May 24--A man accused of fatally shooting an Austin police officer last month at a Wal-Mart has been hospitalized under constant security for several days.
Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton said Wednesday that he received an initial report early this week that Brandon Montgomery Daniel, 24, may have taken "some medication" while being held at a county jail. Sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade later said that officials have since determined that they do not think Daniel ingested medication.
It remained unclear why Daniel had been hospitalized over the weekend.
Daniel is charged with capital murder in the April 6 shooting of senior police officer Jaime Padron in North Austin.
Hamilton declined to comment further and referred calls to Wade, who said he was prohibited by federal medical privacy laws from commenting on Daniel's status. Prosecutors handling the case also declined to comment, and several police investigators said they did not know details about why Daniel had been hospitalized.
Doctors inside the county jail prescribe medication for inmates, Wade said, and the facility has a "pill call" during which those medications are handed out based on prescriptions.
He said that some more minor medications that do not require a prescription may be given at other times and that inmates could receive more than one dose at a time to take later.
Daniel's lawyer, Bill White, declined to comment Wednesday.
Investigators have said that Padron was responding to a call about a possible shoplifter in the store near Interstate 35 and Parmer Lane. When he arrived, he had a brief encounter with Daniel, who then fatally shot Padron in the neck, authorities say.
A hearing in the case was set for Friday, but prosecutors said Wednesday that it has been postponed until June 13.
Copyright 2012 - Austin American-Statesman, Texas
