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Attorney: Man was acting in self-defense when he killed sheriff's deputy - modembricker - 26-12-2013
Posted: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 12:00 am
By Maggie Kiely maggie.kiely@theeagle.com
A man accused in last week's shooting death of a Burleson County sheriff's deputy mistook the officer coming through his front door as an intruder, according to his lawyer.
Henry Goedrich Magee, 28, was charged with capital murder after authorities said he shot Sgt. Adam Sowders as he led an eight-man team into Magee's trailer near Somerville just before 6 a.m. Thursday.
Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin said Magee and his girlfriend, who is five months pregnant with Magee's baby, were asleep in the living room of the trailer home when they were awakened by "explosives" going off near the front windows and loud pounding on the front door.
Moments later, Magee saw a person whom he said he couldn't identify in the dark burst through his door, DeGuerin said, adding that Magee -- who has a felony and misdemeanor drug conviction -- believed the man rushing in was an intruder and he needed to defend himself.
Magee grabbed a rifle leaning against his bedroom door frame and fired, striking and killing 31-year-old Sowders, DeGuerin said.
The high profile criminal defense attorney, who said he was contacted by Magee's family Friday night, met Saturday with Magee and his relatives at the Burleson County Jail. Magee remained there late Monday on $1 million bail on a capital murder charge, which is punishable by life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.
The search warrant for the home off County Road 278 was obtained by Sowders a week ago today, and was signed by District Judge Reva Towslee Corbett.
According to the affidavit for the warrant, Sowders received information from an investigator that Magee was growing marijuana and possibly had stolen guns, as well as other drugs inside his home.
Officials have not released information about what was discovered inside Magee's trailer, but DeGuerin said a few marijuana plants were the only illegal items in the home. While Magee did have four guns inside his home -- a .308-caliber semi-automatic rifle, the weapon Magee shot Sowders with; a .223-caliber rifle discovered locked up in a safe, along with a shotgun given to him by his grandfather; and a handgun that belonged to his mother found in the kitchen -- they were all legal, DeGuerin said.
In an affidavit for a warrant to search Sowders' trailer after the shooting, Texas Ranger Andres de la Garza wrote, "By Magee's own admission he heard and observed the entry made by the SWAT team."
However, DeGuerin said his client "had no idea it was a deputy sheriff" when he shot him.
Sowders applied for the search warrant after consulting with the district attorney's office, according to the original affidavit, which included a request from Sowders to enter the home "without first knocking and announcing the presence and purpose of officers."
The request was made based on information that Magee had weapons inside that, according to an investigator's source, he was not afraid to use, according to the affidavit, which stated he had an aggressive dog, as well.
DeGuerin said that, in his experience, it's rare for authorities to have enough evidence to justify entering a home without knocking.
"The danger is that if you're sitting in your home and it's pitch black outside and your door gets busted in without warning, what the hell are you supposed to do?" DeGuerin said.
Attempts to reach Burleson County District Attorney Julie Renken Monday were not successful. The sheriff's department has declined comment, referring calls to the DA's office. A statement from the prosecutor's office states that a report is expected within the next few business days.
Funeral services are set for 1 p.m. Friday at Central Baptist Church in College Station.
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_549b0586-cefc-53a2-bd34-80a8f07816b4.html
RE: Attorney: Man was acting in self-defense when he killed sheriff's deputy - daviddds - 01-01-2014
Gota love what the "war on drugs" and no knock warrants have done to this country. How can he be guilty of shooting a deputy when he did not know they were deputies and never announced themselves as such? They were nothing more than home intruders.