Refugee
09-04-2007, 04:50 PM
DALLAS — Police said Tuesday they aren't pursuing charges against a homeowner who shot and killed a former member of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians who tried kicking in his door in the middle of the night.
The case will be turned over to a grand jury that will decide whether the homeowner will face charges. Dallas police Sgt. Larry Lewis said the shooting appears to fall under state law permitting deadly force as self-defense.
Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, 34, was inebriated Monday when the wife of his girlfriend's neighbor began screaming around 4 a.m. that someone was breaking in, police said. After telling Albrecht to get away, the husband fired his handgun through the door and shot Albrecht in the head, police said. Albrecht had been fighting with his girlfriend.
"He yelled several verbal warnings, 'I'll shoot! I'll shoot!'," Lewis said. "From what we gather, he fired near the top of the door, hoping he would scare the person away."
The homeowner, whose identity wasn't released, was not arrested.
The shooting came two days after the enactment of a new state law, nicknamed the "Castle Doctrine," that gives Texans a stronger legal right to defend themselves with deadly force in their homes, cars and workplaces.
The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, states that a person has no duty to retreat from an intruder before using deadly force. Lewis said he read over the Castle Doctrine on Tuesday, but said the homeowner appeared to be protected under another deadly force law already on the books.
Under Chapter 9 of the state penal code, a person can protect their property with deadly force to "prevent the other's imminent commission ... of criminal mischief during the nighttime."
"I think (the shooting) falls most under Chapter 9," Lewis said.
Jerry Dowling, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University who has studied Castle Doctrine, agreed.
"I suspect this won't get very far," he said.
Albrecht, who went by his middle name, had been a keyboard player for the New Bohemians since 1999, according to the band's Web site. He also played keyboard and guitar and sang for Sorta, named in 2006 as the best local music act by the Dallas Observer.
Albrecht played several times with Brickell's husband, Paul Simon. He also played with Texas musician Charlie Sexton, a renowned guitarist.
"We are all completely devastated by the news of Carter's death, and obviously still quite in shock," Brandon Aly, drummer for New Bohemians, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Danny Balis, Albrecht's roommate and fellow member of the Dallas rock band Sorta, said the shooter lived next door to Albrecht's girlfriend. Albrecht had been fighting with his girlfriend, authorities said.
His death stunned friends and those who knew him in the North Texas music community. The idea of him banging on a door in the middle of the night seems out of character for a man known to be friendly and quiet, friends said.
"He is not a violent person," said Carrie Garcia, Sorta's manager. "He is cool as a cucumber, shy, always wanted to make a joke in a situation that may be a little tense."
The case will be turned over to a grand jury that will decide whether the homeowner will face charges. Dallas police Sgt. Larry Lewis said the shooting appears to fall under state law permitting deadly force as self-defense.
Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, 34, was inebriated Monday when the wife of his girlfriend's neighbor began screaming around 4 a.m. that someone was breaking in, police said. After telling Albrecht to get away, the husband fired his handgun through the door and shot Albrecht in the head, police said. Albrecht had been fighting with his girlfriend.
"He yelled several verbal warnings, 'I'll shoot! I'll shoot!'," Lewis said. "From what we gather, he fired near the top of the door, hoping he would scare the person away."
The homeowner, whose identity wasn't released, was not arrested.
The shooting came two days after the enactment of a new state law, nicknamed the "Castle Doctrine," that gives Texans a stronger legal right to defend themselves with deadly force in their homes, cars and workplaces.
The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, states that a person has no duty to retreat from an intruder before using deadly force. Lewis said he read over the Castle Doctrine on Tuesday, but said the homeowner appeared to be protected under another deadly force law already on the books.
Under Chapter 9 of the state penal code, a person can protect their property with deadly force to "prevent the other's imminent commission ... of criminal mischief during the nighttime."
"I think (the shooting) falls most under Chapter 9," Lewis said.
Jerry Dowling, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University who has studied Castle Doctrine, agreed.
"I suspect this won't get very far," he said.
Albrecht, who went by his middle name, had been a keyboard player for the New Bohemians since 1999, according to the band's Web site. He also played keyboard and guitar and sang for Sorta, named in 2006 as the best local music act by the Dallas Observer.
Albrecht played several times with Brickell's husband, Paul Simon. He also played with Texas musician Charlie Sexton, a renowned guitarist.
"We are all completely devastated by the news of Carter's death, and obviously still quite in shock," Brandon Aly, drummer for New Bohemians, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Danny Balis, Albrecht's roommate and fellow member of the Dallas rock band Sorta, said the shooter lived next door to Albrecht's girlfriend. Albrecht had been fighting with his girlfriend, authorities said.
His death stunned friends and those who knew him in the North Texas music community. The idea of him banging on a door in the middle of the night seems out of character for a man known to be friendly and quiet, friends said.
"He is not a violent person," said Carrie Garcia, Sorta's manager. "He is cool as a cucumber, shy, always wanted to make a joke in a situation that may be a little tense."