BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas appeals court has denied the appeal of a Beaumont man sentenced in 2021 to 50 years for fatally shooting his neighbor in 2018.
Brian Rollins was convicted in 2021 by a Jefferson County jury for the murder of his neighbor, Kendra LeDay.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video first aired in 2021 when Rollins was found guilty and sentenced.)
Texas' Ninth Court of Appeals denied his claim and upheld his conviction and his 50-year prison sentence.
He had appealed his conviction saying that reasonable jurors should have accepted his claim that he killed LeDay under duress.
Rollins also claimed the jury did not receive instructions on "involuntary intoxication" as a defense.
During his trial, Rollins claimed he was under duress because three men held him and his children hostage and threatened to kill them all if he didn't kill LeDay.
The jury did receive instructions at trial on "affirmative defense of duress" but rejected it and found him guilty.
In denying his appeal the court noted that Rollins' own children testified at trial saying they had a good day on the day of the shooting and "did not see anything weird," before the shooting.
The appeals court addressed Rollins' claim that the jury should have been instructed about "involuntary intoxication" as a defense by noting that his own testimony negated it.
At trial Rollins said he had used some synthetic marijuana that had been laced and that led to him killing LeDay. But, during the trial, he testified that the effects of the drug did not take effect until after the fatal shooting.
Police said at the time of the shooting that the pair were neighbors in the 4300 block of Kenneth Avenue in Beaumont. They said the two were arguing before Rollins started shooting, hitting and killing Leday on Dec. 29, 2018, according to a Beaumont Police news release.
During his trial, jurors heard the account of an officer who detailed his arrival at a south end Beaumont home after the shooting. He said he found Leday dead from a gunshot wound. He also testified about finding a gun within arm's length of Rollins. Police have blamed the shooting on an argument between the two.
The jury also heard a jailhouse conversation between a police detective and Rollins. On the tape, he admitted to shooting Leday.
After three days of testimony, the case was turned over to the jury for discussion. It took them only an hour to return a guilty verdict.
Following testimony during the punishment phase the jury sentenced him to 50 years in state prison.
Rollins had faced up to life behind bars.