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Citing his violation of previous bail conditions, a Harris County judge on Thursday ordered Terran Green, the man accused of shooting three law enforcement officers and injuring another, to remain in jail until his trial.
The expected decision comes one week after a 24-hour manhunt for Green, who authorities accused of shooting Harris County sheriff’s deputy Joseph Anderson during an Aug. 16 traffic stop and fleeing the scene. Green later shot at three law enforcement officers, hitting two of them, when they descended on a property in search of the suspect the following day, prosecutors said.
The victims of the shootings, both of which occurred in northeast Harris County, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Green, 34, is charged with four counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer. At the time of the shootings, Green had a warrant out for his arrest following his failure to show up for a court hearing related to an aggravated assault charge.
“This defendant presents a clear and present danger to our community,” Rebecca Marshall, chief assistant attorney at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said outside a courtroom Thursday. “He is an extreme risk and the judge saw that. We are very, very satisfied with his decision.”
Prosecutors asked Harris County District Court Judge DaSean Jones to keep Green in jail pre-trial.
At the hearing, prosecutors provided testimony from two law enforcement officers who were part of the effort to find Green after he was identified as a suspect. They also gave Jones a copy of the body cam footage of Anderson being shot. Jones took a brief recess to watch the footage.
Green’s lawyer, Tucker Graves, argued for setting his client’s bail at $1 million. Graves declined to call witnesses, citing what he described as strong evidence against his client.
Graves told reporters that he plans to have Green evaluated for mental health conditions, though he didn’t elaborate on how a diagnosis might influence the defense. While mental health issues generally cannot be used as a legal defense at trial, they can be part of an evaluation related to a defendant’s competency to stand trial or an insanity defense.
“Going through the record, there may be some mental health issues on this gentlemen,” Graves said. “He’s got some history there.”
Jones denied Graves’ request without making extended comments on his reasoning.
Green also faces three federal charges filed Tuesday in connection with the second shooting, in which U.S. Marshals were injured. The charges are attempting to kill a U.S. government officer, assault on a federal officer and illegal possession of a firearm.
An affidavit filed with a federal complaint against Green provided additional details about the shootings, manhunt and arrest.
According to the document, Anderson stopped the driver of a Ford Escape, who shot Anderson three times and fled the scene with a passenger in the front seat. Anderson’s body-worn camera captured the shooting.
Investigators used facial recognition software to identify Green as the suspected shooter and his brother, James Green, as the passenger, according to the affidavit.
Hours after the shooting, James Green turned himself in to law enforcement officials. James Green told investigators that he didn’t know if his brother had planned to shoot Anderson or why he chose to. Authorities released James Green without arrest.
Investigators then reviewed records documenting Terran Green’s phone calls from previous stints in jail, which showed nine calls this year to a northeast Harris County woman’s phone number, according to the affidavit.
When two Harris County sheriff’s deputies and two U.S. Marshals deputies approached the home tied to the woman, she answered the door. After she and two teenagers stepped outside, three of the law enforcement officers entered the home, the affidavit said.
As they stood in the foyer, the officers heard five or six gunshots, which they believe came from the second floor, authorities said. A sheriff’s deputy was shot in the shoulder, a U.S. Marshals deputy suffered a gunshot to the arm and another U.S. Marshals deputy took shrapnel in his leg, according to the affidavit.
The officers retreated from the residence, beginning a five-hour standoff that involved authorities using heavily armored vehicles to smash holes into the residence. Green surrendered by climbing onto the hydraulic arm of one vehicle, which had busted into a second-floor closet, and getting lowered to the ground, video of the standoff broadcast by ABC13 showed.
Harris County sheriff’s deputies later found two handguns and six spent shell casings on or around the staircase leading to the home’s second floor, according to the affidavit.
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