San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Martindale driveway killer may avoid jail
LOCKHART — Despite being convicted of manslaughter, a Martindale man could avoid jail time for killing an unarmed motorist in 2021 after a Caldwell County jury decided Friday to give him a suspended jail sentence.
A day after finding Terry Turner guilty of manslaughter for shooting 31-year-old Adil Dghoughi, the jurors handed up a 10-year suspended sentence, leaving it up to state district Judge Chris Schneider whether all 10 years would be served as probation or some of it would be spent behind bars. State sentencing guidelines typically call for between two years and 20 years in prison for a manslaughter conviction.
On Friday evening, Turner’s defense team told the San Antonio Express-News they expect their client could spend some time in the Caldwell County Jail, but that is up to Schneider. The judge did not immediately issue a ruling Friday, and it wasn’t clear when he will do so.
With a suspended sentence, Turner eventually could serve some or all of the term behind bars if he violates the terms of his probation.
Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours Friday, and twice told Schneider that they were at an impasse, before announcing their verdict shortly after 5:30 p.m. The unusual terms of the sentencing caused confusion, with a number of those in the Lockhart courtroom initially unsure what the suspended sentence meant and whether Turner could get any jail time.
Turner initially had faced a first-degree murder charge. If he’d been convicted on that more serious charge, he could have been sentenced to life in prison. But after hearing two days of testimony, jurors deliberated for about six hours on Thursday before returning the manslaughter verdict.
On Friday, Dghoughi’s younger brother Outhmane Dghoughi consoled his mother after the sentencing, hugging her outside the courthouse and kissing her forehead. He said he would have been surprised if Turner had received jail time, and said the American justice system is broken.
“There is no justice in this country,” he said. “How can I be able to go now and call my brother and sister back home and tell them the killer of your brother didn’t spend not even one day in jail? Nobody there deserves to be thanked. May God forgive the jurors.”
He said he would no longer follow Turner’s case, but said he now will be able to visit his brother’s grave, which he hasn’t done since his death.
Caldwell County District Attorney Fred Weber declined to say whether he thinks the case could set a precedent.
“I hope that it makes people think before they act,” Weber said.
The shooting death of Dghoughi, a Moroccan immigrant who was living in the Austin area, made international headlines and drew an outcry from advocacy groups.
Turner, 67, fatally shot Dghoughi in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2021, after Dghoughi pulled into Turner’s driveway in Martindale, a Caldwell County town of about 1,200 people just east of San Marcos.
Dghoughi was driving his girlfriend’s car, a 2016 Audi, and family members have said he was lost.
Turner testified during the trial that he had awakened to use the bathroom when he saw an unfamiliar car pull into the driveway. He testified that he picked up a pistol and ran outside.
Dghoughi put the car in reverse and began backing up when Turner confronted him, according to witness testimony. Turner testified that he struck the driver’s side window twice with the handgun, then shot Dghoughi in the face before he could drive away.
Prosecutors told the jury that Turner’s actions were not reasonable, as Dghoughi was in a car with rolled-up, dark-tinted windows — meaning Turner couldn’t see who was in the car — and Dghoughi was trying to leave the scene when Turner shot him. No gun or other weapon was found in the car with Dghoughi, law enforcement officials have testified.
Turner’s defense team argued that Turner was trying to protect his home and property and that in the darkened driveway he thought Dghoughi was pointing a weapon at him. Defense attorney E.G. Morris said Turner feared for his life when he came out of his house and confronted Dghoughi.
Fatiha Haouass, Dghoughi’s mother, traveled from Rabat, Morocco, to attend Turner’s trial. During the sentencing hearing Friday morning, she gave a victim’s impact statement and said she doesn’t expect to ever fully recover from the loss of her son.
“The life of every member of the family has collapsed,” Haouass said. “Since that day, we couldn’t live a normal life. I can’t sleep. I take sleeping pills.”
Haouass said her son had become a U.S. citizen and was extremely proud of it.
“He loved this country so much,” she said. “It’s hard for me to talk about my son in the past tense. I still don’t believe he’s not here anymore with us.”
During the sentencing hearing, Turner’s lawyer Morris asked that his client receive probation on the manslaughter charge, rather than time in prison. Morris also suggested that Turner not being able to hunt, consume alcohol or own a firearm were possible conditions that the court could impose.
“Do any of those conditions involve his death?” responded Caldwell County First Assistant District Attorney Amanda Montgomery.
Angelica Cogliano, another of Turner’s attorneys, said Turner wasn’t a “gun-toting” cowboy “looking to use his Second Amendment rights.” Probation would be a way to acknowledge the tragedy and allow Turner to move on and grow, she said.
However, Weber, the district attorney, said probation wasn’t an appropriate punishment for Turner’s actions.
“Good people can do bad things, but there have to be consequences. Probation is not a consequence,” Weber told the jurors. “At the end of the day what you’re telling this family … you’re putting a value on (Dghoughi’s) life. Please tell them that’s worth something.”