SAN ANTONIO – More than nine years after the brutal murder of Paula Boyd, there has been another setback in the case’s retrial.
R.C. Curtis is charged with the capital murder of Boyd, who was his wife’s grandmother and a beloved H-E-B employee.
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Boyd was found murdered in her apartment on Oct. 21, 2015. An autopsy revealed that she died of blunt-force trauma and strangulation.
Curtis was caught on surveillance video the day after the slaying when he tried to use Boyd’s debit card at a gas station.
In 2021, the case went to trial, but midway through, Judge Stephanie Boyd declared a mistrial after prosecutors presented new evidence very late in the trial that raised the possibility of more suspects being involved in Boyd’s murder.
Curtis' attorneys said the new evidence could have exonerated Curtis and claimed the state was prejudiced against their client.
Over the last couple of years, appeals were filed about whether the case would even get a retrial. Once it was granted to move forward, jury selection was set for Wednesday, Dec. 4.
On Wednesday afternoon, while the state told Judge Boyd, they were ready for trial, the defense said they had a problem.
Defense attorney Charles Bunk told Boyd that on Nov. 22, he received a call from prosecutor Daryl Harris about the discovery of cellphone evidence from Paula Boyd’s phone. The phone dump contained more than 400 pages, according to Bunk, and because of the late notice, he would need time to review it.
Boyd pressed the prosecution about the issue, asking why this problem was coming up again when it caused a retrial back in 2021.
Harris' response was that part of the evidence was obtained back in 2016, but the SAPD detectives on the case failed to disclose to anybody that there were other pages they didn’t submit.
Judge Boyd has ordered both sides to return to the courtroom on Friday and that the SAPD detective responsible for the phone dump evidence be present as well to answer questions.
A new trial date for Curtis has not been set yet. If a jury during a retrial finds him guilty, he would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.