draggonlaady

The trial has begun of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice offender charged with murdering a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Officer during an attempted escape in September 2007.

Jerry Duane Martin, 39, will be tried in Leon County in the death of Susan Canfield, a TDCJ officer who was killed during the escape attempt of Martin and fellow inmate John Ray Falk Jr., 41.

Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said Martin’s trial is being held in Leon County due to complications involving other sites.

State District Judge Kenneth Keeling of the 278th Judicial District will try the case.

Falk’s trial has not been scheduled.

Weeks said that although all charges against Martin will be considered in the punishment phase of the trial, most of the trial is likely to focus on Canfield’s murder.

“The case in chief will be primarily on the escape and the death of Susan Canfield,” Weeks said.

Weeks said that due to the large number of witnesses and personnel involved, the trial is likely to last for several weeks, with the principal question being whether or not Canfield’s death qualifies as capital murder.

“This is a difficult case,” Weeks said. “The situation is very unique because Ms. Canfield died as the result of being thrown off a horse, so there are issues there that are different than most. I feel very confident, but it’s going to be up to the jury. I believe it’s capital murder, but the jury’s going to have the final word on that.”

Weeks said that if Martin is found guilty, jurors will have the option of recommending the death penalty.

On Sept. 24, 2007, Martin and Falk were working outside the Wynne Unit when Martin approached an officer and asked him to hold his broken watch. As the officer reached for the watch, Falk distracted him with a sound, allowing Martin to grab the officer’s weapon.

Using the weapon to hold off nearby officers, the two offenders were able to scale a barbed-wire fence. After stealing a second weapon at gunpoint and exchanging fire with several nearby officers, they were able to commandeer a City of Huntsville truck. While escaping, they rammed TDCJ Officer Susan Canfield.

Canfield, who was on horseback, was thrown from her horse and was killed due to head injuries sustained when she struck the windshield of the truck and the ground. Her horse was later euthanized due to wounds from the collision and gunfire.

According to TDCJ reports following the incident, Martin was the driver of the vehicle when it struck Canfield.

Martin and Falk later dumped the truck a mile away and hijacked a local motorist who was in line at a nearby bank drive-thru.

Officers from several local agencies were able to shoot out on of the tires in the hijacked vehicle, leading Martin and Falk to continue to flee on foot.

Falk was apprehended within an hour after the escape, while Martin was found hiding in a tree approximately three and a half hours later. At the time of their escape, Martin was in the tenth year of a 50-year term for attempted murder, while Falk was serving a life sentence for a 1986 murder.

In March of 2008 both men were indicted for the murder of Canfield. The charge was elevated to capital murder due to provisions in the Texas State Penal Code that allow a murder to be upgraded to capital if it occurs during an attempted escape from a penal institution.

Charges against both men also include attempted capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault, all felonies stemming from hijacking the second vehicle and returning fire on local police.

Both were also charged with interfering with a police service animal, a third degree felony stemming from the death of Canfield’s horse.