Bell County’s longest-standing capital murder case finally could be presented to a jury next year, as attorneys move closer to a trial date.
Marvin Louis Guy, 57, has been held in the Bell County Jail for more than seven and-a-half years since his arrest on May 10, 2014. He is facing the death penalty after being indicted on four capital felony charges, including capital murder of a peace officer.
Guy is accused of shooting a Killeen Police Department detective, who later died from the gunshot wound, during a no-knock raid on Guy’s residence on Circle M Drive in Killeen on May 9, 2014.
KPD SWAT Detective Charles “Chuck” Dinwiddie and other officers were shot and Dinwiddie died in a hospital two days later.
Guy has claimed self-defense, saying that he did not know it was police entering his residence.
His bonds total $4 million.
Moving toward a trial date
At least three trial dates have been set in Guy’s case through the years, most recently for March of 2020, but a succession of defense attorneys and a multitude of motions are among the factors that have set the case back.
Guy hired his most recent defense team in April.
During a status hearing held in the 27th Judicial District Court on Thursday, one of Guy’s defense attorneys said that he was not yet prepared to pick a trial date.
“We can come back in a couple of months with some suggested dates,” said Joseph Caleb, the defense attorney.
Assistant District Attorney Fred Burns said that the state would rather not wait that long.
The judge agreed that both sides should continue to talk about possible dates.
“If you can’t agree on a date, I’ll set it,” said Judge John Gauntt.
The next status hearing was set for Feb. 3, 2022.
Judge rules on several defense motions
Gauntt ruled on a couple of defense motions — one to lift the gag order and another to force the state to produce discovery, or evidence — that were pending in the case.
“We request that the court grant our motion to lift the gag order,” Caleb said.
Gauntt, who declared a gag order in the case years ago, decided to keep the gag order regarding attorneys but said that it never actually applied to Guy.
“He’s been telling everybody what he thinks from day one,” Gauntt said.
The judge also ordered the state to produce Guy’s jail-recorded phone calls as well as the entire autopsy file. During the last status hearing, on Aug. 12, the judge approved the defense team’s request for that information.
“We’re still awaiting the production of some of that discovery, namely his jail phone calls and medical examiners file. To date, we have not gotten those documents,” Caleb said. “I think that it is forthcoming, but as we prepare for trial and are getting into a position to pick a trial date, we’re asking that the discovery be disclosed immediately.”
Gauntt ordered that Guy’s jail phone calls be turned over to the defense on a monthly basis.
Burns said that he sent the autopsy information to the defense.
“They have everything but the photos, which I’ve shown to (defense attorney Mike) Ware and I will put it on the portal,” he said.
However, Ware disagreed about the completeness of the records the defense has received.
“We don’t have the entire medical examiner’s file, including photos,” he said.
“You have everything that I have,” Burns replied.
“That’s not good enough. I want the entire file,” Ware said.
Burns said he would request the file from the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas County, where many autopsies occur.
Gauntt ordered that the medical examiner’s file be produced, including photos under a protective order.
