GRAND JURY REFUSED TO INDICT TEXAS MAN WHO KILLED A DEPUTY SHERIFF

Jurors believed the shooter did not know home intruders were lawmen executing a search warrant

Just before 6 a.m. on Decemb4er 19, deputies from the Burleson County Sheriff’s Department in Central Texas broke into the rural mobile home of Henry Goedrich Magee to execute a search warrant for guns and marijuana. Magee, 28, who claims he heard no one knock or identify themselves as lawmen, shot and killed Sheriff’s Sgt. Adam Sowders, 31, to protect himself and his pregnant girlfriend from what he believed to be home intruders.

Magee was arrested and charged with capital murder of a peace officer. Because the deputies found a number of pot plants and seedlings along with some guns, he was also charged with possession of marijuana while in possession of a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony.

On Wednesday a grand jury no billed Magee on the capital murder charge. The jurors refused to indict him because they believed Magee was protecting himself and his pregnant girlfriend in the belief that the intruders were going to rob him. The jury did indict Magee on the marijuana charge.

Magee has been represented by Dick DeGuerin, a very prominent Houston criminal defense attorney. DeGuerin said: "This was a terrible tragedy that a deputy sheriff was killed, but Hank Magee believed that he and his pregnant girlfriend were being robbed. He did what a lot of people would have done. He defended himself and his girlfriend and his home."

According to the Associated Press, Burleson County DA Julie Renken thought the sheriff's deputies acted correctly during events that "occurred in a matter of seconds amongst chaos.” She said: “I believe the evidence also shows that an announcement was made. However, there is not enough evidence that Mr. Magee knew that day that Peace Officers were entering his home." DA Renken said her office would "fully prosecute" the marijuana possession case.

DeGuerin said he could not recall another example of a Texas grand jury refusing to indict a suspect in the shooting death of a law enforcement officer, and neither can I.

Did Magee get away with murdering a cop? In this particular case it's a matter of he said, they said. Magee said the cops didn't knock or identify themselves, the deputies said they did. If he knew they were cops breaking into his mobile home, then Magee got away with murder.

Having participated in a lot of drug raids myself, I know the police are always afraid that evidence will be destroyed if they announce themselves prior to entering the building to be searched. However, this case clearly illustrates that not only does the law require a knock and announcement, but that announcement must be loud and clear for the sake of officer safety.