Laura Hall appeared in court Monday morning for her re-sentencing hearing, and a Travis County judge remanded her back into custody.
When Judge Wilford Flowers sent her back to jail, she fought. KVUE News reporters say Hall began screaming and crying -- fighting the guards as they took her back into custody.
When she was out of the public view, she could still be heard yelling -- she was asking them to let her go back home. The guards struggled to get her to calm down.
When Hall walked into the Travis County courthouse around 8:45 a.m. Monday morning she was calm and serene. She said she felt anxious but was hopeful.
This is the first phase in her re-sentencing trial for her role in the 2005 murder and mutilation of UT student Jennifer Cave.
Colton Pitonyak was convicted of killing Cave.
Hall’s aunt, father, and grandmother were with her in the courtroom Monday morning when Judge Flowers remanded her back to custody.
“It’s time to put an end to this madness. My daughter was convicted because she stepped on a cigarette butt,” said Loren Hall, Hall’s father. “Give me a break. Oh you stepped on a cigarette butt and you’ve tampered with evidence. Come on, you know. I feel sorry for the family, you know the one who lost their daughter, but hate and vengeance it doesn’t need to be in the courtroom. Let’s let the facts speak for theirselves (sic).”
The Court of Criminal Appeals granted Hall a re-sentencing hearing last year after ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence information during her trial.
It didn't toss out her conviction but it did eliminate the five year prison term she was initially sentenced.
Hall was able to bond out of jail. She lived with her parents in a small town outside of San Antonio since last February before going back into custody on Monday.
“I know my daughter’s innocent. That’s what’s horrible,” said her father.
A new sentencing trial date is set for March.
