Cleaner. Faster. Cheaper.
When Davon Lymon goes to trial in October on gun charges in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, it will be in front of a judge, not a jury of 12-plus alternates drawn from all over northern and central New Mexico.
Lymon waived his right to a jury trial and the prosecution agreed. So did Chief Judge M. Christina Armijo, who will preside over the proceeding, which charges him with possession of the firearm used in the fatal shooting of officer Daniel Webster. A Taurus Millennium G2 PT-40 .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, loaded with Winchester and Perfect brands ammunition, to be precise.
As a twice-convicted felon, Lymon could not legally have one in his possession.
And that is what the prosecution intends to prove.
Having a bench trial eliminates time questioning jurors to find those who don’t know anything about the very high-profile officer shooting, or who aren’t tainted by their knowledge of it. That’s at the front end.
At the other end, a bench trial eliminates time spent in deliberations. A bench trial means there won’t be endless discussions at the bench, out of the jury’s hearing, of fine points of law. The judge will decide on the facts and the law.
There still will be the same 50-plus witness and the same 49 exhibits, from handcuff photos to Lymon’s “penitentiary packet” from his prior prison stints.
But the fall trial is only the first of two trials Lymon faces in federal court. The next one is for more gun charges.
State court prosecutors have said they will prosecute Lymon’s alleged shooting of Webster six times, resulting in his death, after the federal cases are completed.
Lymon is accused of fatally shooting Webster on Oct. 21 during a traffic stop near Central and Eubank in southeast Albuquerque. Webster, who was shot multiple times as he tried to handcuff Lymon, died about a week later.
