HOUSTON – Jury selection begins Tuesday, October 22 for former Harris County Sheriff’s Sergeant Garrett Hardin, who is facing murder charges in connection with the 2022 shooting death of Roderick Brooks.
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The confrontation between Hardin and Brooks was captured on body camera footage, which shows Hardin chasing Brooks after his apparent shoplifting incident at a Dollar General on FM 1960.
Investigators reported that during a struggle on the ground, Brooks gained control of Hardin’s Taser, prompting the sergeant to fire his weapon.
“The facts are not going to change. The indictment is a joke,” said Hardin’s attorney, Justin Keiter in 2023.
INITIAL REPORT: Man accused of shoplifting shot, killed by sergeant in N. Harris County, officials say
He emphasized that the video evidence would clearly show Brooks attempting to grab the Taser during the encounter. “If you look carefully at that video, you will see the suspect is starting to turn and grab the Taser.”
Attorneys representing the Brooks family also pointed to the body cam footage as a pivotal element of the case.
“The video is going to be the centerpiece in all of this,” stated Sadiyah Evangelista-Karriem, one of the family’s attorneys last year.
As jury selection proceeds, both sides are preparing for what promises to be a contentious trial centered around the interpretation of the body cam footage and the circumstances of the confrontation between Hardin and Brooks.
