David Temple jury selection begins for sentencing phase after conviction for wife's murder
HOUSTON - Jury selection begins Monday in the sentencing phase for David Temple, who was convicted of the murder of his wife.
During a retrial in August 2019, Temple was found guilty for the second time in the 1999 death of his pregnant wife, Katy High School teacher Belinda Temple.
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However, a judge declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. More than three years later, a new jury will be selected to determine his sentence.
He has remained in the Harris County Jail on a $1 million bond.
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Temple was convicted for the first time in 2007 for his wife's murder after years of an investigation, but the ruling was overturned in 2016, and he was granted a retrial.
Prosecutors said he was having an affair with a co-worker and that gave him motive.
He was out running errands on Jan.11, 1999, when she was murdered. But according to the timeline assembled by investigators, he had time to slip home and kill her.
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At the time, Belinda was eight months pregnant with the couple's second child. The baby also died.
The defense said the prosecution had the timeline all wrong, and investigators retraced his steps in the evening not during the time of the murder when traffic was heavier, and argued there simply was no time.
Prosecutors never turned over reports about the boy next door to the defense in the original trial. An appeals court in 2017 ruled that was prosecutorial misconduct and grounds for a new trial.
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In 2020, Temple's attorneys asked the judge to toss out the second conviction and hold a new trial. They also asked for a change of venue, but a judge denied both requests.