Court of inquiry requested in shooting
Congressman skeptical of officer who killed gun-toting man
A Houston congressman is asking for a rarely-used independent probe to determine whether the investigation into a fatal shooting involving an undercover Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been corrupted.
U.S. Rep. Al Green on Wednesday said he would like a court of inquiry to be established for “questionable” officer-involved shootings, starting with what authorities said happened the morning of April 22, when a plainclothes deputy shot and killed 35-year-old Joshua Johnson in Missouri City. The unique-to-Texas court of inquiry would require a state district judge to appoint another district judge to hear the evidence and determine if a state law has been violated.
That judge can then issue an arrest warrant.
Green said he fears the deputy who fired the fatal shots may have corrupted the initial investigation with false information.
“I believe this case is the one that should turn the tide so in future questionable shootings of this kind, we will have courts of inquiry,” Green said. “Get a judge to review these facts.”
Johnson was house-sitting a hospitalized neighbor’s house and dogs at the time of the pre-dawn shooting, his family said. Police said they believe Johnson confronted the undercover deputy, there with the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force to find a capital murder suspect from Mesquite, as he sat in an unmarked vehicle under a street light.
Johnson tapped on the deputy’s window with a BB gun — which police said resembled a Glock 17 — in one
hand and shined the light of his phone at the deputy. Words were exchanged and the deputy asked Johnson to lower his weapon. He raised it instead, authorities said. The deputy fired two shots. The mortally wounded man fled to his car in the neighbor’s driveway, where he died. He had multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Neighbors said Johnson must have been barefoot at the time of the shooting because his shoes were still inside the home.
Green, speaking outside the East Ritter Circle home where Johnson died, echoed the doubts of Johnson’s family and neighbors about the preliminary re
sults of the investigation. He pointed to the lack of body cam footage, a bullet hole in a neighbor’s garage, the placement of the unmarked police vehicle and how Johnson was alleged to have confronted the deputy.
“There are these contradictions that have not been resolved,” Green said. “It’s important to note that one officer can corrupt an investigation.”
Audio of a sheriff’s office sergeant, explaining to Johnson’s parents how the shooting unfolded, was also made public Wednesday. In it, the sergeant told the grieving parents that he had “no reason to believe it happened any other way.” Green said the investigator made his remarks without having spoken to the deputy who fired the fatal shots or before a medical examiner could see the
body.
At that point, Johnson’s body was still covered in a white cloth in a neighbor’s yard. His father, Richard Beary, was audibly distraught in the clip as he tried crossing the police tape to see the body and a Missouri City police officer stopped him. “Shoot me,” he sobbed. Johnson’s parents were unable to see his body until the wake, held more than a week later, Green said.
Earlier this month, Beary urged authorities to be truthful.
“Don’t cover it up because don’t think I don’t know,” Beary said, citing his experience as a police officer in California and while serving in the Army. “I know what they do. The things that they said happened just doesn’t match up.”
Green said he had not spoken to the sheriff ’s office or the task force ahead of the news conference but that he would ultimately demand that the investigation move beyond the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jason Spencer did not provide comment on Green’s desire for a court of inquiry. He said multiple investigations are already happening internally and at the district attorney’s office.
“Once these investigations are complete, the findings of these separate investigations, along with the autopsy findings of the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, will be presented to an independent grand jury to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate,” Spencer said.
“Our condolences go out to Mr. Johnson's family for the loss of their loved one in this tragic incident,” he continued.
Spencer declined to identify the deputy involved in the shooting.
A court of inquiry was last ordered from Harris County in 2004 for problems related to the former Houston police DNA laboratory. In 2013, a Houston lawyer was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson. He was found guilty of contempt of court for failing to release exculpatory evidence to the defense. The original evidence sent an innocent man to prison for nearly 25 years in the death of his wife.