HOUSTON, Texas — Lawyers for the man accused of executing a Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy in cold-blood has received a two month delay for further competency evaluation.
A short hearing was held before Harris County District Court Judge Susan Brown on Wednesday. Lawyers for defendant Shannon Miles received a delay in order for them and their mental health experts to evaluate their client’s competency to stand trial, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Miles has been charged with capital murder of Deputy Darren Goforth. Goforth was approached from behind as he walked out of a gas station store in northwest Harris County at around 8:30 p.m. on August 28, 2015. He was in uniform at the time of the attack and his patrol car was parked at the station. The deputy was shot a total of 15 times in the head and back.
According to the indictment, the motive for the killing was because of the deputy’s service as a peace officer, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
Breitbart Texas has reported extensively about the Goforth case and reported from the scene of the murder and interviewed eyewitnesses in Houston shortly after the deputy was shot. Breitbart Texas noticed patrol cars at Miles’ home just down the road from the gas station on the night of the murder.
After he was indicted, Miles was found incompetent to stand trial and he was sent to a state hospital with the hope he could be restored to mental health and competency.
Miles’ attorney, Anthony Osso, was reported to say he has not had the opportunity to talk to Miles after the defendant’s return to Harris County on Tuesday. As reported by Breitbart Texas, Miles has been in a state mental health hospital after he was found temporarily mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Osso told the Chronicle, “We just need an opportunity to look at everything and make a determination. Both sides still have a lot to do, and we are moving forward with preparing for trial.”
An assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office was reported to say that Judge Brown was safeguarding the procedural rights of the man charged with capital murder of a police officer. Miles could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the escalation of anti-white and anti-cop rhetoric had been building in and around Harris County since militant black activists began marching in support of #BlackLivesMatter after the suicide of Sandra Bland in July 2015. Bland committed suicide in the Waller County, Texas, jail which is approximately 30 miles from the gas station where Deputy Goforth was executed.
At protests at the jail where Bland killed herself, a radical activist called for all white people to be killed, and heavily armed members of the New Black Panther Party chanted “the revolution has started … off the pigs.” As reported by Breitbart Texas, a Texas-based internet radio show run by a protester at the jail called for the lynching of whites and the killing of police officers.
“This rhetoric has gotten out of control,” Sheriff Ron Hickman said during a press conference attended by two Breitbart Texas journalists. “We’ve heard ‘black lives matter,’ ‘all lives matter,’ well cops’ lives matter too,” said the leader of the third largest sheriff’s office in the country. The visibly emotional Hickman continued, “Why don’t we just drop the qualifier and say ‘lives matter.’ Take that to the bank.”
At that August press conference the Harris County Sheriff said, “At this point,” referring to the executed deputy, “he was only targeted because he was wearing a uniform.”
Texas has lost more peace officers in the Lone Star State than any other state this year.
Breitbart Texas reported around the clock on July 7th this year when Micah Xavier Johnson starting shooting and killing peace officers in Dallas after a Black Lives Matter protest had concluded. Johnson killed five officers and wounded five others and a civilian before Dallas Police Officers killed him with a robot carrying a bomb.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.