Hephzibah Olivia Lord
Attorneys for Hephzibah Olivia Lord say there was never any evidence that she shot and killed her boyfriend in 2010.
But they contend that didn’t stop Dallas police Detective Dwayne A. Thompson from lying about evidence against her and omitting key facts that resulted in Lord, 36, spending nine days in jail on a murder charge.
On Wednesday, Lord’s wrongful-arrest suit against Thompson began in a Dallas federal courtroom with jury selection and opening statements. Testimony is slated to begin Thursday.
Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice.
In May 2010, Lord’s boyfriend, Michael Burnside, died of a gunshot wound to the head from his 9 mm Beretta handgun while drunk on vodka and Red Bull. He and Lord were the only ones in his Dallas home and the two had argued. Lord said she was in the bathroom when she heard the shot and called 911.
Thompson learned that Burnside, 30, was shot in the right side of his head, court records show. Lord told police her boyfriend had committed suicide. A medical examiner’s office field agent on the scene and a hospital emergency room doctor agreed it was an apparent suicide, court records show.
The manner of death has since been listed as undetermined.
Lord was charged with murder a month after Burnside’s death, but a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict her in May 2011. She says in the lawsuit that the ordeal caused her “extreme emotional and mental anguish.”
During opening statements Wednesday, Lord’s attorney, Don Tittle, told the three men and four women of the jury that Thompson told a witness Burnside had been shot in the back of the head, which was untrue. Thompson, he said, “allowed a screenplay in his mind to take over” and had no evidence against Lord.
“Detective Thompson couldn’t or wouldn’t accept that, and his theory became the facts,” he told jurors. “And that’s a dangerous thing if you’re a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department.”
Thompson’s theory of murder began with a significant error: that Lord had waited seven minutes to call 911 after she called Burnside’s friend, Tittle said. It wasn’t true, he said.
“He never let go of that theory,” he said.
Tittle told the jury that Burnside’s friends told the detective that Burnside became reckless while drinking alcohol, particularly when handling guns.
Tittle said Thompson relied on the statement of a neighbor who said Lord indicated to him she shot her boyfriend by mistake. But that neighbor thought Burnside had been shot in the back of the head — false information that Thompson had already given out, Tittle said.
Tatia R. Wilson, a city attorney, told jurors Thompson will explain to them during the trial why he made certain decisions during the course of his investigation.
She said the defense will show how photographs and other evidence didn’t match Lord’s version of events. In Thompson’s mind, Wilson said, Lord was “not being truthful.”
Wilson said Thompson interviewed friends of Burnside who told him he was not suicidal and had no reason to take his own life. And there was the neighbor — a criminal defense lawyer — who said Lord gave him the impression she had shot her boyfriend by accident, she said.
Wilson said two judges agreed there was probable cause for murder. She said Thompson did not intentionally or recklessly make false statements or leave out any evidence favorable to Lord. Thompson, she said, “acted in good faith as a reasonable police officer.”
Wilson acknowledged that sometimes mistakes are made during a criminal investigation.
“But those mistakes do not amount to malice,” she said.
Wilson said Thompson also is suffering as a result of the lawsuit.
“It’s his reputation that’s on the line,” she said.
But they contend that didn’t stop Dallas police Detective Dwayne A. Thompson from lying about evidence against her and omitting key facts that resulted in Lord, 36, spending nine days in jail on a murder charge.
On Wednesday, Lord’s wrongful-arrest suit against Thompson began in a Dallas federal courtroom with jury selection and opening statements. Testimony is slated to begin Thursday.
Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice.
In May 2010, Lord’s boyfriend, Michael Burnside, died of a gunshot wound to the head from his 9 mm Beretta handgun while drunk on vodka and Red Bull. He and Lord were the only ones in his Dallas home and the two had argued. Lord said she was in the bathroom when she heard the shot and called 911.
Thompson learned that Burnside, 30, was shot in the right side of his head, court records show. Lord told police her boyfriend had committed suicide. A medical examiner’s office field agent on the scene and a hospital emergency room doctor agreed it was an apparent suicide, court records show.
The manner of death has since been listed as undetermined.
Lord was charged with murder a month after Burnside’s death, but a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict her in May 2011. She says in the lawsuit that the ordeal caused her “extreme emotional and mental anguish.”
During opening statements Wednesday, Lord’s attorney, Don Tittle, told the three men and four women of the jury that Thompson told a witness Burnside had been shot in the back of the head, which was untrue. Thompson, he said, “allowed a screenplay in his mind to take over” and had no evidence against Lord.
“Detective Thompson couldn’t or wouldn’t accept that, and his theory became the facts,” he told jurors. “And that’s a dangerous thing if you’re a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department.”
Thompson’s theory of murder began with a significant error: that Lord had waited seven minutes to call 911 after she called Burnside’s friend, Tittle said. It wasn’t true, he said.
“He never let go of that theory,” he said.
Tittle told the jury that Burnside’s friends told the detective that Burnside became reckless while drinking alcohol, particularly when handling guns.
Tittle said Thompson relied on the statement of a neighbor who said Lord indicated to him she shot her boyfriend by mistake. But that neighbor thought Burnside had been shot in the back of the head — false information that Thompson had already given out, Tittle said.
Tatia R. Wilson, a city attorney, told jurors Thompson will explain to them during the trial why he made certain decisions during the course of his investigation.
She said the defense will show how photographs and other evidence didn’t match Lord’s version of events. In Thompson’s mind, Wilson said, Lord was “not being truthful.”
Wilson said Thompson interviewed friends of Burnside who told him he was not suicidal and had no reason to take his own life. And there was the neighbor — a criminal defense lawyer — who said Lord gave him the impression she had shot her boyfriend by accident, she said.
Wilson said two judges agreed there was probable cause for murder. She said Thompson did not intentionally or recklessly make false statements or leave out any evidence favorable to Lord. Thompson, she said, “acted in good faith as a reasonable police officer.”
Wilson acknowledged that sometimes mistakes are made during a criminal investigation.
“But those mistakes do not amount to malice,” she said.
Wilson said Thompson also is suffering as a result of the lawsuit.
“It’s his reputation that’s on the line,” she said.
