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JUDGE DISMISSES CITY FROM DAVIS CASE Updated 03/14/07 01:30:51 PM |
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March 14, 2007 North Richland Hills A U.S. District Judge has dismissed the City of North Richland Hills from a federal lawsuit filed by Barbara Jean Davis. Judge Terry Means on March 13, 2007 issued an Order and Final Judgment granting the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment, dismissing all claims against the City and dismissing the City from the case. “We have always believed that our employees and supervisors acted appropriately in their handling of the Davis situation and the court has agreed,” said Mayor Oscar Trevino. “This is very positive news for the City of North Richland Hills. The legal process has worked and we look forward to finally putting this matter behind us.” The Judge’s Opinion stated that cities are not liable for actions of employees which cause constitutional injuries to others, unless such injuries result from a policy which is the moving force behind the constitutional violation. The Plaintiffs failed to identify any unconstitutional policy that caused the death of Troy Davis. The Plaintiffs also failed to establish that there were any inadequate policies which caused a constitutional violation, and failed to present any evidence of a pattern of a use of excessive force. The Opinion also noted that North Richland Hills Police officers had a reasonable suspicion that justified their no-knock entry into the Davis residence. The Mayor and City Council had come under intense criticism over their decision to continue the battle with Davis in court. In fact, a Dave Lieber column carried in the Star-Telegram wrote the city's residents were being "duped." Lieber wrote: "Your city is self-insured, which means that if you fall victim to a multimillion-dollar jury verdict, no insurance company stands ready to bail you out. The money will come from your tax dollars. Mayor Oscar Trevino calls my repeated warnings "garbage." Reader Gene Barnett, in a letter to the editor published in the Star-Telegram last week, calls the warnings unfounded tirades. The only reason I write this is that I want to save you money. You do not need to pay all that you will pay in the coming years if you settle the lawsuit now. The lawsuit is absolutely not winnable. Yet the city stubbornly refuses to settle. City Manager Cunningham, Mayor Trevino and a majority of council members have dug in on the advice of City Attorney Staples, whose law firm, not so coincidentally, is receiving the bulk of these legal fees. Residents of North Richland Hills, you are being duped. Police Chief Thomas Shockley, who's responsible for the errors caused by his officers, is still in place. What does it take for new leadership to come to a town where the fundamental basis of this police raid, the reason and the motives, are now declared by three top judges to be illegal? It's your money, and it's going down a rat hole."
Perhaps the
Lieber tirade is one of the more blatant miscalls made by
the columnists while writing for the Star-Telegram, but
certainly not the only one.
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