Officer’s testimony supported not guilty verdict in Fort Worth murder case, attorney says

The testimony of a Fort Worth patrol officer in the murder trial of a former Water Department surveyor accused in the 2018 killing of a homeless man was one of the factors that led to the surveyor’s acquittal, an attorney said.

Fort Worth Officer James Reynolds testified last week as a witness called by defense attorneys for 64-year-old Daniel Hammack in his trial. A Tarrant County jury found Hammack not guilty of murder.

Fort Worth attorney Phillip Hall, who along with attorney Frank Sellers represented Hammack, said Reynolds received backlash for his testimony. Hall did not provide details of the backlash, but he noted that Reynolds was not allowed to talk to defense attorneys until he took the witness stand last week in Criminal District Court No. 2 in Fort Worth.

Hammack fatally shot 36-year-old Jason Knight of Fort Worth on March 11, 2018, but said he did it in self-defense.

“I’d like to thank FWPD Officer Reynolds for the courage he displayed throughout the course of this case and investigation,” Hall said. “Reynolds was outspoken in the fact that he felt that Mr. Dan Hammack was acting in self-defense the day of the shooting in 2018.”

Sellers noted that other officers from the Fort Worth Police Department also contributed to the defense.

“But Reynolds led the charge without fear of retribution,” Sellers said.

Reynolds could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

A Fort Worth police official said jurors are called upon to serve their community by reviewing all evidence presented in a trial before deciding guilt or innocence.

“Officers are entitled to their own opinions based on the facts and circumstances they have knowledge of, just like any other citizen,” said Fort Worth police Sgt. Amelia Heise in a statement released Wednesday. “It is the expectation of the Fort Worth Police Department that all FWPD employees who are called to testify are truthful in the testimony they give and respectful to all members of the court and jury during their testimony. Officer Reynolds’ testimony was only one piece of evidence reviewed by the jury before they came to their decision.”

Reynolds was one of the first Fort Worth police officers to arrive on the scene in 2018.

“The jury evaluated the differing eye witness testimony and determined that the defendant acted in self-defense,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. “By doing so, the jury fulfilled their duty in the criminal justice system.”

The shooting occurred just after church ended at Gospel Tabernacle Church and as Hammack’s wife and mother stood nearby, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2018.

Hammack was “confronted by a very aggravated person, who was seen in the community on many previous occasions acting aggressively,” Hall said. That person was later identified as Jason Knight.

“The man threatened to kill Dan and his wife, and Dan attempted to stop him with a mattock handle first,” Hall said after Friday’s verdict. A few minutes later, Hammack shot Knight.

Hammack, who records shows lives about a block from where the shooting occurred, was arrested soon afterward while sitting on a curb near Knight’s body.

A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Hammack in 2018, and Fort Worth city officials fired him from the Water Department after that.

Along with many of the other residents in the Glenwood Triangle community near downtown Fort Worth, Hammack, who was 60 at the time of the shooting, has lived there for over 30 years.

“It’s their home, and each of them strive to make the neighborhood safer and improve the area,” Hall said. “But carrying a firearm comes as no surprise to members of that community to ensure their safety against robbery, theft, assaults, drug trafficking, and prostitution.”

The 2018 fatal shooting was the second one involving Hammack. On May 3, 1992, Hammack shot and killed Ray Anthony Kelley. Hammack told Fort Worth police that he was inside his house, heard noises in the back yard and saw a person trying to get inside his utility shed. Hammack stated he got his shotgun and fired three shots as the person jumped over the fence, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.

Hammack was not charged in the 1992 shooting.

Fort Worth police officers have answered 38 calls in nine years to Hammack’s Fort Worth home, which is near the location of the 2018 shooting, according to city records.

Of those calls from Hammack’s home on the Near East Side, 27 were disturbances or suspicious persons or vehicles in the neighborhood, according to the records obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Through his attorney, Hammack declined to comment.

But Hammack plans to remain in his neighborhood, Hall said.

“The jury found that Dan acted in self-defense of himself, mother, and wife, and found Dan not guilty in a little over an hour and a half,” Hall said.