SAN ANTONIO – The courtroom erupted in shouts and applause as Judge Jefferson Moore read the jury’s verdict of two years in prison for Frances Hall Tuesday afternoon.
Hall was convicted of forcing her husband’s motorcycle off the road on the evening of Oct. 10, 2013. Hall’s husband was following his alleged mistress, Bonnie Contreras, as they drove along Loop 1604 in Southwest Bexar County.
According to testimony, Hall spotted them and started to chase them, ramming Contreras’ vehicle and forcing her husband, Bill Hall, off the road, where he crashed his motorcycle and was killed.
Defense attorney Leigh Cutter argued that Frances Hall acted out of sudden passion, reducing the punishment range from five to 99 years to life in prison to two to 20 years.
The jury’s verdict reflected that they agreed with the sudden passion defense.
Following the verdict, Hall’s daughter, Dominique “Nikki” Hall, said, “It’s devastating. I still don’t have my mother, but the lesser sentence is the best we could expect.”
Family members said that the murder and affair had caused discord within the Hall family.
“You know what Frances told me right before the verdict? She said, ‘If nothing else I brought my family together on both sides, (it’s) because we were broken,’” Cutter said
Frances Hall was also given a two-year probated sentence on an assault charge for ramming Contreras’ vehicle.