Shorter prison sentence at retrial sets Blanco man free in 97 killing

Shorter prison sentence at retrial sets Blanco man free in ’97 killing

A Blanco man sentenced to 65 years in 1999 for the murder of his wife was freed Wednesday after the prison term meted out by jurors in his retrial was less than the time he already had served.

James B. Tenny, 53, received a five-year sentence and a $5,000 fine Wednesday on his aggravated assault conviction for the 1997 slaying of Joyce Mulvey, 57.

After spending six years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned, Tenny was “extremely emotional” at the outcome in the Llano retrial, his lawyer Bill Schuurman said.

Tenny, who did not take the stand in the retrial, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mulvey was stabbed to death May 12, 1997, after a dispute arose over Tenny’s plans to move out of their Blanco County house.

In testimony from his first trial that was re-entered as evidence, Tenny claimed an enraged Mulvey splashed gas on him, tried to set him afire and stabbed him.

That testimony was bolstered by defense witnesses who said Mulvey had threatened to kill Tenny and burn down their trailer.

But prosecutor Tom Cloudt dismissed those claims as an elaborate tale crafted by Tenny’s friends after the crime.

Jury foreman Benton “Nick” Elliott said the panel felt Tenny had not made sufficient effort to flee, and that his account was cast in doubt by testimony of emergency workers that they did not smell gasoline in the trailer home.

He also noted the state didn’t dispute the defense’s portrayal of Mulvey as out of control until the trial’s punishment phase.

“We all feel we did the best job we possibly could, based upon the information that we were furnished,” he said, noting he’d have liked to have known about Tenny’s previous conviction, which was overturned because of ineffective counsel.

Schuurman said his firm, Vinson & Elkins of Austin, spent more than $1 million as Tenny’s court-appointed appellate lawyers, and more than $500,000 in support of the retrial defense led by David Sheppard, who volunteered his services.

“We represented him for nothing because we believed in him, and this vindicated him,” he said.

zeke@express-news.net