Davis wrongful-death suit

By Dave Lieber
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

A federal magistrate has ruled that North Richland Hills representatives must return to answer questions for which they previously said they didn't have answers.

Federal Magistrate Charles Bleil ordered Tarrant County's third-largest city to send a representative back for a second deposition next week after attorneys for the Troy Davis estate complained that city officials were evading questions put to them under oath.

Davis was killed in a SWAT raid by North Richland Hills police in 1999. His estate is suing the city.

The magistrate ordered that the deposition take place in an office close to his chambers so he can intercede if necessary.

The Watchdog reported Nov. 18 on the difficulty the Davis attorneys had in getting city officials to give full answers under oath.

Because of the ruling, police Capt. Sid Johnson is scheduled to be deposed again Tuesday. Johnson is in charge of the department's standards and practices. Davis' attorneys want to learn about procedures, training, practices and events related to the shooting.

Johnson could not be reached for comment.

The ruling is important, a Southern Methodist University law professor says, because "it's very unusual for a judge to be so closely involved in a deposition like that."

Professor George A. Martinez, a federal courts expert, told The Watchdog: "It has to be because the other side is tired of the stonewalling."

City officials declined to comment. City Attorney George Staples, Mayor Oscar Trevino, City Manager Larry Cunningham and Councilwoman JoAnn Johnson, the senior council member, told The Watchdog that they could not provide further information because the case is in court.

Mark Haney, a Davis attorney who asked for judicial intervention, said of the ruling: "This has never happened to me in 20 years of practice. I've never had a defendant who has been so recalcitrant in producing a witness who could speak about the topics."

Haney is asking the court to order that the city pay $17,000 to the estate to cover the cost of earlier depositions that he said didn't produce relevant answers.

Under a federal court rule, if a party in a lawsuit does not fully answer questions after being directed to do so by the court, "the failure may be considered a contempt of court."

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(817) 685-3830 dlieber@star-telegram.com

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