More than an hour of testimony outside the presence of the jury kicked off the third week of Jerry Elders’ capital murder trial Tuesday, with the defense challenging a witness the state brought in to testify about life in Texas prisons.
Elders was found guilty of capital murder on April 25. The state then began its punishment case, hoping to convince a Johnson County jury that Elders should be put to death.
Authorities have said Elders shot Burleson police Officer Joshua Lott three times during a traffic stop in 2021, fled and then kidnapped Robin Waddell at her home, stole her truck, shot her and pushed her out of her truck outside the Joshua Police Department.
The defense objection to a witness from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was overruled around 10 am Tuesday. The objection claimed that the witness was being presented as an expert but had not proven he was qualified. Arguments outside the presence of the jury led Visiting Judge Lee Gabriel to decide he was qualified for the testimony he would provide.
Timothy Fitzpatrick, who has worked in Texas prisons almost his entire adult life and primarily at maximum security facilities, told the jury he has been assigned to nine prisons and seen almost every type of custody from state jail felonies to death row. He’s worked jobs from a corrections officer to senior warden. Currently he works in records.
Fitzpatrick told the jury that if sentenced to life without parole, Elders would be in the general population. He would be in either a cell block or dormitory, giving him more freedom to move between housing, showers, toilets and the day room, where he could watch TV and socialize with other inmates. He would also be able to attend religious services with other inmates outside the cell block or dormitory.
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