In July 2023, 29 year old Joseph Lawson entered a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office for the crimes that took place in March 2021.
The plea agreement left open the decision for punishment following a pre sentence investigation.
The judge decided on ten years in prison for threatening police and five years for threatening the woman.
Prosecutors sought ten years on both counts. Lawson sought a form of probation called deferred adjudication.
The plea agreement does not allow Lawson to appeal his convictions. But Lawson can appeal both prison sentences, which will be served at the same time.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
On January 19, 2024, Judge David Hilburn sentenced Joseph Lawson to the maximum of 10 years in prison for threatening officers responding to an Aggravated Assault domestic violence incident. Lawson was also sentenced by Judge Hilburn to five years in prison for the underlying offense of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Judge Hilburn’s sentence came after a punishment hearing, where prosecutors presented the facts of the offense and the defendant’s behavior since his arrest.
On March 26, 2021, Lawson’s victim called 911 to report that Lawson had put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. While the victim was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, the defendant yelled that he would murder the police who responded to the call and that he would force the police to kill him. The defendant then fled the scene, yelling that he would kill any officer who stopped him.
Bryan Police, Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas A&M University Police responded in an effort to locate the defendant.
The defendant was stopped by Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and Bryan Police, who found the firearm used in the Aggravated Assault inside the defendant’s vehicle. Bryan Police also discovered multiple additional firearms inside the defendant’s home.
After the defendant’s arrest, he called the victim and asked her to lie to the police about the incident. Lawson also told the victim that he did not intend to follow any condition of bond that was imposed by the court.
Still, the defendant was placed on bond conditions which prohibited the defendant from going to the victim’s residence.
Shortly after the incident, the victim moved to College Station. During the punishment hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that the defendant repeatedly violated his conditions of bond by going to the victim’s new residence in College Station. During these incidents, the defendant threatened neighbors and was verbally abusive towards the victim and responding police officers.
Despite being arrested by College Station police twice for violating his bond conditions, prosecutors presented evidence that the defendant continued to disregard the court’s orders
and willfully violate his conditions of bond.
Statement from assistant district attorneys Jessica Escue and Anjelica Harris: “The defendant was violent towards a woman he claimed to love, towards those who rescued her, and disregarded all safeguards the court put in place for her safety. This sentence reflects the consequences for those who endanger victims and first responders in our community.”