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Courts affirm two SJC convictions San Jacinto Newstimes - March 2008 COLDSPRING -- The San Jacinto County Criminal District Attorney’s office was notified recently that two cases appealed by defendants have been affirmed by appellate courts. On February 13, 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused the Petition for Discretionary Review filed by Marcus Pollard. Pollard was convicted of the murder of Megan Pollard and sentenced to serve 40 years in prison. He appealed his conviction to the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont. The 9th Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction on September 5, 2007, and Pollard appealed the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Following the refusal by the Court of Criminal Appeals, Pollard has the right to ask for a rehearing, according to Criminal District Attorney, Bill Burnett. “It is extremely rare for the Court of Appeals to reverse themselves on rehearing. So I expect that this effectively ends his direct appeal process,” Burnett said. On February 14, 2008, the 9th Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Albert F. Haarman. Haarman was tried in February 2007 in San Jacinto County for a male on male sexual assault. A jury convicted Haarman of sexual assault and sentenced him to serve 20 years in prison and assessed a $10,000 fine. According to Burnett, Haarman may appeal the decision of the 9th Court of Appeals to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals as Pollard did, but Burnett expects the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm this conviction as well. The Criminal District Attorney’s office is currently awaiting opinions in two other cases. Samantha Barbera appealed her 4 year sentence for Injury to A Child, and Rodney Cline appealed his 12 year sentence for manufacture of methamphetamine. Both these cases were transferred from the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont to the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi. Burnett argued the Cline case before the 13th Court of Appeals in December, 2007. Richard Winfrey Sr., convicted in November 2007, of the murder of Murray Burr, has filed notice of appeal. The trial record is due to be filed with the appellate court by March 28, 2008. This appeal has been transferred from the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont to the 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland. When asked about the numerous transfers of appellate cases, Burnett stated, “It’s not unusual to have an appellate case transferred from the 9th Court of Appeals, which handles San Jacinto County. The appellate courts transfer cases to equalize caseloads around the State. Out of the 14 different courts of appeals in Texas, I have handled cases transferred to the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th courts of appeals.”
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