BELLVILLE — The Austin County Grand Jury has reviewed the incident at the Lindemann Store in Industry, and determined that no criminal charges should be filed.
The Jan. 15 event had drawn extensive publicity and citizen concern.
Press reports contained only 15 – 20 seconds of video footage from the incident that lasted more than 30 minutes and involved at least six persons.
"Rather than rush to judgment on a case with a complex set of facts, my of- fice studied all the evidence in detail," stated District Attorney Travis J. Koehn.
"The evidence showed that there was significant additional context which was not shown in the initial public reports issued by some of the parties involved,” Koehn added. "For instance, initial re ports did not include the video and audio footage showing that the store employees knew the identity of the rightful owner of the $50 and told the customer this repeatedly before she tried to leave the store with the money,” Koehn explained.
"Initial reports also did not include audio of the store employees repeatedly stating that they had only grabbed the customer to restrain her when the customer grabbed the store manager’s throat," Koehn stated. "After evaluat ing the evidence and law, I determined that justice would be best served by presenting this matter to the Grand Jury,” Koehn said.
On Feb. 22, the Austin County Grand Jury considered all potential charges in this matter.
The grand jury recommended that no criminal charges be filed on any of the parties involved. Therefore, no criminal
charges will be filed. Grand jury proceedings are confiden tial by law and may not be divulged, per Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 20A.202.
Grand juries may consider a variety of factors when considering criminal charges, including, but not limited to: the crimes alleged, the relevant law, the facts of the case, any potential defenses, and the interests of justice.
"If my office had released the full store surveillance evidence to the public before the conclusion of the case, that action could have been seen as an uneth- ical attempt to influence the outcome of legal proceedings in violation of Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7,” Koehn stated.
Now that the case is completed, the district attorney will release all of the store video and audio footage.
"I have made the full Lindemann Store surveillance footage—in its entirety, unaltered, and in its original format— available to the press,” Koehn explained.
"I have also released an additional, detailed breakdown of the events and relevant law involved in this incident which is attached to this release. The news media may post this information on their sites," Koehn stated. "All of this information will also be posted to https://www.austincounty.com/page/ austincountyda.press.releases.”
"The parties on both sides of this con - flict chose to take physical action rath er than de-escalating the situation and waiting for law enforcement,” Koehn said. "Although Texas law has long per mitted citizens to take action to prevent theft and to defend others from harm, such action should never be undertaken lightly.”
"Such actions, though potentially legal, could result in serious consequences such as civil liability, injury, or death,” Koehn emphasized.
