HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The man charged with killing a well-known Harris County deputy presented his own defense Friday in his criminal trial.
Late Friday afternoon, Robert Solis moved to have the judge in his case recused.
This move comes after Solis fired his own attorneys and chose to defend himself in his capital murder. Solis is accused in the shooting death of Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal.
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At the start of the trial, Solis chose to reserve his opening arguments until mid trial after the prosecution rested their case and before he began his defense.
"I stand before you an innocent man," Solis said in his opening statement. "I believe I'll be able to show I had no intention of killing this man."
The opening statement was less than a minute long.
Solis is accused of gunning down Dhaliwal during a traffic stop back in 2019. Prosecutors showed images from Dahliwal's body camera which appeared to show Solis exiting his vehicle and pointing a gun at the deputy before he was killed.
Solis began his defense by questioning an acquaintance, Larry Covey. Covey testified that Solis had called him the day of Dhaliwal's death, saying he had just shot a cop and wanted a ride.
"I told him he was a dead man," Covey said. "I wasn't going nowhere near him."
The next witness to take the stand was Jennifer Saez, a passenger in Solis' car that day. She testified that Solis said he wasn't going to go back to jail.
Court records show Solis had a violent criminal history and had a parole violation at the time of the shooting.
Saez, who's currently a Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate, also testified that Solis had spoken in the past about having, "The sight ... to see good and evil in people," and said Solis had a fear of law enforcement.
Solis was admonished several times for failing to follow legal procedures.
"I cannot allow you to have special privileges merely because you represent yourself," said Judge Chris Morton.
The jury had to be excused several times in just half an hour as the judged worked out issues with Solis.
At one point, Dhaliwal's relatives stepped out of the courtroom when pictures were shown.
Dhaliwal was a trailblazing deputy who wore his turban and beard as a part of his Sikh religion.