Life in prison or death penalty? A look ahead to punishment phase for man who killed Richardson officer
MCKINNEY, Texas - On Monday, a jury will begin hearing evidence in the punishment phase for a convicted cop killer.
It’s the same jury that found Brandon McCall guilty for the capital murders of Richardson police officer David Sherrard and 30-year-old Rene Gamez, a friend who was letting McCall stay at his apartment.
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The jury must determine whether McCall will spend the rest of his life in prison or be put to death, and prosecutors are pushing the death penalty.
The punishment phase is expected to last all week.
The jury convicted McCall after just two hours of deliberating, but will likely have a more difficult time deciding whether he should live or die.
After two days of testimony and just two hours of deliberations, a Collin County jury convicted 29-year-old McCall of capital murder for killing Sherrard.
Now, that same jury, made up of nine men and three women, will decide if McCall should be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Toby Shook is a criminal defense attorney not associated with this case. He knows lead prosecutor Bill Wirskye extremely well, as they've tried cases together.
“He carefully plans out his attack,” Shook explained.
Shook said Wirskye will want to present any and all evidence that proves McCall, now a convicted killer, is a danger to society. Shook said Sherrard's own bodycam video from the night of the fatal encounter will continue to be a key piece of evidence.
“They can even put on evidence of bad acts, doesn't even have to be a crime. They can find teachers who say he acted up started fights at school,” Shook added.
He said McCall's defense attorney, Ed "Bubba' King, has the same free range.
“Typically, it might be a mental health expert saying there's some aspect to the defendant you should show mercy for or something that happened to him,” Shook explained. “Hard childhood, drugs. [Anything] that'll appeal to the jury to give him a break.”
Shook said Collin County jurors tend be very conservative, which could benefit the prosecution, who will drive home the point that McCall "knowingly and willingly" killed a uniformed police officer with an AR-15.
Then admitted to the shooting in a recorded statement to detectives.
“Your chances are greater getting the death penalty in Collin County,” Shook added.
But Shook added that all the defense needs is one juror to have doubts.
”All they want is one juror, because if it's a hung juror, it's a life sentence. If they can reach one juror to believe, ‘Nope, this guy deserves a life sentence over a death sentence,’ then they've done their job,” Shook said.
The judge did not allow cameras in for the initial trial. The same rules apply for the punishment phase.
Officer Sherrard's family plans to in court every day until a decision is handed down by the jury.