'Spider' hearing postponed

A hearing on attorneys for Michael Dean "Spider" Gonzales didn't last long Tuesday afternoon.

"Today, I'm not going to waste my time or yours," 358th District Judge Bill McCoy told Gonzales. "If you're not going to make a decision, I'll make one for you."

The hearing was called because Gonzales had indicated he wanted to represent himself in his resentencing case and wouldn't accept the attorneys appointed to him, McCoy said. The court-appointed attorneys are Woody Leverett of Midland and Jason Leach of Odessa.

"He said he didn't trust them," McCoy said after the hearing.

But, at the hearing, Gonzales still refused to commit to whether he wanted to represent himself, McCoy said. Gonzales also added a number of four-letter words.

In 1995, a jury took 55 minutes to find Gonzales guilty in the April 1994 murders of Manuel and Merced Aguirre.

Although it took jurors three hours to sentence Gonzales to death, he returned to Ector County last year for resentencing. Gonzales' sentencing, and that of several others, were overturned because of concerns over racial comments an expert witness had made in some cases.

McCoy rescheduled the next hearing for 3:30 p.m. May 28.

"We're going to have a decision on whether he's going to represent himself or have the attorneys represent him," he said.

The judge said the resentencing phase of the trial should start around January.

After the hearing, Leach and Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland declined to comment.