KILLEEN, Texas — A lot has changed in the nine years that Marvin Guy has awaited trial for capital murder in a county jail.
Guy is accused of shooting and killing Killeen police detective Chuck Dinwiddie during a no-knock raid on May 9, 2014.
Dinwiddie and other officers had entered Guy's residence on drug charges when he opened fire on them.
Police were able to perform no-knock warrants in 2014. In 2021 Killeen City Council officialy put an end to the contreversial no-knock warrant policy in the city.
Today the court will hear testimony from Guy who has said in the past that he did not know it was the Killeen Police Department who was entering his home almost a decade ago.
"Did the officers do everything they were supposed to do, what were the protocolls taken to alert the individual that they were in fact police," Six News legal analyst Liz Mtchell said,
That is what the jury will have to figure out.
One complication Mitchell said could come up during the trial is how long it's taken to get here.
After nine years she said it could be tough to keep tabs on witnesses and calling them to testify.
"Nine years is an incredibly long time to wait," Mitchell said. "The taxpayers of Bell County foot the bill to feed and house the defendant in county jail the entire time that he's awaiting trial."
The family of Dinwiddie is looking for answers after all this time.
"His wife, his children deserve justice, my now deceased mother deserve justce and his community deserves justice," Detective Dinwiddie's sister Kathryn Dinswiddie said,
The trial is expected to run from Monday to Nov. 21.
Six News will follow the trial and provide updates as they become available.
More information on no-knock warrants:
According to Cornell Law School, no-knock warrant is a search warrant authorizing police officers to enter certain premises without first knocking and announcing their presence or purpose prior to entering the premises.
Such warrants are issued where an entry pursuant to the knock-and-announce rule (ie. an announcement prior to entry) would lead to the destruction of the objects for which the police are searching or would compromise the safety of the police or another individual.
The requirement that announcing police presence would result in destruction of objects or compromise safety is judged by a reasonable suspicion standard.
For more information click here.
Click here for more information on why the city of Killeen banned no-knock warrants.
Another important factor in this case is Castle Law.