- Horner trial:
- The audio of the murder of Athena Strand was played yesterday in court. If you want a detailed review of it -- and it is beyond shocking -- go to this WFAA link and scan down to "Here are some notes from Rebecca Lopez." She was in the courtroom yesterday as the audio was played. (That portion of the trial was not live-streamed, and I'm glad it wasn't.)
- Gift link to the Dallas Morning News story about the day.
- Video of Horner on the phone immediately after the killing and smoking a cigarette.
- Here he is preparing to wipe down the back of truck after the murder. He's at Love's in Rhome/Aurora and had gone inside to borrow the roll of paper towels. Video
- In another stunning video shown yesterday, Horner actually drove down the road of Athena's home the day after the killing. He almost got trapped on his way out because of all of the police and search team traffic. A woman informs him that a girl is missing. "Are you serious?" he replies. Video.
- Athena's father took the stand yesterday.
- If I heard everything correctly, the jury won't return until next Wednesday. I think there will be non-streamed court hearings regarding the qualifications of the expected defense witnesses on those days. The defense is up next because the State rested yesterday.
- The entire defense in this case is, "Give him life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty." But I don't know how they can recover from yesterday.
- In other Wise County news.
- Story.
- The Messenger story about this, with a photo, is free.
- Pop culture death: Best known for that unforgettable car-wash scene in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Joy Harmon has died at 87
- There were a million crazy Trump quotes yesterday, but this might have been the funniest.
- Breaking: Iran just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now open since Israel and Lebanon have called a truce. It will remain that way, according to Iran, so so long as the truce is in effect. So, good news, we are back where we started before the war.
- The Business Second™.
- Dateline Waco. A big factor was the State already tried him once and got a hung jury. (The AG's office, who were representing the government due to a DA conflict, offered one day in jail, credit for time served, but the judge was going to balk at it. That's why they came up with the 30 day offer.)
- Extremely nerdy legal stuff: Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the art. 14.01 et. seq. statues which allow a warrantless arrest for offenses occurring within the “presence or view” of an officer, actually means what it says. Barber v. State, PD-0510-25 (Tex.Crim.App, 2026) That means the officer must “perceive the offense through one of his five senses” and not simply arrive at the scene afterwards and talk to civilians. It's application seems to be pretty limited (i.e. DWI wreck where person transported to hospital before any officer arrives?)
- Lauren Whitener Clock: 6 years and 288 days.
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