Posted on 02/06/2014 6:37:50 PM PST by Teotwawki
A Central Texas man who shot and killed a sheriff's deputy entering his home will not be charged with capital murder, attorneys said Thursday. A local grand jury declined Wednesday to indict Henry Goedrich Magee for the December death of Burleson County Sgt. Adam Sowders, who was part of a group of investigators executing a search warrant for Magee's rural home. Sowders and other officers entered the home about 90 miles northwest of Houston without knocking just before 6 a.m. Authorities were looking for guns and marijuana. Magee's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said his client thought he was the victim of a home invasion, reached for a gun and opened fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I am afraid all this will do is convince Steroid chompers to kill and cover up!
What’s amazing about this is that the follow on cops didn’t turn the guy into a slab of swiss cheese. The cop he shot must not have had any friends there that day.
Darn lost my bet. I had jack booted thugs showing up by 5th entry
An announcement is not enough. Any meth head busting in can yell “Police, search warrant!” You have a warrant, better knock politely and wait at the door with your uniform and credentials visible.
Cops aren’t soldiers. They just play soldier. They probably saw this guy get blasted and froze. They don’t train to move and engage. They train to shoot from cover. So their first instinct was to find a place to hide.
Very fitting in this case.
This may serve to put the fear of God into police departments in rural and more conservative areas, but something needs to be done about the militarization of these bigger city police forces. In these big cities, the police seem to be able to do pretty much whatever they want.
“How many milliseconds from the “announcement” did they “enter” (no doubt by smashing down the door)? “
Looks as though “Dynamic Entry” resulted in “Dynamic Response.” It’s sad that the LEO lost his life because he was probably following the orders of some jerk higher up whose steroid load was too high. If we are to “retake” our country from the JBT’s, more of this may be in the offing.
Magee’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said his client thought he was being burglarized, reached for a gun and opened fire.
DeGuerin has acknowledged his client had a small number of marijuana plants and seedlings, as well as guns he owned legally. The grand jury did indict Magee for possession of marijuana while in possession of a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony.
“This was a terrible tragedy that a deputy sheriff was killed, but Hank Magee believed that he and his pregnant girlfriend were being robbed,” DeGuerin said in an interview Thursday.
“He did what a lot of people would have done,” DeGuerin added. “He defended himself and his girlfriend and his home.”
The longtime defense attorney said he could not immediately remember another example of a Texas grand jury declining to indict a defendant in the death of a law enforcement officer.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/No-murder-charge-for-man-who-shot-Texas-deputy-5210909.php
DeGuerin defended Tom DeLay.
The excerpt below concerns a previous case that is relevant to “no knock” in Texas. . .
......................................................................................................................
POLICE USING LAWFUL GUN OWNERSHIP AS AN EXCUSE FOR “NO KNOCK” HOME INVASIONS
January 2, 2014
Texas courts have ruled that because legally owned firearms represent “a threat of physical violence” to police, officers may ignore the 4th Amendment rights of Texas residents by treating ALL legally issued warrants as “No Knock” warrants, even if the issuing judge has made it clear that officers “…must knock on the door and announce their identity and purpose before attempting a forcible entry.”
In August of 2006, police in Collin County, Texas obtained a warrant to search the home of John Quinn based on information that Quinn’s son might be keeping a controlled substance on the premises. Although the warrant “…did not authorize police to enter the residence without knocking and announcing their entry,” the County SWAT Team broke through Quinn’s door unannounced, “…based solely on the suspicion that there were firearms in the Quinn household.”
Not aware of who had broken into his home, the suddenly awakened Quinn was shot by officers as he grabbed a nearby gun for the purpose of defending his life, family and property. All firearms in the home were legally owned by Quinn. Police discovered less than 1 gm of cocaine on the premises.
http://www.coachisright.com/police-using-lawful-gun-ownership-excuse-knock-home-invasion-tactics/
I’m calling it self defense.
The D.A. Gives conflicting information about the circumstances in her interview:
“I believe the evidence also shows that an announcement was made,’ Renken said. ‘However, there is not enough evidence that Mr. Magee knew that day that Peace Officers were entering his home.”
And then......
.
Christine Labertew, spokeswoman for the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday she did not know if or how deputies announced their entrance into the home.
<** She said they were not wearing body cameras during the incident**>
Sohhhhh, riddle me this:
“If no video was worn by the officers exactly **WHAT** evidence do you have a right, proper and lawful announcement was made???”
There is a simple tactic that each state could enact and change this problem.
Mandate that a country or district judge must accompany the officers to the home or business, and be present as the search warrant is used. The judge must stay at the home until all officers have cleared the area, or the warrant to search would be nullified.
At that point, it’d put intense pressure on county and state judges, and you’d see a significant drop in search operations.
Then I’d turn around and look at the federal guys, and make a state law that says no federal warrant can be enforced after sun-down, and each state home searched must have a $100,000 bond signed by the federal officer/agency for damages and harm caused to the family.
simple and brilliant
these yahoo's with badges are nothing more than "private contractors".
Any loss of life is tragic, but if your stupid enough to brake down the door without identifying yourself (and even if you do) you become DRT, it is your own damn fault, sucks to be you.
Our militarized LEO's (a misnomer "LEO") going up against those who spent more time in the mil than them (unknown if this victim (homeowner)) was mil, but SFB cop is as they say in Sudan, he's "not there" anymore.
I’m thinking Henry Bowman.
I love it.
Make judges who issue warrants have “skin in the game”.
That’s what I was thinking.
“Man, I hope nothing like this ever happens to any of us.”
Unfortunately it does, every time it happens to another American somewhere.
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