Jury finds Nutt guilty of assault with a deadly weapon

A Falls County jury found Derek Wayne Nutt, 41, from Marlin, guilty of the felony offense of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon after deliberating for approximately an hour on Oct. 5.

The jury trial began on Oct. 3 and concluded on Oct. 5 after the jury returned a sentence of 45 years in the Texas Department of Corrections, Institutional Division and set a fine in the amount of $10,000.  

Normally a Second Degree Felony, the charge was enhanced with a prior felony conviction making the range of punishment 5 to 99 years or life and up to a $10,000.00 fine.  Nutt will be eligible for parole after serving one-half of the sentence.  

Falls County District Attorney Jody Gilliam presented the case to the jury.  

Witnesses described how the group of friends were together that day at Nutt’s residence near the community of Travis.  Three of them left to run to the store, while Nutt and two others stayed behind.  

The victim and a 16-year-old witness to the shooting described how Nutt shot the victim in the upper leg at close range with a single barrel 12-gauge shotgun and left him to bleed out in a field, preventing the other from rendering any aid to the victim.  

The other three friends returned to the scene where Nutt announced that the victim had shot himself.  

Panic ensued from the others and the victim was rushed to the Falls Community Hospital where life saving measures were performed.  The victim was care-flighted to a hospital in Temple and survived the shooting.  

At trial, the defense advanced the theory that the victim swatted at the shotgun which was pointed at him, which caused the shotgun to discharge.