The Rest of the Story

By Ron West

A thank you to the Fort Worth Star Telegram and reporter John Kirsh for the article on the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Barbara Davis regarding the death of her son, Troy Davis, in 1999. There is value and information in the article but it is incomplete by omission of a very significant fact.

The 5^th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that the no knock warrant obtained by NRH Police Officer Andy Wallace, was based on “knowingly false” information and as such was thrown out by the Circuit Court. All “evidence” collected by the exercise of this illegal warrant was also discarded by the 5^th Circuit Court. This police officer is still on the staff of the NRH Police Department and has reportedly amassed significant real estate assets in our city since 1999.

This decision by the appellate court makes the wrongful death lawsuit an almost certain win for the plaintiffs – regardless of how long Attorney Staples can milk it for fat fees. Everyone needs to remember that Troy Davis was killed 1.8 seconds after the NRH Police exercised this illegal warrant. (Try to count 1001, 10.. that is how long 1.8 seconds is.) Our police department alleges that Troy Davis had time to anticipate the door being knocked down and to acquire a weapon that he was pointing at them during this 1.8 seconds before he died in his pajamas.

Additional public court records show clearly that the NRH Police deliberately corrupted the crime scene – with knowledge of their actions – and photographs exist of before and after such changes to the scene by the police.

Other court records show that Mr. Staples also participated in the deceptions of this case by withholding information from the plaintiff. This was not a casual omission, rather, hundreds of pages of documents that the plaintiff requested and was entitled to. The documents were given to them under court order when discovered and resulted in more decisions in favor of the plaintiffs.

Further court documents show that two city officials lied under oath regarding the warrant and the facts in the case. In two cases, depositions given under oath were recanted and replaced by “other” depositions. Since the two depositions are mutually exclusive, one or the other is a lie.

Reams of public information exist on this case but I truly wonder if our elected officials have taken the time to review such information. I believe that they are relying on the input of Mr. George Staples who is the only one who truly wins by extending and defending against this indefensible lawsuit.

The city leadership of NRH is budgeting $500,000 for legal fees over the next year with a note that it may not be enough. Barbara Davis lost her son and George Staples is making a lot of money because of that fact.

It is past time to consider settling this troubling episode.