Wills Point woman gets new DWI trial, ex-attorney under investigation

A Wills Point woman sentenced to four years in prison last year after pleading guilty in a drunken driving case was granted a new trial on Tuesday after a hearing in which she accused her former attorney of sexual assault.

State District Judge Craig Towson granted the new trial for Marcy Leanne Mcalpin, 43, after her former attorney, Matthew McConahay of Weatherford, repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

McConahay even declined to answer whether he had been Mcalpin’s legal counsel.

“I wasn’t sure how the hearing would go, but I knew we had a fair chance with the judge and district attorney,” new defense attorney Reed Wainwright of Weatherford said Tuesday. Mcalpin “was pretty emotional today.”

A Texas Ranger has begun investigating Mcalpin’s complaint against McConahay, according to an official in the Parker County district attorney’s office. Towson appointed Christy Jack of Fort Worth, a former longtime Tarrant County prosecutor, to act as special prosecutor if the investigation results in charges against McConahay.

Mcalpin was arrested on June 22, 2015, by Weatherford police and later charged with driving while intoxicated, driving with an invalid license and resisting arrest.

She pleaded guilty to DWI and resisting arrest. The other charge was dismissed, Wainwright said. Four days later, Mcalpin was sentenced to four years in prison.

But with Wainwright as her new attorney, Mcalpin filed affidavits saying that her rights had been infringed, her plea was not voluntary and she had ineffective counsel.

At the hearing Tuesday morning, Wainwright questioned McConahay.

Wainwright said his first question to McConahay was “Did you ever sexually assault Marcy Mcalpin?”

McConahay responded that on the advice of his attorney, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, court officials said.

“About five questions were related to sexual conversations and/or actions,” Parker County prosecutor Jeff Swain said. “He took the Fifth on every question.”

Jeff Kearney of Fort Worth, McConahay’s attorney, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Swain said prosecutors decided not to oppose a new trial.

“There was too much of a cloud with the case,” Swain said.

A new trial was set for Sept. 12.

Area defense attorneys said Tuesday that it is rare for a judge to grant a new trial after a plea agreement and it was uncommon for an attorney to invoke the Fifth Amendment during such a hearing.

“As part of a plea agreement, defendants waive their right to appeal,” attorney Lex Johnston of Hurst said Tuesday.

McConahay has no public disciplinary history, according to the State Bar of Texas website.

Mcalpin remained in the Parker County Jail on Tuesday.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Wills Point woman gets new DWI trial, ex-attorney under investigation."