The Trial
300th District Court • Brazoria County, Texas • February 2017
A Timeline of Events
April 9, 2016
The Incident
On the property where Brian had been living for four months near Demi-John Island, Brazoria County, a confrontation with a neighbor escalated into a physical encounter with a responding deputy. Brian fired once — the bullet was stopped by the officer's vest. Brian was immediately detained.
April 9, 2016
Arrest & Charges
Brian was charged with Attempted Capital Murder of a Peace Officer, a first-degree felony in Texas carrying a range of 5 to 99 years or life imprisonment. Bond was set at one million dollars.
February 13, 2017
Jury Selection (Voir Dire)
Jury selection was held in the 300th District Court of Brazoria County before Judge K. Randall Hufstetler. An 80-person panel was brought in. Both sides questioned the panel about bias, prior jury service, and connections to the parties.
February 14–17, 2017
Trial — Guilt Phase
Evidence was presented over four days. Brian testified in his own defense, recounting the encounter from his perspective: an unannounced search he believed was illegal, a chokehold he could not break, and a belief that his life was in danger. The jury returned a guilty verdict.
February 17, 2017
Punishment Phase & Sentencing
The same jury that determined guilt also assessed punishment. They sentenced Brian to 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice — within the statutory range but at its severe end given the specific circumstances.
Brian’s Account
Brian took the stand in his own defense. Under oath, he testified that on the morning of April 9, 2016, a neighbor confronted him angrily near a construction site on his grandfather’s property. When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, Brian complied and waited. He then chose to return — to ask whether a photograph the neighbor had taken could be deleted.
When Brian returned to speak with the officer, he testified that the deputy began reaching into his pockets without explanation. Brian raised his left hand and stated he believed the search was illegal. The officer said it was not and continued. He grabbed Brian’s left arm and twisted it behind his back. When Brian tried to relieve the pain by untwisting, the officer put his arm around Brian’s throat and took him to the ground.
Brian’s back was to the officer. He testified that he could not breathe, could not speak, and could not pull the arm free. He testified that he feared for his life. In a panic, he pulled a handgun from his waistband, aimed it over his shoulder toward the officer’s body, and fired once. He immediately let go of the gun and attempted to run, but was tackled within feet of the scene.
The bullet struck the officer’s vest. The officer was not permanently injured. Brian had been off his prescribed psychiatric medication for nearly two years, having lost his insurance.
60 Years
The jury that decided Brian’s guilt also set his punishment: 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Attempted Capital Murder of a Peace Officer carries a statutory range of 5 to 99 years, or life.
The 60-year sentence places Brian at release eligibility in his mid-seventies under standard parole guidelines — effectively a life sentence for someone in their mid-twenties at the time of conviction. It was handed down by the same jury that heard the complaining officer testify about the shooting, with no prior felony convictions on Brian’s record, a single shot fired, no permanent injury to the officer, and a self-defense claim that the jury rejected.
Charge
Attempted Capital Murder of a Peace Officer
Verdict
Guilty — February 2017
Sentence
60 Years, TDCJ
What the Voir Dire Record Shows
A review of the jury selection transcript — the official Reporter’s Record from the 300th District Court — surfaces a disclosure that no attorney at any stage of these proceedings appears to have raised or acted upon.
During the State’s voir dire, the prosecutor asked the 80-person panel whether anyone knew the officer who had been shot. A prospective juror responded that her husband was that officer’s direct supervisor — his corporal at the same law enforcement agency. The State asked a single follow-up question: would knowing of him cause bias? The juror answered no. The State accepted the answer and moved on. The defense raised no challenge for cause. The record shows no further inquiry.
This prospective juror’s panel number does not appear on the list of agreed excusals read into the record at the close of voir dire. Whether she was removed by a peremptory strike — or whether she was seated — cannot be determined from the transcript alone. Peremptory strike sheets submitted to the court are not verbalized in the record.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees every defendant the right to trial by an impartial jury. Texas law provides grounds to challenge a juror for cause when that juror has a relationship to a witness or party that creates a bias — real or implied. A juror whose spouse is the professional superior of the officer who testified as the complaining witness sits at the center of that standard, not at its edges.
This disclosure has not been raised at trial, on direct appeal, or in the writ proceedings that followed. It was identified in the course of building this website — by a family member reviewing the publicly available Reporter’s Record.
What this raises — and what it does not
This page does not make a legal determination. What the record contains is a documented disclosure, a cursory inquiry, and no challenge. Whether that combination rises to a constitutional violation — and whether it is the basis for post-conviction relief — is a question for attorneys and courts. If you have legal expertise in Texas criminal post-conviction practice and would like to review the Reporter’s Record, please reach out.
Can You Help?
If you are a Texas criminal defense attorney, law professor, or work with a post-conviction organization such as the Innocence Project of Texas and are willing to review the trial record, Brian’s family would like to hear from you. The Reporter’s Record is available for review.
Get in Touch