A serious perjury charge against Clinton’s wife Owen Thompson was dismissed within hours of his pleading guilty Thursday morning to manslaughter for killing a Wichita Falls man and aggravated assault for a traffic accident, court records show.
The Wichita County District Attorney has opted not to prosecute the perjury charge against 45-year-old Misti Dawn Thompson.
At the request of the Attorney General’s Office, 89th District Judge Charles Barnard signed the dismissal order filed Thursday afternoon. Aggravated perjury is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
On July 5, a Wichita County grand jury indicted Misti for perjury in connection with her testimony on May 25, 2022.
The prosecution claimed she lied when she testified that John King, who pointed a gun to Clinton on August 6, 2017, during a traffic accident south of McNiel Middle School, had followed Misti to her father-in-law’s and her mother’s home…the the in-laws’ flower shop that day.
In addition, her false statements undermined King’s credibility during the road rage trial, according to allegations in the indictment.
A judge declared a mistrial when a jury deadlocked in Clinton’s trial on May 26, 2022. He was due to be tried again on Monday for aggravated assault.
The dismissal of the perjury charge against Misti was not part of the plea deal concluded for the 44-year-old Clinton in recent days.
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He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and to the lesser felony manslaughter for the July 26, 2012 shooting death of husband and father Rocky Buckley in the driveway of Clinton’s home.
Barnard sentenced him to 15 years for manslaughter and five years for the traffic accident. His sentences must be executed simultaneously.
Clinton was held Friday at the Wichita County Detention Center awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, according to online prison records.
The resolution of Buckley’s case brought long-awaited justice to family members, who have been seeking justice since his death in 2012.
A Wichita County grand jury declined to indict Clinton in 2012 on any charges related to the murder. Clinton claimed he fired in self-defense. He and Buckley had been friends and were arguing at the time of the murder.
Buckley’s family asked Wichita County DA John Gillespie to take on the case when he took office in 2019.
Subsequently, Clinton was indicted for manslaughter in April 2019 and then in November 2019 for murder.
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Trish Choate, corporate watchdog reporter for Times Record News in Wichita Falls, covers education, courts, breaking news, research projects and more. Contact Trish with news tips at [email protected]. Her Twitter account is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Felony Charge Dismissed Against Wife of Rocky’s Killer
