By Elizabeth Zavala and Patrick Danner, Staff Writers In what one expert called a high-risk move, a woman found guilty in 2016 of killing h...
By Elizabeth Zavala and Patrick Danner, Staff Writers
In what one expert called a high-risk move, a woman found guilty in 2016 of killing her husband when she knocked him off the highway while both were chasing his lover is looking to have that conviction overturned just months before her release.
Frances Hall was 53 years old when she was convicted of murder in the death of her husband of 32 years, Bill Hall Jr., on Oct. 10, 2013.
A jury agreed with defense lawyers that Hall acted out of “sudden passion,” which lowered the punishment range from five to 99 years or life in prison to two to 20 years, and handed her the lightest possible sentence — two years.
That sentence runs concurrently with a two-year-term for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for ramming her Cadillac Escalade SUV into a Range Rover driven by Bonnie Contreras, who had engaged in an affair with Bill Hall Jr., for three years before his death.
Frances Hall is expected to be released Sept. 7, but one of her attorneys, Adam Cortez, has filed papers with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, “seeking relief from her convictions based on ineffective counsel,” and a new trial, the documents state.
Gerald Reamey, a professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law, said in an email Monday that the writ appeared to be a “high-risk, low-reward tactic.”
He said a new trial and a murder acquittal would be a “best outcome, but one that is very unlikely,” but the aggravated assault conviction and sentence could stand, so the benefit would be having one less conviction on her record.
Reamey said if a new trial is granted, she could get charged with an offense that is easier to prove, and even with expert testimony a conviction could result in a greater sentence than the one she has received.
“All of this may be moot because failure by the defense counsel to call an expert in a case like this is, in my opinion, almost certainly not ineffective assistance of counsel,” he said. “Courts typically view decisions of this sort as a strategic choice by the lawyer, one that will not be second-guessed by the court.”
Cortez concurred with Reamey, but said the Hall case is “not at all” like most murder cases and pointed to the local and national interest because the couple’s marriage and livelihood were “destroyed as the direct result of a jealous mistress.”
He said most cases don’t include testimony favorable to the defendant, or do not involve a crash that “to this day no one can offer definitive testimony as to how the accident actually occurred.”
“You have to be careful what you ask for, but this case is undeniably not like most cases,” said Cortez. “Here, Frances Hall deserves to have her conviction reversed, and if justice is actually served here, she should not be retried.”
Cortez, a late addition to the defense team, alleges in the writ that Alan and Jean Brown and Leigh Cutter did not introduce evidence from a trauma expert who would have testified that Bill Hall died of “the result of respiratory issues relating to being airlifted with pneumothorax,” a collapsed lung, and not from injuries received in the crash.
He also alleged that another witness was to testify that the damage to the Range Rover was “pre-existing, and had occurred when Bill Hall backed into a pole while driving the Range Rover,” the document states.
Contreras testified during the trial that the vehicle was rear-ended more than a dozen times by Frances Hall.
Had the jury heard the additional testimony, Cortez believes they would have found her not guilty on both charges, he said.
In a rebuttal filed April 17, Jean Brown denied Cortez’s allegations, stating that counsel “thoroughly investigated all facts and theories for over three years in preparation,” and determined that the expert testimony “did not advance our theory of defense and our trial strategy, the response states.
She disputed the assertion of prior damage to the Range Rover, stating the witness provided an affidavit which said “he saw no damage to the rear end of the Range Rover,” which she said “supported our experts’ testimony and Frances Hall’s account of the accident,” the response states.
Brown also stated that her law office and that of her husband “painstakingly researched the facts and the law surrounding the accident,” disputing assertions that counsel did not adequately prepare.
She also stated Alan Brown “was actively involved during the preparation as well as the entire trial,” responding to Cortez’s assertion that he “slept during the course of the guilt-innocence stage of trial, and allowed Jean Brown to dictate all trial decisions.”
“It is not the habit of Alan Brown’s office that a single attorney act as ‘lead counsel.’ Mr. Brown uses more of a group consciousness approach,” according to the response.
Neither Alan Brown nor Cutter have submitted responses to Judge Jefferson Moore, who presided over the case in the 186th state District Court. Moore would hold a hearing on the issues and make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where the decision rests.
Meanwhile, the Hall family has fractured even further since Bill Hall’s death and his wife’s imprisonment.
Their son, Justin Hall had tried to wrestle control of his father’s estate away from his mother in Bexar County Probate Court. Mark Braswell, Justin Hall’s lawyer, argued that Frances Hall should be disqualified from receiving her husband’s estate because she shouldn’t benefit financially from her criminal act. One of her lawyers countered that a jury’s finding of “sudden passion” negated the intent necessary to establish the willful taking of a life under the Texas Estates Code provision addressing forfeiture of property.
Their son sought to have his father’s assets placed in a “constructive trust” In essence, that would mean the assets would be held by Frances Hall for the benefit of Justin Hall and his sister Dominique “Nikki” Hall. Judge Tom Rickhoff, though, denied the request.
On April 2, Justin Hall gave notice that he intends to appeal the judge’s ruling.
Just what’s left of the estate isn’t clear. The estate was valued at about $7.7 million in 2014. Nikki Hall, as the independent administrator, said in a court filing last year the value was closer to $1.7 million.
Bill Hall Jr. Trucking Ltd. and Bill Hall Jr. Trucking GP LLC both filed for bankruptcy in the wake of Frances Hall’s incarceration. The LLC has owned a fleet of trucks and trailers used by the Ltd. to haul gravel and other materials for road construction.
A court filing shows the Ltd. converted from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7 liquidation because it couldn’t come up with a plan to reorganize. The LLC’s bankruptcy was dismissed in Dec. 27 because it failed to file monthly operating reports with the court. State corporate records show both companies are inactive.
Braswell accused Nikki Hall of “squandering and fraudulently transferring out” of her father’s estate various assets — including trucks, trailers and equipment.
Ronald S. Schmidt, Nikki Hall’s lawyer, said most of the Bill Hall Jr. Trucking’s fleet — about 150 trucks — were surrendered to lien holders. There may be some litigation brought by the lien holders, which he said will be vigorously defended against.
Kimberly Ford, a forensic accountant appointed by Rickhoff, reported in March 2 letter that Nikki gifted 32 vehicles to herself and five to her brother. She also sold 27 trucks or trailers for about $303,000. Ford didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The transfers to Nikki Hall were not intended as any kind of gift, Schmidt said. “I think they were used to place title to trucks in another operating company that would allow some business to continue,” he said. Nikki Hall has a company called DejaBlue.
Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863
Patrick Danner is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | pdanner@express-news.net | @AlamoPD
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