William Trottie was arrested in May of 1993 and was recently sentenced to death penalty for the murders of his wife Barbara Canada and her brother Titus Canada. As a result of weak defense in court, he was convicted of the two first degree murders of his wife and his wife brother.

Barbara Canada left Trottie to move with her family in 1992. Shortly after she moved out, Trottie increasingly started to get violent with Barbara in various ways and began to threaten Barbara with her life if she did not come back to him. After the threats, Barbara issued a safety warrant against Trottie. A key witness stated that he saw Trottie hit Barbara and bumped into her car at 55-60 miles per hour. By 1993, Trottie called Barbara non-stop at home and at her work, begging her to come back to him.

By the May 1, 1993 Trottie called her and warned her that she had only one day to come back to him or he would kill her. Trottie went through with these threats on May 3, 1993 and  went to his ex-wife’s home to kill her and her brother. Trottie went up to the front of the home and began firing his 9mm pistol in the air and forced his entrance into the house. Titus had a .380 Caliber and shot Trottie in an act of self-defense. Being injured multiple times, Titus went down and Trottie turned his attention to Barbara and shot her eleven times in the other room. Later, returned to Titus and shot him twice while Titus was holding two small children in his arms. Trottie went to the emergency room where he was later arrested and brought to court.

During Trottie’s trial in 1993, under the 262nd  Judicial Court of Harris County found Trottie guilty of capital offence. Trottie pleaded not guilty but proved unassisting to Trottie and his sentencing. On the twentieth September in 1995, Trottie’s conviction was affirmed by the criminal appeals an as unpublished opinion. On the tenth on July in 2008, Trottie’s relief plead was denied due to the fact that the evidence that was found and had facts that would be used against Trottie that did find him guilty in 1995. On September of 2010, Trottie put another appeal and a petition in the justice system and again was denied, but this time the Texas law denied him to place another appeal and petition. By November of 2013, Trottie attempted to flee with a petition for the Writ of Cetiorari to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied Trottie’s appeal and sentenced Trottie for the lethal injection in 2014.

FSA Connection Questions

1. Who is the Author of this article?

2. In this Article, what is the Writ of Cetiorari?

3. What charge set Trottie for death row?

4. What evidence is there against Trottie?

5. What connotation does petition have in this story?

6. What sentence best summarizes the conviction of Trottie during this trial?