Former deputy guilty in road-rage shooting
‘Bad apple’ ex-officer awaits fate after being convicted of aggravated assault
A former reserve deputy in the Precinct 6 Constable’s Office was convicted Thursday of aggravated assault for shooting a woman in a 2014 off-duty road rage incident.
The punishment phase is expected to resume Friday for Kenneth Caplan, 35, who was arrested after shooting Lori Annab on 610 Loop South.
Prosecutors declined to comment until after sentencing. Officials with the Precinct 6 constable’s office said he no longer works for them.
“Kenneth Caplan was an employee of the former administration of the Harris County Constable Precinct 6 Office,” spokeswoman Maria Corrales wrote in an email. “He has not worked for the current administration overseen by Constable Heliodoro Martinez Jr. Therefore we have no comment other than we respect the verdict reached in this case.”
Annab’s attorney, Steve Couch, said he was pleased with the decision. Annab is suing Caplan and Carole Busick, a psychologist who evaluated him and certified him as mentally sound for law enforcement duty.
“I’m glad to hear it — I’m waiting for the punishment phase,” Couch said. “He’s a bad apple.”
In the lawsuit he filed on Annab’s behalf, Couch argues that if Busick had properly evaluated Caplan, she would have discovered he was likely unsuitable to be a peace officer. He had held 21 jobs in five years and been fired from 12 of them, the suit says.
A Houston Chronicle investigation found that the psychologist cut corners on providing certification that law enforcement candidates were mentally fit for duty, including failing to conduct face-to-face evaluations as required by the state. She and her husband pleaded guilty to tampering with a government document and received deferred adjudication, a form of probation that means the charges will be dismissed if they complete the probationary term without incident.