The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth has affirmed the convictions and sentences of Anthony Michael Kienlen, the U.S. Army veteran who was found guilty last year of 16 first-degree felonies stemming from a 2021 standoff in which he opened fire on Wichita Falls law enforcement officers outside his home.
Kienlen, 38, of Wichita Falls, was convicted by a Wichita County jury on May 27, 2025, of attempted capital murder of a peace officer. He had also pleaded guilty to 15 additional counts of aggravated assault on a public servant. Two days after the guilty verdict, the jury sentenced him to 30 years in prison for the attempted capital murder count and 10 years on each of the 15 aggravated assault counts.
Kienlen appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to support the attempted capital murder conviction and that punishing him for both the attempted capital murder and the aggravated assault counts violated his rights against double jeopardy.
On Friday, May 8, 2026, the Second Court of Appeals released its memorandum opinion overruling all three of his issues and affirming the trial court's judgments.
"Because the evidence is sufficient to support the attempted-capital-murder conviction and because punishing for it and the aggravated-assault conviction is not prohibited by double jeopardy because the offenses arose from distinct, separated-in-time acts, we overrule Kienlen's three issues and affirm the trial court's judgments," the opinion stated.
Kienlen has 30 days to file a petition for discretionary review with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court. That petition would be his final appellate option.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website, Kienlen is incarcerated at the Bill Clements Unit in Amarillo. His projected parole eligibility date is listed as August 28, 2038.
All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.