Travis County DA Vows To Pursue Justice In Officer-Involved Shooting Despite Setback

AUSTIN, TX — The Travis County District Attorney's Office "remains firmly committed to seeking the fair administration of justice" despite a recent court setback in a case involving a former police detective who shot dead a man he mistakenly believed was a suspect, officials said this week.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans earlier declined to rehear the officer-involved shooting case of former Austin police detective Charles Kleinert. A three-judge panel at the court of appeals on April 20 upheld a lower court’s dismissal of manslaughter charges against Kleinert, who claimed his gun accidentally went off when he shot Larry Eugene Jackson Jr. on July 26, 2013 when the two men were engaged in a struggle.

But District Attorney Margaret Moore vowed to appeal the decision, vowing to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

"The District Attorney's Office remains firmly committed to seeking the fair administration of justice in this matter," Moore said in a news advisory. "In order to decide how to proceed in response to the Fifth Circuit's decision, we are currently considering all available options."

One of those steps is to take the case to the nation's high court, she added: "One such option would be to seek review of this matter by the United States Supreme Court,' Moore said. We will be making a public statement once we have evaluated our available options and have determined how we will proceed."

After approaching the front door of a bank in 2013, Jackson found the facility to be closed. A bank employee alerted the man to the closure, and said he wanted to withdraw money while providing an alias. Kleinert approached Jackson in response to the incident, later telling investigators he was acting suspiciously and allegedly obscuring his face with his cell phone. After their interaction, Jackson took off running and was fatally shot by Kleinert in an ensuing struggle.

A grand jury in May 2014 indicted Kleinert with the felony offense of manslaughter for killing Jackson. In October 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Western District dismissed the indictment before a three-member panel at the Fifth Circuit court reaffirmed the dismissal.

The DA's office challenged the panel's ruling on May 4 in response, filing a motion for a rehearing while requesting the panel reconsider. The court of appeals denied the state's motion on May 25.

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