Law Shield wants to alert our members to an unusual jury result in Burleson County, 90 miles northwest of Houston. A Somerville man who shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy last December during a no-knock raid was not charged with capital murder.
A local grand jury declined to indict Henry Goedrich Magee for the December 2013 death of Burleson County Sgt. Adam Sowders.
Magee was accused of shooting and killing Deputy Sowders in a “no-knock” raid on December 19, 2013. The Burleson County Sheriff’s Office says the search warrant was issued after an informant claimed Magee had stolen guns and illegal drugs inside his mobile home.
Sowders and other officers entered the mobile home about without knocking just before 6 a.m. Magee thought he was the victim of a home invasion, reached for a gun and opened fire.
A statement from Burleson County District Attorney Julie Renken read, “The events on December 19, 2013 are tragic. In my opinion, the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office did nothing illegal by securing and executing a ‘no knock’ search warrant that day. 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. The events occurred in a matter of seconds amongst chaos.”
“The self-defense laws in Texas are viewed in the mindset of the actor, not the victim, which allows for tragedies to occur when one party is acting lawfully, but it can be reasonably seen as a threat of deadly force by another.”
“However, the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office would not have been there that day if Mr. Magee had not decided to live a lifestyle of doing and producing illegal drugs in his home. Therefore, we will fully prosecute the drug charges against him. This event should wake the community up that drug crimes are not victimless.”
The grand jury did indict Magee for possession of marijuana while in possession of a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony.
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