TV Bailiff Renard Spivey Acquitted in Wife's Shooting Death: 'I Didn't Pull the Trigger'
HOUSTON — A jury has cleared former Harris County sheriff's deputy and television bailiff Renard Spivey of murder in the 2019 shooting death of his wife, Patricia Spivey. The verdict, delivered Dec. 6, 2023, after 12 hours of deliberations, ended a case that hinged on a single question: whose finger was on the trigger?
Spivey, 55, had been both a real-life law enforcement officer and a bailiff on the syndicated court show Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez. On the night of July 13, 2019, he called 911 from their home in Houston, saying his wife had been shot during a struggle over a gun. Patricia, 52, was found dead in the master bedroom closet from multiple gunshot wounds. Spivey also suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.
In an interview with CBS News' Natalie Morales for 48 Hours, Spivey insisted the shooting was an accident. “I didn't pull the trigger,” he said. He claimed Patricia confronted him in the dark closet with a loaded Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun after he took her phone, and that she fired first, hitting him in the leg before the gun discharged two or three more times during the struggle.
“I was scared for my life,” Spivey told Morales. “When I turned around, she had the gun pointed at me.”
Patricia’s family and friends painted a different picture. Her daughter, Patrina Marshall, said her mother was “not violent like that” and believed Patricia was packing to leave Spivey that night. Ezra Washington, a close friend, testified that just days before the shooting, Patricia told him she was “done” with the marriage, citing Spivey’s alleged controlling behavior and suspected steroid use. Washington also claimed Spivey called him on the day of the shooting, saying, “I’mma show her,” though defense attorneys argued those calls never happened and produced no phone records.
Prosecutors argued that Spivey intentionally shot Patricia after she threatened to end their marriage, and that he then shot himself in the leg to stage a self-defense scenario. The state pointed to a fourth sound on the home security audio — a tap about 90 seconds after the three distinct gunshots — as evidence of a staged self-shooting. Spivey and his attorneys denied any fourth shot, suggesting the sound was a camera being activated.
The defense, led by prominent Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin, maintained that the gun’s lack of an external safety made it prone to accidental discharge. DeGuerin demonstrated to Morales how a person grabbing the weapon could cause it to fire repeatedly. “All it takes is a slight pressure, and it goes off,” he said.
Key evidence included home surveillance footage capturing the couple’s movements in the minutes before the shooting. Patricia was seen posting a Facebook meme at 2:49 a.m. and was last seen on camera at 2:59 a.m. The three gunshots were heard at 3:07 a.m., within four seconds. The medical examiner ruled Patricia’s death a homicide, citing multiple entry and exit wounds, with the fatal shot piercing her lungs and heart.
During the trial, Spivey did not testify, but his attorneys argued self-defense and lack of intent. “Self-defense fits because she was threatening him with a gun,” DeGuerin said.
The jury’s acquittal stunned Patricia’s family. “I do not believe that she received justice at all,” said her cousin Cybil Shepherd. Marshall added, “I just don’t understand how they got there… I didn’t believe him.”
Spivey, who has since been released from house arrest and resumed community work, says he still grieves. “I live with it every day,” he told Morales. “I can’t sleep at night.”
The case has drawn attention for its intersection of law enforcement, domestic violence, and media fame. Spivey had served more than 20 years with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department and appeared in over 100 episodes of the TV show. Legal experts note that the verdict underscores the high burden of proof in homicide cases where self-defense is claimed, particularly when forensic evidence is inconclusive about who fired the fatal shots.
This story was produced by Asena Basak and originally aired on Jan. 11, 2025, on CBS's “48 Hours.”