Police lacked cause for fatal drug raid, court says
By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - A state appeals court threw out
search and arrest warrant affidavits used in a December
1999 drug raid that left the son of true-crime writer Barbara
Davis dead.
The ruling, released Thursday, states that the no-knock
warrants failed to show an informant was reliable, and it
states that North Richland Hills police Sgt. Andy Wallace
did not corroborate many of the facts passed along by the
informant.
The ruling was the result of an appeal by Davis, who pleaded
guilty to possession of GHB, a designer drug, found after
the raid. Her plea agreement included the right to appeal.
The case could be retried or dismissed, or prosecutors
could appeal.
The ruling by the three-judge Court of Appeals 2nd Judicial
District of Texas in Fort Worth could also affect a wrongful-death
lawsuit filed by the Davis family.
The city has maintained that police had probable cause
to burst into the house without knocking to search for marijuana
plants because Troy Davis, the author's son, was considered
armed and dangerous. Barbara Davis was also in the house
at the time.
A Tarrant County prosecutor said Monday that he wasn't
disappointed with the ruling.
"One judge thought it one way," said Tarrant
County Assistant District Attorney Ben Leonard, one of the
prosecutors in the Barbara Davis case, referring to State
District Judge C.C. "Kit" Cooke's original decision
to allow the warrants into evidence. "Three other judges
thought it a different way."
But Davis' lawyer, Bill Lane of Fort Worth, said the ruling
is a huge victory for his client.
"We've contended all along that the raid should never
have happened," Lane said. "If I was a North Richland
Hills resident, I'd go to the next City Council and demand
an investigation of that [police] unit by the Texas Rangers
or the DA's office. That's because if it happened in this
case, what about bad warrants in other cases?"
City Attorney George Staples said Monday that the ruling
won't have a bearing on the city or police.
"I'd tell North Richland Hills residents to have a
little patience," he said. "We are going to try
this in the courts, not in the newspaper. I'm confident
of the outcome once we get to court."
According to the ruling, Wallace stated that the informant,
Chris Davis, a cousin of Troy Davis', was familiar with
marijuana because he was arrested on a "drug charge,"
but the officer did not verify any charges or convictions.
The informant identified two people at the home, Barbara
and Troy Davis, as possessing marijuana, but Wallace did
not state in the affidavit how the informant knew what marijuana
looked like or any other details of where the marijuana
was in the home.
The affidavits also lacked information on the weapons in
the house, how the informant got into the house and the
relationship among the informant and the suspects.
Wallace also failed to verify the identities of Barbara
and Troy Davis, the ruling says.
"Officer Wallace admitted that he had no background
'intelligence' when he presented his affidavit to the judge.
He had not verified appellant's or her son's involvement
with drugs," the ruling said.
The ruling also states, "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. ...
"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."
The raid by 17 tactical-team officers occurred Dec. 15,
1999. Police said Troy Davis was pointing a loaded 9 mm
pistol at officers when tactical-team member Allen Hill
shot him.
A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict Hill in
the shooting. He has resigned from the Police Department.
Barbara Davis has said that her son was not armed and that
police placed the gun near his body.
Police found three marijuana plants, marijuana in plastic
bags and equipment used for growing plants indoors. They
also found bottles of GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate. An
autopsy found traces of marijuana in Troy Davis' system.
Barbara Davis is best known for her book Precious Angels,
which argues that Darlie Routier of Rowlett killed her sons
in 1996. Routier was convicted on one count of capital murder
after a highly publicized trial. She was sentenced to death.
Davis later announced that she had changed her mind and
intended to write another book arguing that Routier is innocent.
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Domingo Ramirez Jr., (817) 685-3822 ramirez@star-telegram.com
Barbara Davis Bio
