Description: Hephzibah Olivia Lord, age 36, sued Dallas homicide detective Dwayne Thompson on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. Join Facebook to connect with Dwayne Thompson and others you may know. The First 48 (2004- ) In Dallas, when a good Samaritan is gunned down trying . He asked her about some of the puzzling physical evidence that had been found at Burnsides home the night of the shooting. Then Jaffe added one more detail. But Lords attorney, Don Tittle, said the detective was wrong that police records show she called 911 immediately after trying to reach the friend. Just because the words were less strong doesnt mean they were any less true.. It found that two particles characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Burnsides right hand and that one particle characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Lords left hand. He took her to dinner, and the date lasted the entire weekend. But Lord wanted her arrest to be permanently removed from her record, which would require her to be no-billed by a grand jury, a finding in which the jurors refuse to indict a suspect, primarily for a lack of evidence. I believe that with all my heart.. After being honorably discharged, in 1991, while stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he joined the Dallas police. Yes. Yes, the video of him interviewing her is pretty rough, and it looks like he comes across as a bully. She had desperately run from room to room trying to get better reception. Individuals have a right to counsel when they are being questioned, this is part of the Miranda warning. Shearin then asked if she was included in Burnsides will or his life insurance policy. I wondered about the story Jaffe had told Thompson about finding her in the front yard, desperately saying, I wasnt going to leave him. Shearin got Lord out of jail on bail. The lawsuit also claimed that Thompson had permanently damaged Lords reputation in Dallas and caused her to suffer extreme emotional and mental anguish, including depression, insomnia, nightmares, and constant anxiety of the most extreme nature. Lord was asking for monetary damages, and according to courthouse gossip, Tittle was not willing to settle for less than seven figures. Of course not, she said. Im willing to accept that it might have been an accident. Based on what we see, it looks like you got upset and shot him. Whos that? Thompson asked, pointing to a man kneeling beside Lord in the front yard. Leave them blank to get signed up. I want him held accountable. The idea that she would put a gun to his head and pull the trigger is just unfathomable.. Home She wanted to not only vindicate herself but also make sure the public knew just what Thompson had done to her. Anonymous One of the few black detectives in the unit, Thompson quickly made his mark. Thompson testified that Lord had little blood on her hands and that she smelled of cleaning solution, which led him to believe she had washed her hands. | Store Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. Im just as baffled as you are, she said. And in Cleveland, an argument among friends spins out of control when one of them makes a deadly decision. As Tatia Wilson, one of the City of Dallas attorneys representing Thompson, explained to the jury in her opening statement, Sometimes homicide detectives may make mistakes in their evaluation of the evidence. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Mikey said, Im not going to cheat on you in Vegas. And now hes dead, he said. Shearin made his own presentation, about 25 minutes in length, laying out the case for his clients innocence. Jaffe and Lord were taken to the station, and Thompson headed inside Burnsides home. That wont be possible, said Thompson. She wanted to know why they were there. (2014) (For a philosophy class, she wrote a paper on Socrates being sentenced to death under false charges.) Stars Heaven Bellinger Linda Carden Sheila Cooks See production, box office & company info Watch on A&E Lundberg gently brought up the bloodied towels in the kitchen, asking if she had used them to wipe blood off her body. Texas law enforcement officers (troopers, police officers, deputies) arrest people then interrogate them and take people into interrogation rooms for questioning as part of crime investigation routinely. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. Reddit - Dive into anything. Hed been as tall as Thompson, with a lean, athletic build. Instead, he gave Brandi Mitchell everything he had.. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. I heard what I thought was glass shattering really loud, Lord said. Its difficult to go out in public without thinking someone is saying, Theres the girl who killed her boyfriend., Right at that moment, a waiter walked up, clearly taken with her, and asked if she was ready to order. He often said that victimology was the most overlooked part of a homicide investigation even though it could help explain whether a suspect was guilty or innocent. Jaffe said he had sped back to Burnsides home, arriving at the same time as the paramedics. . Lord spent the next four days at her mothers home in the Dallas suburbs, lying in bed, taking sleeping pills. A jury in federal civil court ruled Friday that a Dallas homicide detective, Dwayne Thompson, violated Lord's civil rights by maliciously having her arrested for a killing she didn't commit,. Political career [ edit] In 2014, Thompson ran for election to represent District 10 in the Tennessee House of Representatives, but lost to Republican incumbent Steve McManus. These actions are allowed constitutionally under their police powers; however, what can happen during a police interrogation is supposed to follow certain legal requirements and more often than not, they are undertaken while being recorded via video or audio. Something did not add up. I had the impression that she told me that [Burnside] had nothing to do with it and she did it. But he refused to say, like he had said on his porch, that he had definitely heard Lord confess to the shooting. Jaffe said he had been at the house earlier that evening, helping Burnside install a dishwasher while Lord was painting the doors and baseboards, and that he had left before midnight. Lundberg walked into the interview room, pulled his chair close to Lord, and played the role of the good cop. 1983 claiming that she was wrongfully arrested for a killing that she did not commit, which landed her in jail for nine days. Thompson did his best to defend himself. When Thompson took the stand, he seemed utterly likable as he described his history as a detective. See production, box office & company info. I cant undo what hes done.. Thompson asked if there was any chance that Jaffe had been carrying on a secret relationship with Lord. Bring on the Shiplap? Lord was released. "It was a good experience," Thompson says, "It kind of launched me into police work." The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. Burnsides family and friends were caught off guard by the lawsuit. Five years later, Lord clearly remains tormented by that conversation, haunted by the idea that she might have said something that pushed her boyfriend into committing an impulsive act that no one could have imagined him doing. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. Okay, fine. Comments are welcomed here and I will respond to you -- but please, no requests for personal legal advice here and nothing that's promoting your business or product. Thompson also had not told the Burnsides that he had misread a crucial piece of evidence. There was no sign that he had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his skin, no scuffed knuckles. Witnesses can shift their statements from one day to the next. He stabbed the photo of the victim with his index finger. A 9mm Beretta was also on the floor about five feet from where Burnsides body had been. They had not laid eyes on each other since he had interrogated her. I cant say any more, but its insane.. Or maybe Mikey did it, Jaffe said. According to Jaffe, Lord overheard the conversation and started to get upset. She told Burnside she was hurt that he would go to the trouble of organizing a friends birthday party when he had done next to nothing for her own birthday a few months earlier. He actually turned to Lord and said, I know you didnt do it. He turned back to the jury and continued, But thats not the issue in this trial. She was Miss Right as far as he was concerned, Jaffe replied. They couldnt get the dishwasher installed because of a broken valve, which sent water all over the floor, so they took a break. And if the young man had shot himself, wouldnt the gun have landed closer to his body? Lord seemed to be trying to control her breathing. Lord, who is now 37 years old, still lives in the same apartment, and she has barely spent any of the money she won in her lawsuit. For her part, Lord said that she would gladly give up any money in return for Thompsons being sent to prison. But when she realized how serious his injury wasI think I saw a spot on his head, she saidshe called 911 several times. I think Michael might have gotten the impression that I was going to leave him, she said. After telling Lord and Jaffe that he was sorry for their loss, Thompson asked them to sign releases agreeing to gunshot residue testsroutine procedure, he assured them. Sometimes I want to walk inside, thinking he will be there. By the end of the interview, Thompson had returned from his lecture and walked into the room. Thompson misrepresented any of the facts that were provided by Witness Rastegar and that there were no signs of a criminal offense. Indeed, the report continued, Thompson did have probable cause to arrest Suspect Lord.. Then, on June 5, his phone rang. In the video, Rastegar initially seemed to confirm what he had supposedly told Thompson and Lundberg on the porch. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. Thompson sat in another chair and asked about Burnside. But Detective Thompson couldnt or wouldnt accept that. Tittle said that Thompson allowed a screenplay [of the shooting] in his mind to take over. And thats a dangerous, dangerous thing if youre a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department., Lord took the stand and was overcome with emotion as she described her love for Burnside. | Privacy Statement. What he didnt say was that the case was going nowhere. | Articles I was picking at him all night long about that, she said. Nevertheless, as far as Thompson was concerned, that did not eliminate her as a suspect. She told her parents that Thompson had brutalized her. "The goal is to arrive at the truth." He was the life of the party.. "You look at that. Burnsides parents say that they still cannot believe that their son took his own life. Tired of fighting, she stopped talking to Burnside and went into the bathroom to take off her makeup. He called the tone and line of questioning a formula for a false confession. And Sanders questioned why Thompson did not read Lord her right to remain silent after the point in which he clearly considered her a murder suspect during the interview. Or maybe the two had struggled for the gun before it went off, leaving residue on both of them. Lord called 911, and police came. There hasnt been one bit of evidence in this case that has caused you to pause in your opinion that she murdered Michael?. She grew up in the Dallas area and after graduating from high school, she went straight to work, leasing apartments for a large real estate company and later selling cosmetics at Neiman Marcus in NorthPark Center. The officer pointed to a woman sitting on a chair in the front yard, her face in her hands. "When I work my cases, I don't have a dog in the fight," said Thompson, a homicide detective since 2006. Comments are moderated and these will not be published. There was no question in her mind, she said, that she and Burnside would soon get married. They make honest, reasonable mistakes. And whats really frightening is that Thompson could come back after me, plant some new fake evidence, and arrest me for murder again. Im trying to figure out how to move on with my life, she said recently, sitting at a back table at an Italian restaurant in North Dallas. But there was one more turn in the story to come. Lord hired Don Tittle, a high-profile Dallas lawyer who specializes in civil rights litigation, to file a lawsuit against Thompson, which he did in late 2011. . But Lord insisted he had a good heart. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. She had volunteered at an AIDS hospice. In Texas, both federal and state laws exist to protect people like Hephzibal Olivia Lord from being overwhelmed and mistreated by police during criminal investigations. She certainly had not used them to wash herself off, she said. 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