Ogg’s Office Showed Leniency To Man Accused of Shooting Sheriff’s Deputy Last Night

Late last night, during a routine traffic stop, the driver of the vehicle pulled out a gun and fired two bullets into the torso of 29-year-old Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy, Joseph Anderson. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported today that Deputy Anderson remains in critical condition after being transported by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital and surviving emergency surgery. 

The suspected shooter is 34 year-old Terran Green, who, as of publication, is still on the run. 

Unfortunately, this is not Mr. Green’s first run-in with the law. Indeed, at the time of the shooting, Green was out on bail on charges of aggravated assault of a family member—he allegedly picked up a rifle, pointed it in his girlfriend’s face, and screamed “I’m going to end you”—and being a felon in possession of a weapon. But those charges also weren’t Mr. Green’s first rodeo with Kim Ogg’s Harris County District Attorney’s Office. 

Back in 2018, Ogg’s office secured an indictment against Mr. Green for “intentionally and knowingly threaten[ing] James Magee with imminent bodily injury by using and exhibiting a deadly weapon, namely a firearm.” The grand jury indictment stated that Mr. Green also had previous convictions for both drug dealing and theft. Ultimately, though, instead of taking the case to trial, Ogg’s office gifted Mr. Green a sweetheart deal, allowing him to plead guilty and serve only two years by “mov[ing] to abandon the [sentencing] enhancement paragraphs” and agreeing to “grant jail credit” for time served on a different charge. 

How long would Mr. Green have served in prison if Ogg’s office didn’t exhibit the leniency and laziness of avoiding a jury trial? Would Mr. Green have been out on the street and free to shove a rifle in his girlfriend’s face as he was accused of doing earlier this year? Would he have been free to shoot Deputy Anderson twice in the torso last night?