Former
Justice
of the
Peace
Larry
David
Pack’s
conviction
for
aggravated
perjury
by a
Wood
County
trial
court
was
reversed
and a
judgment
of
acquittal
rendered
by an
April 25
decision
from the
Sixth
Court of
Appeals,
Texarkana.
“Justice
is
finally
done.
It’s
been a
long
time
coming,”
Pack
said in
comments
to the
Tyler
Morning
Telegraph.
In 2004,
when he
was a
Wood
County
Justice
of the
Peace,
Larry
David
Pack
testified
before a
Wood
County
grand
jury
concerning
an
allegation
that a
week
before
the 2000
political
primary
election,
Pack had
falsely
reported
to Child
Protective
Services
that a
Wood
County
man
running
as a
primary
candidate
for
constable
in
Pack’s
precinct
had
sexually
abused a
child.
An
offical
investigation
into the
report
of
misconduct
determined
that no
official
action
was
warranted.
Pack was
not
charged
with
filing a
false
report.
Subsequently,
the
charge
was made
that
Pack
falsely
testified
to the
grand
jury
that an
administrator
at the
Hawkins
School
telephoned
him to
report
the
alleged
abuse,
and the
trial
court
convicted
Pack for
aggravated
perjury.
The
appeals
court
found
the
evidence
legally
and
factually
insufficient
to
support
Pack’s
conviction.
The
appeals
court
opinion
stated
the
State
failed
to carry
its
burden
of proof
in two
respects:
(1)
failing
to prove
that
Pack
testified
a
Hawkins
School
administrator
reported
abuse to
him, and
(2) in
failing
to prove
that no
Hawkins
School
administrator
reported
abuse to
Pack.
On
appeal,
Pack
claims
the only
charge
supported
by the
evidence
is that
he
failed
to
remember,
nearly
four
years
later,
who had
called
him.
According
to Pack,
the
questioning
in front
of the
grand
jury was
not
precise
enough
to
justify
a
conviction
for
perjury.
Pack
also
claimed
the
State
could
not
prove
perjury
by
piecing
together
statements
of the
defendant
and
other
witnesses.
The
grand
jury
testimony
in 2004
was not
recorded,
an
ordinary
practice
in Wood
County.
The
appeals
court
agreed
with
Pack,
saying
the
evidence
was
factually
insufficient.
Pack
also
argued
on
appeal
that the
State’s
claim
that no
administrator
from
Hawkins
School
called
Pack is
merely
an
unproven
assumption.
The
appeals
court
agreed,
saying
they did
not find
sufficient
evidence
of who
qualified
as an
administrator,
how many
administrators
were
employed
at
Hawkins
School,
or who
those
administrators
were.
Chief
Justice
Josh R.
Morriss
III
ended
his 18
page
opinion
saying:
“Further,
the
evidence,
viewed
in a
neutral
light,
is so
weak
that the
jury’s
verdict
is
clearly
wrong
and
manifestly
unjust.
The
evidence
of the
falsity
of
Pack’s
testimony
is
legally
and
factually
insufficient.”
Pack was
removed
as
Justice
of the
Peace
when he
was
convicted,
and has
served
two
years of
a
sentence
of five
years
probation.
In
further
comments
to the
Tyler
paper,
Pack
said,
“There
was a
lot of
laws
broken,
but I
guarantee
Judge
Pack
didn’t
break
any.”
Pack
went on
to say
he
“still
has
faith in
the
justice
system.”
