Truck driver gets verdict in self-defense case

Dana McDonald and his wife, Cassandra Dallas McDonald, said they are relieved that a jury accepted his self-defense claim. Dana McDonald and his wife, Cassandra Dallas McDonald, said they are relieved that a jury accepted his self-defense claim. Photo: Brian Rogers, Chronicle Photo: Brian Rogers, Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Truck driver gets verdict in self-defense case 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Houston truck driver accused of murder after he fought off a would-be robber has been found not guilty by a Harris County jury.

Dana McDonald, 51, was indicted almost a year after telling police he had been attacked by a man with a metal trucking tool that he found in the cab of his 18-wheeler.

The man, Frankie Ballard, and another were in the cab as McDonald and his wife walked to the truck after 10 p.m. on June 25, 2012.

McDonald said Ballard swung at him and a fight ensued, with the truck driver able to get the weapon and use it against the alleged robber. Ballard later died at the hospital from injuries sustained during the fight.

McDonald, who told police he acted in self-defense, was later arrested and charged with murder, sparking controversy over comparisons to Joe Horn, who was not charged after fatally shooting two men running from his neighbor's home in 2007.

McDonald was found not guilty Thursday after a week-long trial in front of state District Judge Catherine Evans. He raised questions Monday about whether his race and prior record may have contributed to the decision to file charges against him but not Horn, who is white.

"It's tragic that somebody had to lose their life over some minor property, but it was scary because I didn't know this guy, didn't know if he had weapons," McDonald said. "I thought I was going to get hurt. I had to protect myself and my wife, in that moment."

McDonald was represented at trial by Davis and Danny Lacayo, two lawyers with the Public Defender's Office, who said jurors understood that it was a self-defense case.

"He and his wife were being robbed by this guy," said attorney Eric Davis. "When he comes out swinging that cheater bar, using force to take property, that's a robbery."

Jeff McShan, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said the decisions in both cases were made by grand juries, which operate in secret proceedings.

He noted that U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson was the interim district attorney when Horn was no-billed, not the current DA, Devon Anderson.

"This was a difficult case and we respect the jury's decision," he said of the trial jury's verdict, which was handed down Thursday.