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So, the police went and did a no knock warrant on a guy growing marijuana. The man thought them to be burglars and shot and killed an officer. Ordinarily, this would be straight to prison and first degree murder. But not this time:
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 Dec. 19 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 being burglarized, reached for a gun and opened fire.
Now, the guy is getting a felony rap for growing weed while possessing a weapon. A victimless felony to be sure. But the capital murder charge being dropped is good news.
If this happens more, maybe no knock raids will happen less.
February 9th, 2014 at 7:31 pm
…or
They’ll start using the MRAPs to knock on the front door.
February 9th, 2014 at 8:54 pm
Unlikely they will MRAPs the houses. The TWATS get enough bad rap from going all ninja. Plowing through a front door with an armored vehicle 40,000 times a year would be frowned upon in most communities.
February 9th, 2014 at 9:37 pm
No knock warrants have to happen. You can’t spend millions on SWAT teams without putting on a show and the illusion that you’re getting tough on crime. The whole purpose for these games is to justify the outrageous spending that’s been militarizing our local PDs.
February 9th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
Your perspective on this is refreshing, SayUncle. I think many have had it with armed attacks on mundanes for either victimless crimes or non-violent crimes. Good on you.
February 10th, 2014 at 12:07 am
@Mac
As with all community theatre, the show is held primarily for the benefit of the players.
February 10th, 2014 at 3:19 am
It’s Texas. Rural Texas.
February 10th, 2014 at 9:27 am
Shame it didn’t work out that way for Ryan Frederick here in my area. Same scenario, but Ryan is serving 10 years in jail. Worse still, the marijuana was in a detached garage, and the police knew that. So there’s no way he could have destroyed the evidence without leaving his home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Frederick
February 10th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Hey let’s just go dance on his grave too.
February 10th, 2014 at 4:38 pm
Laughingdog,
And the police enticed a known criminal to break into Frederick’s house to get “evidence” because they knew they didn’t have grounds for a warrant, and they perjured themselves in court.
I wish I had been on that jury.
February 10th, 2014 at 8:15 pm
funny enough, i met the guy who developed and deployed the entire “no knock” strategy while Dep AG under Nixon. he was a creep.
February 12th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
Curtis,
As always, To tyrants.