Lubbock man acquitted in son's death

CLOVIS — A Lubbock man was acquitted Wednesday on battery charges in connection to the 2017 death of his son.

David Plyler, 61, of Lubbock, received the acquittal following roughly a day-and-a-half trial, with attorney Dan Lindsey nothing the Curry County jury took just 31 minutes to acquit.

“I appreciate the jury,” Lindsey said, “but this case should have never gone forward.”

According to court records, Plyler, then 58, was visiting Clovis over the New Year holiday and ended up in an altercation with his 29-year-old son, Matthew Plyler. The older Plyer had his son “in a chokehold waiting for officers to arrive,” according to court documents. The younger Plyer died Jan. 19 at University Medical Center.

Lindsey said the state indicted despite the younger Plyler’s history of violence and witness accounts that the older Plyler was simply defending himself from being beaten to death by somebody half his age. Lindsey said the altercation was a tragic incident, but called the trial a waste of government resources.

“He had a history of violence (I’ve never seen) in over 30 years of practicing law,” Lindsey said, noting incidents of assaulting police officers and family members.

Plyler was first indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Following an issue with the medical investigator office in Lubbock, the case was dismissed and refiled as aggravated battery causing great bodily harm or death.