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Testimony continues in first Houston brother's murder trial Save Email Print
Posted: 9:55 AM Jul 17, 2008
Last Updated: 9:19 PM Jul 17, 2008

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UPDATE 7/17/08 6:00 p.m.: KINGSTON, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Day two of the prosecution's case in Leon Houston’s trial for two killings has featured guns and testimony about threats to use them.

With nearly a hundred potential witnesses, many who testify at Leon Houston’s trial won't prove memorable, but jurors may never forget what they have seen and heard.

Jurors at Leon Houston's trial get their first glimpse of the guns used to kill Deputy Bill Jones and Mike Brown. But this man's words may be even more powerful than the weapons. Joseph Ryan Whitefield often talked with Houston when the two did construction work together for a year, ending months before the May 2006 shootings. If jurors believe him, they will see Leon Houston as a man who carried both gun and a grudge against local law enforcement.

Joseph Ryan Whitefield Leon Houston's former coworker, testified, "At one point, he said if they kept messing with his family he'd go into the courthouse with AK's blazing."

The AK is a reference to a semi-automatic weapon, similar to one of the guns in court. It's the one prosecutors say Houston's brother Rocky used. He'll be tried for the same murders in November. Whitefield also testified that Leon Houston often boasted about the lawsuits he had filed against the county numerous people in the justice system.

From the stand, Whitefield said, "He said he had all of the judges and the lawyers and everybody sued, and if he wanted to he could get away with murder."

Whitefield testified that Houston blamed officers for causing his brother's car accident and his big gripe was that deputies often drove slowly by his house, and if that continued, Whitefield testified, "He said they could hide out and they could get them before they could get them basically."

Houston's aunt, Juanita Johnson says she saw a county patrol car drive by slowly when she delivered Vienna sausages and chocolate milk to Leon just minutes before the shooting. She got back to her house nearby just in time to hear the gunshots and, shortly after, a knock at the door.

Juanita Johnson said, "After Leon came in, Rocky came in behind him and Rocky was bleeding real bad."

When Rocky showed up at his aunt's house, his uncle testified that he took him to the hospital in oak ridge. That's where Rocky was arrested, but their uncle says Rocky told Leon not to go, saying "they'll kill us."

Leon turned himself in to the Tennessee Highway Patrol on the next night.

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UPDATE 5/17/08 11:32 a.m.: KINGSTON, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Leon Houston's former coworker, Joseph Ryan Whitefield, testified Thursday morning about conversations the two had while working together from August 2005 through August 2006.

He says Houston told him that he and his brother Rocky were victims of harassment by the Roane County Sheriff's Department and others in law enforcement, and "he said if they kept messing with his family, he'd go in the courthouse with AKs blazing", a reference to assault rifles.

Whitefield testified that Leon Houston also spoke frequently of several lawsuits he claimed to have filed against the county and local officials, claiming "he had all the judges and all the lawyers sued and if he wanted to he could get away with murder". Whitefield says Houston claimed that would create a conflict of interest, making it impossible for anyone in the county to prosecute him of a crime.

Whitefield also testified that Houston told him if deputies kept harassing the Houstons by driving by his house that "they could hide out and get them before they could get us."

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FIRST on VolunteerTV.com -- 10:55 a.m.:

KINGSTON, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Testimony Thursday in Leon Houston's murder trial began with Leon's aunt and uncle taking the stand. Leon is on trial from the murder of Roane County Deputy Bill Jones and his ride-along friend Mike Brown who was a former police officer. Leon's brother, Rocky Houston, is also charged in the murders, and will be tried separately.

The Houston's aunt, Juanita Faye Johnson, testified that she had just returned to her home next door after taking Vienna sausages and chocolate milk to Leon.

That's when she heard the gunshots.

Moments later, Leon and Rocky were knocking on her door. Rocky was bleeding, the victim of a gunshot in the hip, Juanita Johnson said.

Leon's uncle, Ledford Johnson, testified that he took Rocky to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, where Rocky was later arrested. But Rocky told Leon to stay behind, telling his brother, "You'll be safer they're gonna kill us."

Both witnesses also testified that Deputy Jones' patrol car passed by Leon's house slowly, without incident, just minutes before the shooting. They say Rocky waved at the car and said "go on". When asked by the prosecution if Leon seemed angry, both relatives testified that he did not.

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