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A very interesting case:
Police want bullet from man's head
From the Beaumont Enterprise:
Police want bullet from man's head
By RYAN MYERS, The Enterprise
12/05/2006
Updated 12/04/2006 11:04:50 PM CST
Police frequently collect bullets as evidence.
They collect them from walls and trees. Even collecting bullets from bodies isn't uncommon.
But Port Arthur police are after a bullet lodged in the head of a living man, a bullet they believe can prove the man tried to kill someone.
"We really need that bullet," said Lt. Pat Powell, who is leading the department's effort to get the legal go-ahead to surgically remove the projectile.
The bullet police want is inside 17-year-old Joshua Adam Bush, who has refused to give consent for the projectile's removal.
Bush was in Jefferson County jail Monday, indicted on one count each of deadly conduct, burglary of a habitation, criminal mischief and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.
Powell wants the bullet to develop attempted capital murder charges against Bush, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Authorities believe Bush, whom they say has admitted to being the commander of the Young Blood Gorillas street gang, was shot July 21 after a burglary of a Port Arthur car lot, Powell said.
Police said they arrested three men during a burglary at Olive Used Cars in the 3000 block of Gulfway Drive, but Bush avoided capture. After investigators left, he confronted lot manager Allen Olive.
Olive told police Bush shot at him but missed, prompting Olive, an accomplished competition pistol shooter, to return fire, according to the affidavit.
Police believe Olive hit Bush and that removing the bullet will tie Bush to the shootout.
Bush's mother, Tammie Bush, said she took her son to the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston on Aug. 1 to see about having the bullet removed.
Doctors notified Port Arthur police a gunshot victim was seeking treatment, according to the affidavit. But before police arrived the Bushes left because they did not have insurance to pay for the bullet's removal, Tammie Bush said.
Police later took Joshua Bush into custody on charges unrelated to the shooting, according to the affidavit.
He admitted to involvement in the car lot burglary but denied knowledge of the shooting and attributed a swelling on his forehead to a basketball injury, the affidavit states.
On Wednesday, District Judge Layne Walker issued a search warrant authorizing the bullet's surgical removal.
But the operation by St. Elizabeth Hospital trauma surgeon David Parkus, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was unsuccessful, Powell said.
"We just did the surgery in the emergency room, and the surgeon said some bone had grown around the bullet and he would need an operating room and some more tools to get the bullet," Powell said.
Because the search warrant was only valid for 72 hours, another is required before a second surgery is attempted.
Tammie Bush said she was appalled to hear about the first surgery and is trying to hire a lawyer to help prevent any subsequent attempts to remove the bullet.
"They're willing to risk Josh's life, willing to kill him even to get that bullet," Tammie Bush said. "They just don't have any right."
Josh Bush's attorney, Rife Kimler, was out of town Monday and could not be reached.
The law surrounding surgical removal of evidence from a suspect without consent revolves around the extent of invasiveness required for the procedure, said Ramon Rodriguez, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney handling Bush's prosecution.
"It's decided on a case-by-case basis. For example, imagine I burglarized a home and in the process busted a window with very unique glass, glass not found anywhere else in Jefferson County," the prosecutor said.
"Now let's say I have a shard of this glass in the skin of my thumb and a shard in my chest cavity in my heart. Removing the glass from my chest would be much more invasive than removing the glass from my thumb."
There is no established guideline for what is so invasive as to constitute an unreasonable search and seizure and potential violation of the Fourth Amendment, Rodriguez said.
Tammie Bush said she was upset her son's lawyer was not notified and not present for the surgery, but Rodriguez said there is no right to have an attorney present during the execution of a search warrant.
For Powell, the next step is getting another search warrant.
He said he's convinced the surgery is no more invasive than the one attempted Wednesday.
"We just need to schedule an operating room," he said.
That scheduling, and the scheduling of a surgeon willing to do the surgery and provide subsequent testimony in court, complicates the process.
"Because we only have 72 hours after we get the warrant we pretty much have to have everything lined up beforehand," he said.
But Powell said he's willing to do the work.
"It's burglary charges versus a possible attempted murder charge," he said. "That's a pretty big difference. We really need to get that bullet."
Even if the bullet is removed, Rodriguez said arguments could still arise about it's admission in a trial.
Powell said Judge Walker, who issued the first warrant, was out of town Monday,
"We're waiting for him to come back to see if we can try again," Powell said.
Police want bullet from man's head
From the Beaumont Enterprise:
Police want bullet from man's head
By RYAN MYERS, The Enterprise
12/05/2006
Updated 12/04/2006 11:04:50 PM CST
Police frequently collect bullets as evidence.
They collect them from walls and trees. Even collecting bullets from bodies isn't uncommon.
But Port Arthur police are after a bullet lodged in the head of a living man, a bullet they believe can prove the man tried to kill someone.
"We really need that bullet," said Lt. Pat Powell, who is leading the department's effort to get the legal go-ahead to surgically remove the projectile.
The bullet police want is inside 17-year-old Joshua Adam Bush, who has refused to give consent for the projectile's removal.
Bush was in Jefferson County jail Monday, indicted on one count each of deadly conduct, burglary of a habitation, criminal mischief and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.
Powell wants the bullet to develop attempted capital murder charges against Bush, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Authorities believe Bush, whom they say has admitted to being the commander of the Young Blood Gorillas street gang, was shot July 21 after a burglary of a Port Arthur car lot, Powell said.
Police said they arrested three men during a burglary at Olive Used Cars in the 3000 block of Gulfway Drive, but Bush avoided capture. After investigators left, he confronted lot manager Allen Olive.
Olive told police Bush shot at him but missed, prompting Olive, an accomplished competition pistol shooter, to return fire, according to the affidavit.
Police believe Olive hit Bush and that removing the bullet will tie Bush to the shootout.
Bush's mother, Tammie Bush, said she took her son to the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston on Aug. 1 to see about having the bullet removed.
Doctors notified Port Arthur police a gunshot victim was seeking treatment, according to the affidavit. But before police arrived the Bushes left because they did not have insurance to pay for the bullet's removal, Tammie Bush said.
Police later took Joshua Bush into custody on charges unrelated to the shooting, according to the affidavit.
He admitted to involvement in the car lot burglary but denied knowledge of the shooting and attributed a swelling on his forehead to a basketball injury, the affidavit states.
On Wednesday, District Judge Layne Walker issued a search warrant authorizing the bullet's surgical removal.
But the operation by St. Elizabeth Hospital trauma surgeon David Parkus, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was unsuccessful, Powell said.
"We just did the surgery in the emergency room, and the surgeon said some bone had grown around the bullet and he would need an operating room and some more tools to get the bullet," Powell said.
Because the search warrant was only valid for 72 hours, another is required before a second surgery is attempted.
Tammie Bush said she was appalled to hear about the first surgery and is trying to hire a lawyer to help prevent any subsequent attempts to remove the bullet.
"They're willing to risk Josh's life, willing to kill him even to get that bullet," Tammie Bush said. "They just don't have any right."
Josh Bush's attorney, Rife Kimler, was out of town Monday and could not be reached.
The law surrounding surgical removal of evidence from a suspect without consent revolves around the extent of invasiveness required for the procedure, said Ramon Rodriguez, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney handling Bush's prosecution.
"It's decided on a case-by-case basis. For example, imagine I burglarized a home and in the process busted a window with very unique glass, glass not found anywhere else in Jefferson County," the prosecutor said.
"Now let's say I have a shard of this glass in the skin of my thumb and a shard in my chest cavity in my heart. Removing the glass from my chest would be much more invasive than removing the glass from my thumb."
There is no established guideline for what is so invasive as to constitute an unreasonable search and seizure and potential violation of the Fourth Amendment, Rodriguez said.
Tammie Bush said she was upset her son's lawyer was not notified and not present for the surgery, but Rodriguez said there is no right to have an attorney present during the execution of a search warrant.
For Powell, the next step is getting another search warrant.
He said he's convinced the surgery is no more invasive than the one attempted Wednesday.
"We just need to schedule an operating room," he said.
That scheduling, and the scheduling of a surgeon willing to do the surgery and provide subsequent testimony in court, complicates the process.
"Because we only have 72 hours after we get the warrant we pretty much have to have everything lined up beforehand," he said.
But Powell said he's willing to do the work.
"It's burglary charges versus a possible attempted murder charge," he said. "That's a pretty big difference. We really need to get that bullet."
Even if the bullet is removed, Rodriguez said arguments could still arise about it's admission in a trial.
Powell said Judge Walker, who issued the first warrant, was out of town Monday,
"We're waiting for him to come back to see if we can try again," Powell said.
