Grand jury meeting Friday for final session of the year

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December 10, 2012

Grand jury meeting Friday for final session of the year

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Mon Dec 10, 2012, 09:59 AM CST

GREENVILLE — The Hunt County grand jury is scheduled to meet again Friday, for its final session of 2012.

The panel will be wrapping up its six month term of issuing indictments for consideration by the 354th District Court. The grand jury has issued 328 indictments since being seated in July.

A new grand jury will be seated in January, to consider the issuance of indictments for consideration by the 196th District Court.

The grand jury can either issue indictments — or “true bills” — or determine an investigation did not find sufficient evidence to issue an indictment, in which case a “no bill” is issued.

The indictments are issued open, or are issued sealed if the subject named in the indictment has yet to be arrested and arraigned on the pending charge.

The specifics of the cases which are presented to the grand jury are kept confidential until such time as the panel decides whether or not to issue indictments.

However, it is possible the grand jury may consider indictments in two recent cases.

— Myesha Simone Garcia, 20 of Commerce, remains in custody at the Hunt County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond on one count of murder involving the November 28 death of Jamal Stanton, 20, of Greenville. Stanton died of a stab wound to the upper left torso. According to a report from the Commerce Police Department, Stanton was involved in an altercation at the Tarter Apartments in Commerce.

— William Alton Easterling, 70, of West Tawakoni, was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant, after he allegedly attacked personnel responding to a fire at his residence last month. Firefighters responded on the night of November 24 to a call of a structure fire at Easterling’s home on Ideal Circle in West Tawakoni. Easterling, 70, was arrested after he was accused of attempting to run over fire personnel that were attempting to bring the fire under control.