They Charged Me With "Deadly Conduct." The Gun Never Left the Holster — So I Filed to Make Them Prove It.

On June 7, 2026, I filed an emergency motion in my Harrison County case. The charge is deadly conduct. I wrote and filed the motion myself — pro se — and I asked the court for one thing the Constitution already promises: make the State say exactly what conduct it claims I committed, and produce the evidence, before any plea, any bond hearing, or any trial.

Here is why that matters.

"Deadly conduct" is a specific law — not a label

Under Texas Penal Code § 22.05, deadly conduct means recklessly placing another person in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. The statute's danger presumption only applies when a person knowingly points a firearm at or in the direction of another.

Pointing. Not a raised shirt. Not a hand on a holstered grip. Not a pistol that stayed in the holster the entire time.

That distinction is not a technicality. It is the difference between the element the law actually requires and a story that grows in the retelling.

What I say happened

I was at church. I was known by church leadership and by my own family to carry concealed while helping with security. During an escalation, as a man moved toward me, my hand went to a holstered pistol while I stepped back and put distance between us.

I did not draw it. I did not pull it from the holster. It never even started to come out. I did not point it at any person or any vehicle. I did not fire. I did not threaten to shoot anyone. Then I disengaged and I called law enforcement myself.

Those are my sworn statements, in a declaration I filed under penalty of perjury along with the motion.

The moving target

Here is the part that should bother you no matter what you think of me.

The Harrison County Sheriff's own public statement, dated May 11, 2026, describes the allegation as reaching for a firearm, raising a shirt, and placing a hand upon the grip. It does not say I drew the firearm, unholstered it, pointed it, or fired it.

But an escalated version that spread online claimed I pulled the gun out and pointed it at a vehicle with children inside.

So which one is it?

A criminal charge cannot be a moving target that grows every time someone repeats it. The official statement and the online version cannot both be true. And if the State's real theory is "a hand on a holstered grip," then it must explain how that satisfies deadly conduct — instead of some other statute, or no offense at all.

What the motion asks the court to order

• Particularize the charge. Say in writing whether the State alleges I drew, pointed, fired, threatened, pursued, or blocked anyone — or only that I raised my shirt and put my hand on a holstered grip.
• Name who was supposedly placed in imminent danger, and by what exact act — tied to a specific witness, statement, or recording.
• Produce the objective evidence — body camera, the church's own security cameras, CAD logs, dispatch, and the 911 / non-emergency audio — before any plea pressure, bond revocation, or trial.
• Authenticate the Sheriff's May 11 statement — its source, its drafts, and the reports behind it.
• Stop the escalated labels. No "pointed it," no "threatened children," unless those words are tied to identified evidence.

Why I am posting this

Because the objective evidence — the cameras, the bodycam, the 911 timeline — is the case. It either shows a drawn, pointed firearm or it does not. I am betting my freedom that it does not.

I am not asking anyone to treat a screenshot as proof. I am asking the State to do what due process requires: tell me precisely what you say I did, identify who said it, and produce the recordings — before you ask a court to take a man's liberty.

That is not a lot to ask. It is the floor.

See it for yourself — the complete filing

I am a visual person too. So here is the entire filing, exactly as I submitted it to the court — every page, with the lines that matter highlighted in yellow. These are public court records. Read them for yourself.

The Motion — my emergency request to make the State particularize the deadly-conduct theory and produce the evidence:

Download the full motion (PDF) →

My sworn Declaration — the same facts, under penalty of perjury:

Download the declaration (PDF) →

The Exhibits — the receipts. The church layout, how the accusation circulated online, the bodycam comparison, the Sheriff's own statement, the message showing de-escalation and that I called 911 first, and the video source record:

Download all exhibits (PDF) →

The Proposed Order — the specific things I am asking the judge to order the State to do:

Download the proposed order (PDF) →

This is what representing yourself actually looks like. I am not asking anyone to take my word for it. I am putting the entire filing in front of you and asking the State to meet it.