A lawyer questions whether protocol was violated with a witness in the Darren Goforth murder case.
A lawyer for the man accused of killing Harris County Sheriffs Deputy Darren Goforth is asking whether deputies, investigators and prosecutors violated protocol to keep the identity of a witness secret and, therefore, compromised the investigation.
Attorney Anthony Osso questioned the actions of law enforcement in a sixpage motion that also seeks more information about a witness, a woman whose affair with the married deputy was later disclosed in court records.
Osso, who is representing Shannon Miles, said he wants to know which deputies talked to the woman at the scene and if they told her to leave or took her away before she was properly interviewed.
“If typical protocol was followed, all witnesses at the scene would have been secured, questioned and identified,” Osso wrote in his order. “Both personnel from the Harris County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorneys Office responded to this police shooting and would be expected to have knowledge of the existence of this witness if present on the scene.”
Goforth was killed at a Cypress-area gas station around 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 28. Authorities said a man ambushed Goforth in the parking lot, walking up behind him and shooting him repeatedly.
The day after the shooting, authorities arrested Miles, 30, and later charged him with capital murder in the death of the 47-year-old deputy. Prosecutors still have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Wednesday’s sweeping order is part of a broader strategy Osso is pursuing by trying to show that Goforth was not acting under color of law — that he was in the middle of a rendezvous with his mistress.
If he can show that the deputy was not working, Osso may be able to get the death penalty off the table.
“The general public believes that if an officer is in uniform and on the clock, then he’s in the lawful discharge of an official duty,” Osso said. “To me, it’s not that simple.”
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not comment on the filing.
The sheriff’s office issued a brief statement saying it will continue to work with the DA’s office on the investigation.
If the case goes before jurors, Miles’ defense team also likely will point to the bumbling that has marked the investigation so far.
The evening Goforth was killed, a motorist at the scene told TV reporters about seeing a woman crying over the deputy’s body, but authorities did not divulge any information about her.
About two weeks after the shooting, prosecutors revealed there was a woman at the scene and said she had been in a romantic relationship with the deputy for more than a year.
Last week, a homicide investigator with the sheriff’s office was fired after he disclosed a sexual relationship with a witness in the case. Osso has said he believes detective Craig Clopton had sexual contact with the same woman who was dating Goforth.
In the middle of that unfolding spectacle, the judge presiding over the case, Denise Collins, recused herself without explanation. Days later, Susan Brown, the administrative judge over the 22 felony court judges who had the discretion to assign the case, said she will preside over it.