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The City Police DID it, but since they weren't following City Policy, the City isn't liable.
City is cleared in death of crime author's son
By MARK AGEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
T. DAVIS
The city of North Richland Hills won a five-year-legal battle Tuesday against a true-crime author whose son was shot and killed by police officers during a drug raid in 1999.
U.S. District Judge Terry Means dismissed the lawsuit brought by Barbara Davis, writing in his opinion that the city was not liable because the shooting was not caused by official policy and because a municipality is not responsible for the actions of its employees if they are not following policy.
Allen Hill, the tactical-team officer who fired the shots that killed Troy Davis, is the sole defendant left in the suit. Former police Chief Tom Shockley and former police Sgt. Andy Wallace were dismissed from the suit in April 2005.
"This is very positive news," Mayor Oscar Trevino said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "The legal process has worked, and we look forward to finally putting this matter behind us."
Barbara Davis, whose Web site says she still resides in North Richland Hills, could not be reached for comment. Jeff Kobs, one of the attorneys representing Davis and her son's estate, could not be reached Tuesday evening.
Troy Davis, 25, was killed in December 1999 when a SWAT team executed a "no knock" search warrant at the Davis house on Ulster Drive to look for marijuana plants.
Seconds after entering, Hill, the first officer through the door, fired two shots. Hill said Davis was holding a 9mm pistol; one was found at the scene.
Barbara Davis was home at the time and has said that her son wasn't armed. She has said the weapon was planted by officers as part of a cover-up.
A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict Hill in connection with the shooting. He resigned from the department six months afterward, saying that he was being harassed by his superiors.
In the raid, officers found three marijuana plants, marijuana in plastic bags and equipment used for growing plants indoors. They also found bottles of the illegal designer drug GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate. An autopsy found traces of marijuana in Troy Davis' system.
Barbara Davis was sentenced to two years' probation for possession of GHB.
But her conviction was overturned when a panel of state judges threw out the search warrants that led to the raid because they lacked cause and grounding in fact.
The ruling stated: "It is clear that Officer Wallace's affidavit contained several falsehoods, some that related to the background of the untested confidential informant ... and still others that were made with reckless disregard of the truth or accuracy regarding the illegal activity claimed."
Davis is best known for her book Precious Angels, about the case of Darlie Routier of Rowlett, who was convicted and sent to Death Row for killing her sons in 1996.
Davis later changed her mind about the guilt of Routier, who says an intruder committed the crime, and has campaigned to bring attention to what she calls a wrongful conviction.
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Mark Agee, 817-685-3821 [email protected]
City is cleared in death of crime author's son
By MARK AGEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
T. DAVIS
The city of North Richland Hills won a five-year-legal battle Tuesday against a true-crime author whose son was shot and killed by police officers during a drug raid in 1999.
U.S. District Judge Terry Means dismissed the lawsuit brought by Barbara Davis, writing in his opinion that the city was not liable because the shooting was not caused by official policy and because a municipality is not responsible for the actions of its employees if they are not following policy.
Allen Hill, the tactical-team officer who fired the shots that killed Troy Davis, is the sole defendant left in the suit. Former police Chief Tom Shockley and former police Sgt. Andy Wallace were dismissed from the suit in April 2005.
"This is very positive news," Mayor Oscar Trevino said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "The legal process has worked, and we look forward to finally putting this matter behind us."
Barbara Davis, whose Web site says she still resides in North Richland Hills, could not be reached for comment. Jeff Kobs, one of the attorneys representing Davis and her son's estate, could not be reached Tuesday evening.
Troy Davis, 25, was killed in December 1999 when a SWAT team executed a "no knock" search warrant at the Davis house on Ulster Drive to look for marijuana plants.
Seconds after entering, Hill, the first officer through the door, fired two shots. Hill said Davis was holding a 9mm pistol; one was found at the scene.
Barbara Davis was home at the time and has said that her son wasn't armed. She has said the weapon was planted by officers as part of a cover-up.
A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict Hill in connection with the shooting. He resigned from the department six months afterward, saying that he was being harassed by his superiors.
In the raid, officers found three marijuana plants, marijuana in plastic bags and equipment used for growing plants indoors. They also found bottles of the illegal designer drug GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate. An autopsy found traces of marijuana in Troy Davis' system.
Barbara Davis was sentenced to two years' probation for possession of GHB.
But her conviction was overturned when a panel of state judges threw out the search warrants that led to the raid because they lacked cause and grounding in fact.
The ruling stated: "It is clear that Officer Wallace's affidavit contained several falsehoods, some that related to the background of the untested confidential informant ... and still others that were made with reckless disregard of the truth or accuracy regarding the illegal activity claimed."
Davis is best known for her book Precious Angels, about the case of Darlie Routier of Rowlett, who was convicted and sent to Death Row for killing her sons in 1996.
Davis later changed her mind about the guilt of Routier, who says an intruder committed the crime, and has campaigned to bring attention to what she calls a wrongful conviction.
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Mark Agee, 817-685-3821 [email protected]
