Bertrand Syjuan Davis, a 43-year-old small business owner struggling with mental illness, was not himself when he fought with Dallas police officers during a...
A Dallas police officer said his shooting of Bertrand Davis during a call in 2015 was justified because the man violently resisted and aimed a gun at him. But his family claims Davis never went for a weapon and was the victim of excessive force.5:24 PM on Mar 3, 2022 CST — Updated just now
“Officer Terry’s actions tragically took Bert’s life and is the logical and unconstitutional consequence of the DPD’s odious and illegal pattern, practice, custom… of harassing minorities, treating minorities as second-class citizens, and using unreasonable and unjustifiable force on minorities,” the lawsuit says.
Davis’ parents and widow had also sued the city of Dallas. But Terry is now the sole defendant after the family dropped the city from their suit in late 2019. The trial began this week before U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay and is estimated to take up to a week.Attorneys for both sides could not be reached Thursday for comment. Representatives of the city and police department said they do not comment on pending litigation.
Police said officers saw Davis walking out of the burning house and tried to handcuff him after he ignored their orders. Davis fought the officers -- who used their stun guns to no effect -- and tried to get back into his wife’s car, police said.But Davis’ parents, Otis Davis Sr. and Dorothy Jackson, and his wife, Lasanda Travis-Davis, tell a different story in their lawsuit.
Davis went into the home while his wife waited in the car. The police were called. As more officers arrived, a struggle ensued as they tried to take him into custody. Davis was momentarily immobilized with police Taser guns, but managed to get into his wife’s car. Terry, a senior corporal at the time with nine years on the force, said in court filings that Davis reached under the car seat for a gun and “raised it toward” him. Fearing for his life, Terry fired, according to defense filings.Terry is invoking the controversial legal doctrine of qualified immunity in his defense, saying that existing law protects him because he was exercising his “discretionary authority” as a police officer.
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