Thomas Grady Layton v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 10, 2015
Docket05-13-01510-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Thomas Grady Layton v. State (Thomas Grady Layton v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thomas Grady Layton v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion Filed June 8, 2015

S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-13-01510-CR

THOMAS GRADY LAYTON, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 366th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 366-82182-10

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Bridges, Fillmore, and Brown Opinion by Justice Bridges A jury convicted appellant Thomas Grady Layton of capital murder, and the trial court

sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Layton argues

the evidence is insufficient to establish he committed the murder in the course of committing

robbery, and his conviction was based on insufficiently corroborated accomplice witness

testimony. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

Grada Layton lived at 2313 Cross Bend Road (Cross Bend) in Plano, Texas. After the

death of her husband several years earlier, she became a homebody and neighbors rarely saw her

although they described her as a sweet, caring woman who financially supported her wayward

son Thomas Grady Layton. Layton was a self-admitted methamphetamine user and his previous

legal trouble included felony burglary of a habitation, felony delivery of marijuana, felony manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance, felony burglary of a vehicle, and

misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Layton’s stepson, Matthew Kubasta, called Layton a

“freeloader.”

As long as Kubasta knew Layton, Layton had an “extreme hatred” for Grada. He would

say, “F that bitch. I need to kill her. You know, I need to shoot her.” Kubasta heard the threats

for so long that he did not believe them or take them seriously.

Layton lived with Grada off and on at Cross Bend, but also stayed at 1805 Bronco

(Bronco), which was a home in Granbury, Texas also owned by Grada. Layton claimed he

moved out of Cross Bend on Monday, May 24, 2010 and went to Bronco. Kubasta also stayed

off and on with Layton at Bronco.

Despite Layton’s claim that he did not return to Cross Bend until Sunday, May 30,

neighbors reported seeing him on Tuesday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 26. Specifically,

Whitney Carlstone, who lived next door to Grada, said Layton had been gone for about three

weeks. He told various neighbors he was going back to Granbury because “the police had it out

for him.” However, Carlstone saw Layton on Tuesday, May 25 in the early afternoon. She saw

Layton one more time the following day before she left town. Raymond Bittel also lived by

Grada, and he testified to seeing Layton on Tuesday, May 25.

Around May 25 or 26, Kubasta saw Layton “marking bullets up” at Bronco. Kubasta

explained this process as hollowing the tips and scratching them up to make the bullets harder to

identify through ballistics. Not until May 26 did Kubasta see a gun, which he recognized as

Grada’s .38 Smith & Wesson police special. Kubasta had seen the gun before when he visited a

deer lease with Layton. He thought Layton took it from Grada’s house on May 23.

After Layton finished with the bullets, Kubasta helped him construct a makeshift silencer

for the gun. Layton talked about killing Grada the whole time he was marking bullets and they

–2– were making the silencer. Kubasta did not try to change Layton’s mind because Kubasta did not

think he was serious.

On the night of May 26, Layton took Christyn Valentin’s Toyota Corolla and drove back

to Cross Bend. Valentin was Kubasta’s girlfriend at the time. Layton told Kubasta he did not

want to get caught on traffic cameras in his or Grada’s car. When Layton left, he said he was

going to kill Grada. He took the gun and silencer with him.

Layton later described to Kabasta how he killed Grada. Layton said the two watched

television for about an hour and then he retrieved the gun from the garage. He walked back in

and shot her in the back of the head. He checked on her breathing a few times and then shot her

again. Layton later admitted to police that he took credit cards and a debit card from Cross Bend

after killing Grada.

Around 3 a.m., Layton called Kubasta from a 7-Eleven in Benbrook because the Corolla

had a flat tire. Kubasta drove Grada’s Sunfire to meet Layton. After an unsuccessful attempt to

change the tire, they left the car at the gas station. Layton moved items he had taken from

Grada’s home, along with the pistol, and put them in the Sunfire’s trunk. Kubasta said the main

thing that stuck out to him was Grada’s purse in the plastic bag. At this point, Kubasta was still

not sure if Layton had killed Grada because, “it almost looked like he just robbed her because of

some of those things.” He said Layton had taken money from Grada’s purse before, which she

left in the kitchen, so Layton could have easily taken off with it.

In the early hours of May 27, Kubasta recalled seeing Layton shuffle through some

papers he took from Cross Bend and spread them out on the coffee table. He remembered seeing

a house deed, old collector coins, and a pocket watch. Kubasta also recognized Grada’s Oakley

sunglasses and said they came from her purse. Surveillance video captured Layton wearing

–3– these same sunglasses shortly after the murder. Layton explained to Kubasta that he took these

things because he could easily carry them out, and it would make it look like a robbery.

The following day, Layton went outside and Kubasta heard digging sounds next to the

home. Although Kubasta did not go outside to confirm, he assumed Layton buried the gun

because he took the gun outside but returned without it. The gun was never found.

Around 8 pm on May 29, Officer Randall Burns with the Plano police department

received a call to conduct a welfare check at Cross Bend. Layton had called the police claiming

to be concerned about Grada because he had not talked to her in several days. Layton told

Officer Burns he was completely broke, unemployed, and Grada helped him financially.

Officer Burns walked the perimeter of the house, looked for obvious signs of a break-in,

and knocked on the door. He found nothing suspicious. All doors and windows were secured.

Officer Burns called Layton back and told him he found nothing suspicious and encouraged

Layton to visit the house himself if he had continued concern. Layton mentioned he would have

to use an emergency credit card Grada provided him because he did not have extra money to

travel from Granbury to Plano.

Layton and Kubasta drove back to Cross Bend the night of May 29. Kubasta said on the

way back, they stopped at a gas station and Layton threw away a pink trash bag, which he

thought contained Grada’s purse. When they arrived at the house, Layton told Kubasta to open a

window upstairs so it looked more like a robbery. The two men determined they would throw

suspicion on Michael Grippe and Leslie Hutson for the murder.

Michael Grippe had known Layton for years. He got to know Grada when he and

Hutson, his girlfriend, moved into the converted apartment on the second story of Cross Bend.

According to Layton, the two took advantage of Grada and did not treat her well. However,

Grippe said they moved out on amicable terms.

–4– Grippe knew Grada loved Layton, but he also said Grada did not like her son. When

asked if Grada had any enemies, Hutson said, “Her son . . . He hated her. He had said it before.

He treated her horribly.”

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