Northside Suspect Facing Capital Murder Charges Wants to Avoid Death Penalty

SAN ANGELO, TX -- More than 700 days after Jared Lohse and Jack Harris were brutally murdered in a northside home, the alleged murderer is still waiting for a trial.

Since the pandemic began, jury trials have been practically non-existent and the vast majority of hearings have been held over Zoom. 

On Thursday, the 51st District Court held a nearly four-hour hearing to discuss two motions presented by Dwayne Chance Chadwick's defense team. Chadwick's lawyers were asking the court to preclude the death penalty and abate the proceedings. The defense was represented by Alex Calhoun and Robert Cowie.

To kick off the hearing, Cowie called Ray Keith of the Regional Public Defender's Office to the virtual stand. Mr. Keith serves as the Chief Public Defender for that office.

Chadwick's defense team argued the death penalty should be precluded in this case because as a direct result of the pandemic they had been unable to conduct the necessary investigation in order to properly defend their client.

According to the testimony provided by Keith, the employees at the RPDO had been unable to conduct interviews and meet with witnesses after the management team issued a mandate that did not allow employees to visit in-person in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

According to Keith, the guidelines state that meetings should be held in person and be unannounced. Meaning a potential witness or family member of the defendant may be visited by an investigator without a warning. After employees were directed to work from home all upcoming interviews were postponed until further notice.

Cowie then argued that if the defense team was unable to conduct the necessary interviews then they would be unable to present a competent case for Chadwick's defense. This would, in turn, violate Chadwick's right to avoid cruel and unusual punishment.

District Attorney Allison Palmer pushed back on the notion that the meetings could only be held in person or that the RPDO would not be able to coordinate a meeting with witnesses in order to follow social distancing guidelines or host a virtual meeting.

"So you are creating the problem and asking the judge to rule in your favor," said Palmer. 

Keith referred multiple times to the pre-set guidelines that mandate the meetings and fieldwork should occur as they did pre-pandemic. The argument and testimony focused repeatedly on the need for human contact to put together a competent defense -- especially when covering sensitive topics.

The Regional Public Defender's Office was unable to answer when it plans to return to normal operations.

The second witness was Dr. Elizabeth Vartkessian -- whose work focuses on mitigation. In capital defense cases, mitigation research is conducted in an effort to understand what factors may have led the defendant to commit the alleged crime or circumstances that could have affected their state of mind.

According to Vartkessian, by meeting face to face with family members and witnesses, mitigation specialists can discern and process information that cannot be perceived over Zoom or on a phone call.

"It’s critical to spend time in-person to create the space where the witness will give information," said Vartkessian. 

After nearly four hours, Judge Dusek denied the motion to abate the proceedings. She explained the case was not at a point where that determination was required and that by vacating the previous trial date, the defense team would have more time to properly prepare their case.

In the motion regarding the preclusion of the death penalty, Judge Dusek announced she would review the evidence and testimony before ruling on the issue.

The next pre-trial hearing in Chadwick's case has been set for June of this year.

Double Homicide: The Last Hours with Chubby and Jared

Suspect Charged in North Side Double Homicide