Update on Sheriff killing in Houston

[WanderingWinoZ]

It's still a huge deal around here & everybody is all "gung ho" cops. There have been parade/rally lately, still tons of yard signs honoring him, etc.

TL;DR  The witness to the shooting is a women he's been romantically involved with (despite being married) & there's still no motive (even though people are blaming BLM)


www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Documents-detail-search-of-home-of-accused-cop-6514748.php


An eyewitness to last month's shooting death of Harris County sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth told investigators she had been in a "romantic relationship" with the slain lawman for more than a year.

Although the woman's identity has not been released, her existence as a witness was officially confirmed this week when Harris County prosecutors passed the information to lawyers representing Shannon Miles, who is accused of killing Goforth, a married father of two, in an ambush-style shooting.

The legally-required "Brady Disclosure" was first reported by KTRK-TV, but Anthony Osso, one of Miles' court-appointed lawyers, said the release was more of a formality.



"This didn't come as a surprise to us. Our investigators were already developing this issue," Osso said late Friday.

Osso said his office was not responsible for the public release of the document.

"I specifically didn't want to air it out. I don't want to try this case in the media," he said.

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman declined to comment other than to say the case is ongoing, and both his office and the Harris County District Attorney's Office are working together for a "successful investigation process and prosecution."


Prosecutors are obligated to pass on to the defense any information that could prove favorable to someone accused of a crime.

"If you withhold that, it can result in a reversal later on down the road," Osso said.

The defense team regularly meets with the prosecution on that matter.

"They've been providing information, records and reports," Osso said.


The new revelation came as more details of the Aug. 28 shooting of Goforth were released.


According to a search warrant affidavit released Friday, Miles, 30, possibly washed the clothing he was wearing during the deadly attack to conceal evidence.

The search came 10 hours after a frenzied response by local law enforcement to the shooting of Goforth at a northwest Harris County gas station, shortly after he had refueled his patrol car.

Authorities said a witness at the gas station described hearing a shot and then seeing an African-American man with a "fade" haircut shooting at the deputy.


Investigators who arrived at the scene that evening - the shooting took place around 8:20 that Friday - discovered the shooter had fired 15 shots before fleeing.

According to copies of two Harris County search warrant affidavits and one arrest warrant affidavit made public Friday, cameras at the gas station captured footage of the shooter driving away in a red 


The documents provide a far more detailed look into the efforts by law enforcement in the hours immediately after the shooting, which stunned local law enforcement and sparked an outpouring of support for the department by community residents. Hours after the shooting,

Hickman decried violence against law enforcement and insinuated that Goforth's death was the result of anti-police rhetoric that has proliferated as activists around the country - including the Black Lives Matter movement - scrutinize how police use force against citizens. District Attorney Devon Anderson made similar statements.


Despite those comments, neither department officials nor prosecutors have revealed any motive for the shooting. A spokesman with the DA's office said the case is still under investigation.

The court documents show investigators narrowed down a list of suspects based on the number of such vehicles registered in Harris County and soon arrived at the home of Miles, who has since been charged with capital murder.


When they arrived at the home - just blocks from the site of the shooting - they found a red Ford Ranger outside.

A man who answered the door said his brother owned the truck and gave them permission to search the house.

He also said Miles recently had gone shopping with their mother.


Investigators eventually made contact with Miles and said he appeared to match images of the shooter captured on surveillance footage, according to the documents.

Miles admitted to owning two guns - a Smith & Wesson 9 millimeter handgun, which he said he'd recently gotten rid of, and another handgun. Miles said that gun was in a blue baseball bag in his garage.

Investigators found a loaded .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in a blue Dudley bag in his garage, along with a 50-bullet box of .40-caliber Aguila bullets.

Investigators also found a total of 34 bullets, together in the box or loaded into the weapon.



Ballistics testing of spent casings from the scene of the shooting confirmed the gun was the one used in Goforth's slaying, according to the affidavit.

Investigators also found a white cooler in Miles' kitchen, similar to one they'd spotted in the bed of the pickup seen on the surveillance footage. An outline of dust that was the same size and shape as the cooler was seen in the truck.

In the garage, they also found a load of still damp laundry inside a washing machine.


A deputy told one homicide investigator he'd found a white T-shirt similar to the one the shooter was wearing in the surveillance videos.

"Your affiant observed splattered blood and other significant biological evidence at the (crime scene) which could have transferred or landed on the clothing," an investigator wrote, surmising that the clothes might have been washed to conceal evidence of the crime.


Authorities arrested Miles on Aug. 29 - the day after the shooting - around 3:30 p.m.

[ttt]

So wait, she was in the car with him when he was shot and that's how she witnessed it? Or she just happened to be at the scene? This article is confusing.

I don't really get how this is relevant, except to embarrass the victim's family. 

[WanderingWinoZ]

Sept 21, 2015 10:13:18 GMT -5 ttt said:

So wait, she was in the car with him when he was shot and that's how she witnessed it? Or she just happened to be at the scene? This article is confusing.

I don't really get how this is relevant, except to embarrass the victim's family. 

yea, the Chron is notorious for awful reporting. This article is still about 20 times better than most written by our major newspaper.

I'm guessing they were together??? But she'd gone inside for something? Or was just meeting him up there?

Her identity (and relationship) legally had to be disclosed for the defense.  So it's slightly different than many of the other "embarrassing facts" that also come out when others (usually black male victims) are in the news  (like their prior record).  I do feel bad for the family- nobody wants their dirty laundry aired in public. I always wonder if the wife knew or she had to find out this heartbreak on top of losing her husband too???

[jln]

I just saw this on the news. It sounds like the defense is going to use Goforth meeting his girlfriend at the gas station to establish that he was off duty, which could possibly take death penalty off the table for the suspect.

[KateAggie]

His poor wife.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Sept 21, 2015 22:14:13 GMT -5 jln said:

I just saw this on the news. It sounds like the defense is going to use Goforth meeting his girlfriend at the gas station to establish that he was off duty, which could possibly take death penalty off the table for the suspect.

Interesting. I know that he may not have been "on duty", but he was technically still in uniform, shot b/c he was in uniform, on he way to/from work, and the killer still probably only did it because he was a cop- on or off duty didn't matter, but I guess I do get that there is a distinction for a officer "killed while in the line of duty" vs. one that was just minding his own (literally) affairs.

[KateAggie]

Sept 22, 2015 6:36:54 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Sept 21, 2015 22:14:13 GMT -5 jln said:

I just saw this on the news. It sounds like the defense is going to use Goforth meeting his girlfriend at the gas station to establish that he was off duty, which could possibly take death penalty off the table for the suspect.

Interesting. I know that he may not have been "on duty", but he was technically still in uniform, shot b/c he was in uniform, on he way to/from work, and the killer still probably only did it because he was a cop- on or off duty didn't matter, but I guess I do get that there is a distinction for a officer "killed while in the line of duty" vs. one that was just minding his own (literally) affairs.

Do they now know that was the motive? Last I heard that was the speculation.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Sept 22, 2015 9:35:38 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

Sept 22, 2015 6:36:54 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Interesting. I know that he may not have been "on duty", but he was technically still in uniform, shot b/c he was in uniform, on he way to/from work, and the killer still probably only did it because he was a cop- on or off duty didn't matter, but I guess I do get that there is a distinction for a officer "killed while in the line of duty" vs. one that was just minding his own (literally) affairs.

Do they now know that was the motive? Last I heard that was the speculation.

that was the only other tidbit I got from the orginal OP article- no known motive yet even though everybody is associating it with teh BLM movement.  I'm guessing obviously him being a cop was the motive.  Maybe it will come out when he goes to trial??

[iammalcolmx]

This case is odd

[WanderingWinoZ]

www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/miles-goforth/article/Defense-Goforth-was-meeting-a-mistress-at-the-6519432.php

n the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Sheriff Ron Hickman and others suggested a possible link between Goforth's slaying and the Black Lives Matter movement. The group protests alleged police brutality against African-Americans.


Osso said there's no connection between that movement and his client.

"I'm not even sure my client knew there was a (Black Lives Matter) movement going on," he said.

Miles spent four months in a mental hospital in 2012 after being declared incompetent to stand trial in an aggravated assault case. Osso said he is still trying to develop a rapport with his client.

"I don't ask him really serious questions. They require a yes or no response," he said. "He has to trust me and he doesn't know me.

==========
So preliminary, looks like we are back to metal health issues + easy access to firearms

[tres3]

are we sure the wife didn't hire a hit man?

[oliviapope]

Sept 21, 2015 22:14:13 GMT -5 jln said:

I just saw this on the news. It sounds like the defense is going to use Goforth meeting his girlfriend at the gas station to establish that he was off duty, which could possibly take death penalty off the table for the suspect.

Yes, they're saying that if he was meeting someone, even if he was in uniform in a marked patrol car, that he was outside his scope of duties. Which, frankly, I think is bullshit. 

[suzyp]

Sept 23, 2015 10:29:23 GMT -5 oliviapope said:

Sept 21, 2015 22:14:13 GMT -5 jln said:

I just saw this on the news. It sounds like the defense is going to use Goforth meeting his girlfriend at the gas station to establish that he was off duty, which could possibly take death penalty off the table for the suspect.

Yes, they're saying that if he was meeting someone, even if he was in uniform in a marked patrol car, that he was outside his scope of duties. Which, frankly, I think is bullshit. 

Eh, his defense attorney is trying to save this guy's life by taking the death penalty off the table.

And we have no information as to the motive for the killing.  All the BLM stuff is pure speculation started by the sheriff before the suspect was even arrested.  If he killed Goforth because he was the first person he saw and Goforth just happened to be in his uniform and his patrol car and not on duty, then he was not killed in the line of duty.  Given the potential health issues here, I am not going to jump to conclusions that Goforth was killed because he was a cop. It is highly possible that he was killed and just happened to be one.

I will say that I was watching the news the other night when this was released and the anchors were acting so freaking strange explaining why they had to report it, etc. before they said anything and I thought it was going to be gruesome details about his injuries/death.    I really hope the wife knew before his death that something was up because I cannot imagine finding out this way.

[oliviapope]

Sept 23, 2015 10:37:20 GMT -5 suzyp said:

Sept 23, 2015 10:29:23 GMT -5 oliviapope said:

Yes, they're saying that if he was meeting someone, even if he was in uniform in a marked patrol car, that he was outside his scope of duties. Which, frankly, I think is bullshit. 

Eh, his defense attorney is trying to save this guy's life by taking the death penalty off the table.

And we have no information as to the motive for the killing.  All the BLM stuff is pure speculation started by the sheriff before the suspect was even arrested.  If he killed Goforth because he was the first person he saw and Goforth just happened to be in his uniform and his patrol car and not on duty, then he was not killed in the line of duty.  Given the potential health issues here, I am not going to jump to conclusions that Goforth was killed because he was a cop. It is highly possible that he was killed and just happened to be one.

I will say that I was watching the news the other night when this was released and the anchors were acting so freaking strange explaining why they had to report it, etc. before they said anything and I thought it was going to be gruesome details about his injuries/death.    I really hope the wife knew before his death that something was up because I cannot imagine finding out this way.

Oh I agree, I had the same conversation with my SO, defense has to come up with something. I get that, I don't like the idea of where that could lead though. The blame on BLM has bothered me since the story broke. 

[WanderingWinoZ]

I'll be following the story since it's local- can't wait to hear more about the motive.