Judge finds marijuana, gun counts not true; holds manslaughter and assault allegations for jury in Fletcher probation hearing

A judge in the 252nd District Court on a probation-revocation hearing found the state had not proved two drug-and-gun counts and declined to make findings on three more serious crash-related counts, saying those should be decided by a jury.

The hearing addressed a state motion to revoke the probation of Larry Glenn Fletcher Jr., who is on second-degree felony probation for a prior controlled-substance conviction. Prosecutors presented evidence tied to a July 4, 2023 traffic stop and to a September 18, 2024 crash that left one motorist dead. Defense counsel argued the hearing would improperly become a mini-trial and raised specificity and notice issues about the state's pleading.

The court allowed multiple witnesses to testify and admitted scene videos and photos into evidence. Miranda Baez of the Jefferson County Adult Probation Office confirmed Fletcher was placed on five years’ probation beginning 10/11/2021 and that condition No. 1 prohibits committing new offenses. Detective Jeffrey Busby testified he stopped a vehicle on July 4, 2023, smelled marijuana, obtained consent to search and found a handgun under the driver’s seat and vacuum-sealed bags of a green, plant-like substance plus a digital scale. The state admitted a body-worn-camera video from that stop as State’s Exhibit 1.

On the crash-related allegations, Officer Gabriel Phils (Veil) and other first responders described responding to a multi-vehicle crash at Brooklyn and Grant in Beaumont. Fire Captain Justin Corley Dilbeck testified rescue crews used hydraulic extrication on a vehicle showing significant driver-side intrusion. Darlene Whisby of the Beaumont Police Department Traffic Division confirmed the Honda driver was identified as Arthur Lee Thomas and that he did not survive his injuries.

Robin Wright, a crash-reconstruction consultant who downloaded and analyzed the Cadillac’s airbag control module with Bosch crash-data retrieval software, testified the module recorded roughly 52 mph five seconds before the crash and 72 mph two seconds before the event. Wright said the brake-switch signal changed from off to on between about 1.99 and 1.5 seconds before the recorded deployment and that, if braking continued, the extrapolated impact speed would be about 40 mph. He caveated that portions of that calculation were extrapolations and subject to limitations in the recorded data.

In argument, the prosecutor told the court the possession and firearm evidence was clear and that the crash evidence supported reckless conduct; defense counsel challenged the stop and disputed the state’s presentation on substance identity (noting there was no chemical test introduced to establish the substance was unlawful marijuana) and emphasized that failure to yield by the Honda’s driver could be the operative cause of the collision.

The judge said he believed the evidence suggested marijuana was present and that Fletcher may have been distributing it, but said he was constrained by the legal standard and the absence of chemical testing and written proof to make a finding on the drug and weapon counts. The court formally found counts 4 and 5 (possession of marijuana and unlawful carry of a weapon from the July 4, 2023 stop) not true for purposes of the motion to revoke. The judge also declined to make findings on counts 1–3 (manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and aggravated assault tied to the September 18, 2024 crash) and directed that those allegations be resolved at a jury trial, ordering counsel to set trial dates promptly.

The judge granted the parties leave to withdraw admitted exhibits and said the motion to revoke remains pending; the court said it would revisit the motion after the criminal trials conclude. No final parole or sentencing action was taken at the hearing.

Representatives and titles: the state was represented by Mr. Coleman; defense counsel was Mr. Gertz. The defendant is Larry Glenn Fletcher Jr.; witnesses included Miranda Baez (Jefferson County Adult Probation Office), Detective Jeffrey Busby (Beaumont PD), Officer Gabriel Phils (Beaumont PD), Captain Justin Corley Dilbeck (Beaumont Fire Department), identification technician Carol Harvoter, traffic officer Darlene Whisby (Beaumont PD Traffic Division), and crash-reconstruction consultant Robin Wright.

The court set a timetable to obtain a jury date and left the motion to revoke active pending those proceedings.