Police officials not liable in claim

By Ben Tinsley
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - An appeals court has dismissed claims that two high-ranking police officials failed to adequately supervise an officer who shot and killed the son of true-crime author Barbara Davis in a 1999 drug raid.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Monday that the plaintiffs in a wrongful-death lawsuit against North Richland Hills had not proved that former Police Chief Tom Shockley and police Sgt. Andy Wallace, supervisor of the SWAT team, were deficient enough in their supervision of former SWAT team officer Allen Hill to constitute deliberate indifference.

Hill killed Troy Davis, 25, during a SWAT team drug raid at the Davis house Dec. 15, 1999. A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict Hill.

The city faces two consolidated wrongful-death lawsuits in connection with the death of Troy Davis: one by the Davis estate and another brought by Barbara Davis.

U.S. District Judge Terry Means ruled in September that Shockley and Wallace should remain liable for Hill's actions.

Means said the two supervisors "ignored a grave risk" that Hill would eventually use excessive force and was capable of behavior likely to result in the violation of "the most basic of constitutional rights."

The behavior cited in that ruling included Hill's reputation for exposing himself. Hill was disciplined by the North Richland Hills Police Department for exposing himself during a group photograph taken during a 1998 SWAT training session at Fort Hood.

"His fitness for such a team, where members must exercise split-second good judgment at every turn, should have been of great concern to any supervisor," Means wrote in September.

But on Monday, the appeals court countered that, "Even accepted as true and taken as a whole, the above evidence is legally insufficient -- and thus not material -- to support a finding of deliberate indifference."

The training sessions Hill underwent before the shooting were "right on point," the court ruled Monday.

"It is not enough to say that more or different training or supervision would have prevented the result of the ill-fated raid," the court wrote.

In a release issued by the city, Mayor Oscar Trevino applauded the appellate court's decision and said he is hopeful that the city will soon be cleared of liability in the case. As of September, North Richland Hills had spent more than $400,000 defending itself in the lawsuits.

Mark Haney, one of Barbara Davis' attorneys, said Tuesday that he is considering appealing the new ruling.

"We still believe Judge Means' decision denying qualified immunity to Shockley and Wallace was correct," he said.

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