KILLEEN, Texas — Marvin Guy, a Bell county resident, has spent the last eight years in the county jail on a $4 million bond, waiting for his day in court.
He's accused of shooting Det. Charles D. Dinwiddie, the SWAT leader who directed the raid on Guy’s apartment in 2014.
"I still remember it like it was yesterday," said
Garrett Galloway. "My other brother called me up on the phone and said that police are at Marvin's door and there's a shootout."
Guy, 49 at the time of the shooting, was raised in East Chicago. By the age of 9, he had lost both of his parents.
He did join a gang and dropped out in 11th grade. New York Times printed that Guy admitted to fighting, theft, battery, bank robbery, possession of a firearm as a felon, probation violation, and cocaine possession. He spent several years in prison.
"Some of the things he had done in the past he hadn't really shared with me," said Galloway.
For several years, Guy managed to stay out of trouble with the law and moved to Fort Hood after his brother, Galloway, retired from the Army.
"He had met a girl and started going to church," said Galloway.
In 2014, police thought Guy was selling drugs and had a judge sign off on a "No-Knock Warrant" for his apartment.
"The informant has reported that Guy is frequently armed with a handgun," according to the Warrant.
Around 5:45 a.m., a SWAT team shattered Guy’s bedroom window and rammed into his front door.
A law enforcement source with more than 20 years of experience in narcotics says that's called a "Break and Rake." The officer says the moment you do that is crucial to have police coming from other directions yelling they are police.
According to guy the thought someone was trying to break in and started shooting. Police said that guy shot 4 police officers that included the death of Charles Dinwiddie. Police never found drugs in the apartment.
We are in Texas, a black man has been accused of killing a white police officer, and in Texas, that's just not going to fly."
Galloway is not even sure if his brother shot the officer or if the bullet came from another Killeen police officer that morning.
"I believe that the ballistics might show that the bullet that killed that officer might have came friendly fire," said Galloway. "So I believe that's one of the reasons that it's taken so long to go to trial."
Court documents show that Killeen police's internal investigation says Guy and his girlfriend were asleep in separate bedrooms. Officers shattered glass above the window where Guy was sleeping.
Marvin Guy Indictment-Motion to Reduce Bond by Nick Bradshaw on Scribd
The review found several violations that led to disciplinary actions against several officers. Violations included "pistol-whipping" Guy and one officer putting his service weapon in Guy's mouth after he was handcuffed.
In a statement to theWashington Post,the family of the officer killed said: “We ask that Detective Charles David Dinwiddie’s life be honored with decisive action to see this process through to its just conclusion. His legacy of service deserves no less.”
Guy has fired several lawyers for different reasons. Now the Grassroots Law Project is involved and helping lead guys case as it goes to trial in May.
Since that time and because of another high-profile case, no-knock warrants have been banned in Killeen.
What Do Police Say about No-Knock Warrants?
The president of the Texas Police Chief Association sat down with 25 News to give his take on the warrants.
"They are dangerous because you are going into a situation that's inside of a structure and they have more advantage," said Jimmy Perdue, who is chief of the North Richland Hills Police Department.
Perdue says the goal of a no-knock warrant is to remain safe and be able to overwhelm the suspect with the volume of police officers.
"I'm not in favor of all of a blanket restriction on no-knock warrants," Perdue said.
Not speaking specifically on Guy's case, he admits there have been abuses with warrants by departments. He believes there's a time and place for the warrant and ripping that away from officers is simply taking a tool away from law enforcement.
"There is a lot of good value going in at night or when people are asleep, you have the element of surprise," Perdue said.
About20,000 no-knock raids are executed in the U.S. each year. The ACLU reviewed 818 S.W.A.T. deployments conducted across 11 states between 2010 and 2013, and it was found that 62% were for drug searches. Of those, 60 percent employed forced entry.
WAR COMES HOME: THE EXCESSIVE MILITARIZATION OF AMERICAN POLICE by Nick Bradshaw on Scribd
Because of that surprise, the chief sees the danger and believes law enforcement needs to properly identify themselves.
Several departments have gone to a surround and call out.
"Let's say you're looking for a bundle of cocaine, it's a pretty good chance they are not going to be able to flush a bundle of cocaine down the toilet," Predue said.
The chief says that the window for a no-knock warrant is getting smaller and he believes that's a good thing. But he believes — in certain circumstances — it's necessary.
Multiple law enforcement sources say the no-knock warrants they wrote up came after research, knowing there was a good chance they would run.
One source says most of his were surveillance and catching the person as they were coming out.
Trial Date Set
After eight years, a May trial date has been set for Guy. Several national media outlets and documentary makers took an interest in Guys' case.
Guys' brother has been by his side. Galloway believes in law enforcement and supports police.
"With an officer losing his life, my brother sitting in jail for eight years, it's just been a mess," said Galloway. "There's no winners in this at all."