11-18-09 Lyson trial continues Odessa American

November 18, 2009 8:40 PM
BY JIM MUSTIAN
In a heated interview with detectives, Christopher David Lyson denied stabbing 26-year-old Ryan Adam Moon and reluctantly implicated his friend Terrance L. Jackson in the 2008 slaying.
Lyson might not take the witness stand in his murder trial this week, but the Odessa man’s version of events took center stage Wednesday as an Ector County jury listened to a 90-minute tape recording in which Lyson steadfastly denied any hand in Moon’s death.

The fight that reportedly caused Moon’s death began about midnight on May 29, 2008, in front of Jackson’s mother’s mobile home in the 700 block of Bunche Ave. Police said the fight began over a debt Jackson owed Moon.

Jamayea Brockett, Moon’s girlfriend at the time, testified Tuesday she was “positive” she saw Lyson perform “a stabbing motion” in an attempt to help Jackson during the struggle. But Lyson insists he watched as a third party, standing near a car parked in front of the residence

“I’ll swear on the Bible. I’ll do anything,” Lyson told detectives. “I’ll take a lie detector test right now.”

The detectives and Lyson’s defense attorney Dusty Gallivan offered differing interpretations of the impassioned back-and-forth. Det. Shelly Stanford of the Odessa Police Department testified Wednesday she spotted several holes in Lyson’s story but acknowledged her threats could have “caused more inconsistencies.”

At the beginning of the interview, he told the detectives he was shocked to learn of Moon’s death, saying Jackson and Moon shook hands after the fight and that “everything was fine.”

“Your story sucks and it ain’t gonna hold water,” Stanford told Lyson during the interrogation. Jackson and Lyson, both of Odessa, were detained for questioning in Midland a few hours after Moon stopped breathing at Odessa Regional Medical Center.

Det. Harvey Enriquez of OPD said in the interview “he would not feel bad” if Lyson received a lethal injection because Lyson would not take responsibility for his alleged actions. Lyson is not charged with capital murder in connection with Moon’s death. He faces five years to life in prison if convicted.

Gallivan chided the detectives for lying to Lyson and criticized their techniques. He maintained Lyson never changed his story throughout the profanity-laden interrogation.

During cross examination, Gallivan grilled Enriquez and Stanford, suggesting the detectives confined the scope of their investigation by basing their questions on Brockett’s initial statements. Selecting passages out of other police interviews not played for the jury, Gallivan pointed out that Jackson and at least one other witness changed their stories after the detectives began threatening them with the lethal injection.

“The only thing that changed was, in the middle, (Lyson) added Terrance did it,” Gallivan said.

In the interview, Lyson said he feared retribution from Jackson but eventually recalled his friend telling him, “I shivved his ass.”

Jackson, who according to court documents and testimony is also known as “Ice Cream,” has not been charged in Moon’s death. He pleaded guilty last month to unrelated felony theft charges and was sentenced to 20 months in state jail and ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution to the victim.

Investigators never recovered the weapon they say Lyson used in the stabbing. But on Wednesday, jurors viewed photographs introduced by prosecutors that show two knives recovered from Lyson’s backpack. Assistant District Attorney Justin Cunningham said the knives could demonstrate Lyson’s tendency to carry a dangerous weapon.

Gallivan objected to the state using them as evidence because DNA testing determined they were not linked to Moon’s death. One of the knives bears the red letters “KKK,” which Gallivan said would be too prejudicial for the jury.

Judge Denn Whalen overruled Gallivan’s objection Wednesday, saying the knives were relevant evidence.

Testimony is scheduled to resume this morning at 9 a.m. in 70th District Court.