NRH LOSES BARBARA DAVIS CONVICTION DUE TO FALSIFICATIONS BY NRH POLICE OFFICER!

The following is a quote from the decision of the Appellate Court in Fort Worth regarding the phony “no knock warrant” that was based on deliberate falsification by Officer Andy Wallace. Office Wallace has since been promoted to head up the drug task force in North Richland Hills. The result of this decision will mean that police had no reason for the raid that resulted in the death of Troy Davis 1.8 seconds after the SWAT team knocked down the door. Please read the Summary of the Court Decision as follows: (highlighting and bold type has been added by webmaster.)

In light of the lack of evidence to support the confidential informant's information or the informant's reliability, coupled with the attesting officer's failure to corroborate the allegedly illegal. activity in particular, we must conclude that the officer, at a minimum, made several statements in his affidavit with reckless disregard for their truth and knowingly made false assumptions and statements regarding appellant's identity, location, and vehicle. Thus, it is clear that Officer Wallace's affidavit contained several falsehoods, some that related to the background of the untested confidential informant, others that related to verification of the actual identities of both targets and the location of one of them, and still others that were made with reckless disregard of the truth or accuracy regarding the illegal activity claimed. We cannot agree with the State that these falsities were mere "mistakes" the officer made when the evidence shows that the officer made these sworn statements with reckless disregard for their truth. When the false statements are removed, there remains no probable cause to support the arrest of the two individuals who were named, "Troy James Davis" and "Barbara Lynn Davis." [FN6] Likewise, when we remove the false statements the officer made regarding his verification of the reliability and credibility of the informant and the informant's knowledge of marijuana, there remains no probable cause to support the issuance of a search warrant at the target residence. Therefore, we conclude the warrants must be voided and any evidence obtained from the search must be excluded.

See Franks, 483 U.S. at 155-56, 98 S. Ct. .at 2676.

Because we have determined that the trial court should have granted appellant's motion to suppress due to the search and arrest warrant's lack of probable cause under the totality of the circumstances and inclusion of statements made with reckless disregard for the truth, as shown at the Franks hearing, we sustain appellant's sole point. The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded to the trial court for disposition in officer's failure to corroborate the allegedly illegal accordance with this opinion.

FN6. As we know, "Barbara Lynn Davis" was not even the person who was actually arrested. This is particularly troubling since this warrant was not solely a search warrant.

Conclusion

Copr. @ West 2004 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works - This is the end of the excerpt of the reversal – the following comments are those of the publisher of this web site.

This decision by the court will bring all convictions from North Richland Hills into question since it is obvious that the knowledge of these falsifications was wide spread within the leadership of the police department and possibly other city officials. In a separate case, the wrongful death lawsuit against the city, the same no knock warrant was the basis for the raid. In that case the city has refused to even discuss settlement with the plaintiff.

More will be added on this item soon.

The entire decision by the Appellate Court is available in a PDF file.