For someone to say Dwayne maliciously would go after Miss Lord and try to set her up, I would say, You have the wrong guy, said Andrea Handley, one of the offices senior prosecutors. It was Lord. Yes, the video of him interviewing her is pretty rough, and it looks like he comes across as a bully. She had always insisted that she had not fled from the police. By that time, Lord was working as a loan officer, and although they were both romantically involved with other people, they were clearly attracted to each other. Lets solve some murders, my brothers, he would cheerfully bellow as he barreled into the office at the beginning of his shifts. She wanted to not only vindicate herself but also make sure the public knew just what Thompson had done to her. Prosecutors are also aware that detectives can develop a kind of tunnel vision about a case. And the bullet had exited toward the top of the left side of Burnsides head. Strapped around. The arrest was based upon Thompsons affidavit. After arriving at his house, which was a ten-minute drive away, he had received a call from Lord. DallasJustice.com, Law offices of Michael Lowe, For a more complete description of the interrogation, check out Dallas Morning News coverage from the day that the jury was shown the interrogation videotape, Kim Sanders explained that the Lord interrogation was intimidation, Sanders also pointed out Thompsons failure to read Ms. Lord her Miranda rights, Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas, Salinas v. Texas: Your Silence During Police Interrogation Does Not Get 5th Amendment Protection, Can Be Used Against You As Evidence Of Guilt To The Jury. Lord spent 9 days in jail before a Dallas Grand Jury refused to indict her for the crime. She needed pills to go to sleep. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. She claimed that Thompson show a reckless disregard for her rights in having Plaintiff arrested in 2010 for the shooting death of her boyfriend, Mcihael Brunside. When Thompson asked why he didnt immediately tell that story to the police, Rastegar replied that the uniformed officers who first arrived at the scene had rudely ordered him to go back to his home before he had a chance to say anything. Yes. The First 48 (2004- ) Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson hunts for a band of carjacking killers that are terrorizing a neighborhood. Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. Im willing to accept that it might have been an accident. texasmonthly.com That she didnt mean to do it.. Every day, dozens of times a day, I think about that talk and how I wish I could take it all back, she told me. As one Dallas County prosecutor put it, They can, even for the most well-intentioned of reasons, get too focused on making an arrest at the detriment of the true story., Mitchell began evaluating Thompsons case against Lord. 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 s Read allWhen 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. He then worked for a not for profit organization called "One Community" that's premise is to be a middle man between law enforcement and civilians. "It was a good experience," Thompson says, "It kind of launched me into police work." The day after the shooting, he had checked the records and discovered that there was no seven-minute gap on Lords cellphone between the calls to Jaffe and 911. There was another, longer silence. . But those mistakes do not amount to malice., Tittle, however, wasted no time going on the attack, telling the jury in his opening statement, There is not and was not a shred of credible evidence to suggest that Olivia Lord had anything to do with Michaels death. In that small house, she mistook the sound of a pistol shot for a glass falling to the floor? 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. The jury determined Friday that Dallas homicide Detective Dwayne Thompson showed a reckless disregard for the civil rights of 36-year-old Hephzibah Olivia Lord. Which brings us to the story this week here in Dallas of Hephzibah Olivia Lord, who sued and won a civil lawsuit against a Dallas police detective for false arrest, reportedly in large part because the jury found that the detective had acted with malice (a legal term here) during his interrogation of Lord after she was arrested on a charge of murdering her boyfriend. Her voice shook when she spoke. How are you going to explain that to his family? He also said he had seen Burnside act recklessly with a gun only two or three times over the past fifteen years. Join Facebook to connect with Dwayne Thompson and others you may know. Lord shook her head. He said that Michael had called earlier in the week, telling his mother, Cindi, that he was looking forward to coming over to their home for lunch on May 9, which was Mothers Day. Dwayne Thompson Associate (Antitrust, Competition and Trade) at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer And its going to come out.. They too had been talking to Thompson and they were furious. Shearin went to see Brandi Mitchell, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorneys office who was in charge of the Burnside case, and claimed that Thompson had perjured himself. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. Lord is a striking green-eyed woman, with wavy auburn hair that sweeps down past her shoulders. Yes. At the least, she said, she wanted to make sure his actions were publicly documented so that he could never do to someone else what he had done to her. But she never did: she kept saying that she loved her boyfriend, that they were happy together, and that he had taken his life for reasons she could not imagine. I wasnt going to leave him., She then told me something she had not mentioned before. He is a Democrat representing District 96 in the Tennessee House of Representatives . But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. He had on a dark fedora, a dark suit, a white shirt with a tie, and dress shoes. Jaffe said that he and Burnside had been drinking earlier that evening. . Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. Lord explained that Burnside had taken them out from underneath the sink when he was trying to install the dishwasher. If you have or may be questioned by the police, know your rights. If I was guilty, would I really have gone out and filed a lawsuit, knowing everything would be brought up again, giving Thompson and all the other naysayers one more chance to come after me?, A few weeks later, I called Lord and asked her again about Burnsides death. The officer pointed to a woman sitting on a chair in the front yard, her face in her hands. Thompson wanted to find out if Lord, under such heated questioning, would crack. 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. 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. I heard what I thought was glass shattering really loud, Lord said. Thats what you did! he told a stunned and confused Lord, who protested her innocence. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? He said when he came up to Lord in the yard, she fell to her knees and said something to the effect of Hes dying. Rastegar told Lundberg, I got the impression she was trying to tell me it was accidental. He had been a good-looking young man, with a magnificent, wide grin. Mikey said, Im not going to cheat on you in Vegas. Still, Thompson had only a theory. Dallas Homicide Detective Dwayne Thompson revisits an empty plot of land where a grizzly double homicide had occurred years prior.Subscribe for more The Firs. She was on an airplaneon her way to California. Only Burnside and Lord were in the apartment where they lived at the time. A few days after the funeral, Lord called Burnsides brother to ask if she could retrieve some of her belongings from the house. But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. Or he mistakenly pulled the trigger thinking the Beretta was unloaded., Jaffe shook his head. In his lectures, he often told other officers that to find out why a killing had taken place, it was as important to study the life of the victimvictimology, he called itas it was to study the behavior of the criminal. She glanced around the dining room. You realize, dont you, that if I didnt have money from my family to fight back, I could have been wrongfully convicted, fighting this from prison. But Detective Dwayne Thompson. Burnsides parents say that they still cannot believe that their son took his own life. They began talking about planning a surprise birthday party in a few weeks for one of their friends and flying to Las Vegas later that summer to attend a bachelor party for another. If I discover anything that substantiates what I believe, Im going to charge you with murder., He glared at her for a moment. 3. You shot him!, Olivia, youre not telling me the truth., Youre arguing about a goddamn birthday party, and he says, Im so upset about the goddamn birthday party that Im going to kill myself? Thompson said, his voice growing louder. 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. Can you possibly understand how I feel?. Why, for instance, were there bottles of cleaning products scattered on the kitchen floor? The towels had been on the floor to soak up the water that had spilled when the dishwasher valve broke. Contact info; Agent info; Help contribute to IMDb. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. W.D. An expert witness with expertise as both a retired officer and homicide detective from the same police department, testified on Lords behalf. The detectives in charge of the investigation had concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate that Det. And now hes dead, he said. He first worked in patrol, where he was assigned to some of the citys tougher neighborhoods, and then spent ten years as a detective in the robbery and property crimes division before being promoted to homicide, in 2007. Kim Sanders, a more than 30-year veteran of the department who served as a homicide detective, said the interview amounted to intimidation. 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. The report could be interpreted several ways: Maybe, as Shearin believed, after Burnside had pulled the trigger, some of the gunshot residue had been transferred onto Lord when she held him in the kitchen. The jury watched it. Burnside told her that he was under financial stress, having to pay both his mortgage and his income taxes. If the review determines that he did nothing wrong, he could be reinstated as a detective. 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. In October 2008 a mutual friend introduced her and Burnside at a small bar on Dallass Lower Greenville Avenue. But the man I loved is gone forever. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Tired of fighting, she stopped talking to Burnside and went into the bathroom to take off her makeup. Seriously, does anyone believe this story that Olivia tells about being in the bathroom and hearing something that sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen? He said that he couldnt handle disappointing me on top of all the financial stress and tax problems that he was enduring.. Shearin questioned Lord about the drops of blood around the house. 4. Description: Hephzibah Olivia Lord, age 36, sued Dallas homicide detective Dwayne Thompson on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. She was arrested in 2010 for the . Basically she said, I know the kind of stuff that goes on in Vegas, Jaffe told Thompson. On May 14, five days after the shooting, Lord finally left her mothers house to attend Burnsides funeral with her family and friends. Wearing a black dress and black heels, Lord came into the courtroom, followed by her friends and family. Something happened there tonight, and it doesnt make sense., The only thing I can think of is that he was careless sometimes with guns, Jaffe said. On May 11, 2011, in the case of Texas v. Lord, the grand jury returned a no bill. Not only that, Sanders also pointed out Thompsons failure to read Ms. Lord her Miranda rights including specifically her right to remain silent after it was clear that Thompson considered Lord to be a suspect in a crime. At Christmas, you thought you were going to get a ring. John said that was impossibleJaffe would have never betrayed Michael. When he finished, he left a packet of evidence that hed compiled for the grand jurors to peruse, including the results of two polygraphs that concluded that Lord had not shown deception when she said she had not shot Burnside. He was not a depressed type of person at all. Its so ridiculous. The Dallas Police Department is featured in a national reality TV show on the A&E network called The First 48, (maybe youve seen it if not, watch episodes here) and the detective who interrogated Hephzibah Olivia Lord in a manner that justified Lords civil suit for damages was Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson, who has been seen frequently on this A&E show. Police questioned Lord at the police station and then released her. Leave them blank to get signed up. Tittle said that Thompson told one of Burnsides friends within 12 hours of the death that he would bet his career that Lord killed Burnside. They make honest, reasonable mistakes. 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. No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. Thompson stormed out of the room and asked Lundberg to see what he could get out of Lord. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. Don't be scared to look at. She was so hysterical he could not understand what she was saying. She called Thompsons interrogation of her a mental rape and characterized her days in jail as torture. Even now, she said, she felt like an outcast, afraid to go out in public. A citizen filing a lawsuit for false arrest must prove that the officer acted with malice, which is difficult to do. During the lengthy interrogation, Thompson repeatedly accused Lord of murdering Michael Burnside, who died in May 2010 from a gunshot wound to the head from his 9 mm Beretta handgun while drunk on vodka and Red Bull. They returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Lord, and ultimately the city had to pay her $1.2 million, which reportedly was the largest judgement of its kind in Dallas. Im just as baffled as you are, she said. After the argument was over, Michael stopped being sarcastic and he became quiet and somber. He noticed that there was a chemical odorit smelled like bleach, he would later sayon her clothes. There was no question in her mind, she said, that she and Burnside would soon get married. I was picking at him all night long about that, she said. Edit. Alternative . As for the question of blood spatter on Lords clothes, however, Quinton did have a definite opinion. By then, a couple of those friends had talked to Thompson, and he had made it clear to them just what he thought of Lord: he said he would stake his career on his belief that she had killed him. That wont be possible, said Thompson. She was so in love with him that she was always able to forgive him when he screwed uplike the night of her birthday, when he got rip-roaring drunk, staggered around the restaurant, and didnt even pay for dinner. For several seconds, the courtroom was quiet except for Lords muffled sobs. 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