A Texas appeals court acquitted a former Austin Police Department detective who was sentenced to prison for fatally shooting a knife-wielding man.
The state’s 7th Court of Appeals overturned the conviction against Christopher Taylor, sparing the ex-investigator from having to serve his two-year sentence on deadly conduct charges.
“This case comes down to a single, unavoidable question: When an elevator door opens to reveal a man holding a knife who turns toward officers and advances, may an officer reasonably believe deadly force is necessary to prevent an imminent murder?” the appeals court wrote in its opinion issued this week.
“The jury concluded no. The record and the governing law compel the opposite,” Justice Alex Yarbrough wrote for the court.
Mr. Taylor’s conviction stemmed from a 2019 incident in which he and three other officers were called to an Austin condominium building for an armed man experiencing a mental health crisis.
Court documents said Mauris DeSilva, 46, was roaming the halls with a knife and threatening to kill himself by holding the blade to his throat.
Body camera footage showed police encounter DeSilva as they exited an elevator, and all four shouted commands for the man to drop the knife.
The filing said DeSilva initially was looking in a mirror with the knife to his neck, but then lowered the weapon to his side and began walking toward authorities.
“Almost simultaneously, the taser officer fired, and the two officers with drawn weapons fired as well. Appellant fired five shots, and the other officer fired twice. DeSilva died at the scene,” the appeals court wrote.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, who campaigned on police accountability in 2020 with the support of left-wing billionaire George Soros, originally brought murder charges against Mr. Taylor.
Those charges were downgraded to deadly conduct just before the trial began.
The top prosecutor said his office will appeal the ruling.
“The conservative Amarillo-based 7th Court of Appeals judges think they know better than the Travis County jurors who heard the case and convicted Taylor,” the Austin-based prosecutor said in a statement. “We will continue fighting to uphold the jury’s conviction.”
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock slammed Mr. Garza for “manipulating the justice system.”
He accused the prosecutor of “repeatedly trying cases against Detective Taylor, until the jury pool was so tainted, an impartial decision could not be made.”
“The men and women of the Austin Police Department must be allowed to do the job they signed up for, protecting the citizens of Austin and the State of Texas, without fear of these countless political prosecutions,” he said.
In 2025, Texas passed a law that bars police officers from being charged with deadly conduct, a lesser charge that basically amounts to recklessness in the context of a deadly-force situation, regardless of whether anyone is actually hurt.
That change came after a handful of other officers around the state were charged with the crime for conduct in the line of duty, usually by prosecutors in the big-city blue enclaves of deep-red Texas.
A mistrial was declared in the case against Austin police officer Daniel Sanchez after a jury did not unanimously support deadly conduct charges against him. The officer shot and killed a rifle-wielding man opening fire on his own home.
Two Dallas police officers were accused of deadly conduct after firing rubber bullets at Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. One of the protesters lost an eye and several teeth after being hit by the less-than-lethal rounds.
The Dallas officers eventually pleaded down to misdemeanor assault charges, with the last conviction coming in 2024.
Mr. Garza, the Soros-backed Austin prosecutor, has indicted more than 25 officers on misconduct-related charges during his time in office, though a majority of those cases have been dropped.
