Defense: Goforth was meeting a woman at the time of his death

Dep. Darren Goforth, age 47, was fatally shot Aug. 28 at a gas station in Houston. Dep. Darren Goforth, age 47, was fatally shot Aug. 28 at a gas station in Houston. Photo: HCSO Photo: HCSO Image 1 of / 141 Caption Close Defense: Goforth was meeting a woman at the time of his death 1 / 141 Back to Gallery

The lawyer for a man accused of killing Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth last month said the slain lawman had a reason to be at a Chevron station that night other than filling up his patrol car.

"My understanding is that he was at this station meeting with this young lady who has been identified as a witness," said Anthony Osso, who is representing Shannon Miles, charged with capital murder in the case.

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Standing outside his downtown Houston office, Osso said determining why Goforth was at the Chevron is crucial. For the killing to be considered a capital murder in this case, it would need to involve a deputy acting in the "lawful discharge of an official duty," Osso said.

If Goforth was there to meet with the unidentified woman, rather than to gas up his patrol car, that could prove critical to the defense, Osso said at the press availability.

"From my client's standpoint, this would no longer be a capital murder but it would be murder," Osso argued. "I want to get (the death penalty) off the table."

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Osso has seen the security video taken from the scene that night but has agreed not to discuss it. He is seeking all the gas records for Goforth over the past 12 months until Aug. 28 when he was gunned down in what authorities called an ambush outside the Chevron station on Telge at West.

Sheriff's officials said Goforth, 47, was on duty and stopped at the station to fill up his patrol car following a routine accident investigation.

An ongoing case

Osso acknowledged there is not a lot of case law on the books about what exactly defines a "lawful discharge of an official duty."

"This could be a highly litigated issue," he added.

Officials with the Harris County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the legal strategy, saying the Goforth shooting was still an ongoing case.

The deputy remained on the clock and standing beside his patrol car when prosecutors said Miles, 30, came up behind him and began shooting at him. But in an interview, Stanley Schneider, another Houston criminal defense attorney, said that does not automatically make a case for capital murder.

"Just because someone knows you're a peace officer (at the time of a murder), that is not enough to make it capital murder," he said.

'Romantic relationship'

An eyewitness to last month's shooting death told investigators she had been in a "romantic relationship" with the slain lawman for more than a year.

Schneider said that if lawyers for Miles can prove Goforth went to the Chevron station to meet the woman, it could make a compelling argument that he was not acting in an official capacity at the time of his death. "That's going to be for the jury to decide," he said.

Osso said his client has not confessed to the shooting and has no connection with Goforth or the woman.

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"I have nothing to suggest they knew each other," he said.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Sheriff Ron Hickman and others suggested a possible link between Goforth's slaying and the Black Lives Matter movement. The group protests alleged police brutality against African-Americans.

Osso said there's no connection between that movement and his client.

"I'm not even sure my client knew there was a (Black Lives Matter) movement going on," he said.

Miles spent four months in a mental hospital in 2012 after being declared incompetent to stand trial in an aggravated assault case. Osso said he is still trying to develop a rapport with his client.

"I don't ask him really serious questions. They require a yes or no response," he said. "He has to trust me and he doesn't know me."

<Dylan Baddour contributed to this report.