the room for about a
15-minute period. Wilson
claimed he had consensual
sex with the victim.
Austin, Will and Caroline
Hon and the victim’s sister
all said she was far too
intoxicated to give consent.
Medical tests taken at the
hospital later showed her
blood alcohol level would
have far exceeded the state’s
definition of intoxicated even
at 4 a.m.
Wilson’s blood alchol
level was about 0.05 at 4
a.m„ indicating that he had
likely taken several drinks at
the party as well.
Wilson gave a statement
that one of those drinks was
served by Greer, but she has
repeatedly denied serving or
purchasing any alcohol.
Prosecutors called a
rebuttal witness to Wilson’s
claim that the victim
consented. (The Enterprise
will identify this witness
as Becky because it is
newspaper policy not to
identify victims of sexual
assault.)
On Dec. 24, 2010, Becky
received a series of text
messages from Josh Hooper,
a friend of hers from high
school who she said offered
her $450 to have sex with
him and Wilson. She refused
to have sex with more than
one person. They ultimately
agreed to meet and Hooper
agreed to pay her $100.
She said she agreed to par-
ticipate in the risky and il-
legal behavior for the money
because she was four months
pregnant.
Hooper arrived at her
house at 10 p.m. and she
asked again if he was alone.
He said yes and “Becky” met
him outside. Hooper drove
her to a dark location in the
subdivision she directed him
to.
Hooper gave her $50 and
promised to take her to an
ATM for the other $50 after
they were finished. She put
the $50 in the left side of her
bra. After some preliminary
activity, they exited the
car. Becky said she briefly
glanced in the back seat and,
in the dark, it looked like
there were bags of clothes in
the back seat. “Like someone
was living out of their car."
She said she never noticed
if anyone else ever got out
of the car, when they were
outside.
While she was engaged
in sex with Hooper, she
looked behind her and saw
two sets of legs behind her.
She testified that one of
the people she saw was the
defendant.
A specially trained sexual
assault nurse examiner who
examined Becky testified
about the injuries she suf-
fered.
The suffered abrasions and
trauma to her perineum
consistent with rough inter-
course. The nurse also noted
a fresh bruise to her right
shin.
Becky said that a third
man came and physically
assaulted her and tried to
remove the $50 from her bra
and struck her several times
before she threw the money
on the ground.
She said the attack ended
when Wilson and the third
man she could not identify
left. Hooper offered to drive
her home but she would not
get back in the car with him.
She contacted the Polk
County Sheriff’s Office but
ultimately decided not
■ See TRIAL Page 2A
£ommb3sioners to discuss terminating
contract with Holiday Lakes VFD
County tax hearings begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday
From Enterprise Staff
The Polk County
Commissioners Court will
hold two public hearings Aug.
27 and Sept. 3 on a proposal
to increase total tax revenues
from properties on the tax roll
in the preceding tax year by
9.101655 percent.
Both meetings will be
held at the Polk County
Commissioners Courtroom
on the third floor of the court-
house. The Aug. 27 meeting
will begin at 9:30 am., while
the Sept. 3 meeting will con-
vene at 4 p.m.
Based on last year’s tax
rate of $0.6277 per $100 of
taxable value, the amount of
taxes imposed last year on the
average home was $549.84.
If the governing body
adopts the proposed tax rate
of $0.6461 per $100 of tax-
able value, the amount of
taxes imposed this year on
the average home would be
$616.92.
There will also be discus-
sion of possible termination
of the contract with Holiday
Lake Estates Volunteer Fire
Department.
The court will consider the
master lease and sublease of
the county building housing
Angelina College and the
Commerce Center.
There will be a discussion
of appointment of a county
fire marshal.
Also discussed will be ac-
tion relating to the county
constable warrant program
and the truancy service pro-
vided by the precinct 1 con-
stable.
Those who wish to present
comments must complete the
required form and submit the
same to the county clerk prior
to the meeting call to order.
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 68, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 25, 2013, newspaper, August 25, 2013; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth656278/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.