The lawsuit claimed that Thompson had violated Lords civil rights by engaging in malicious prosecutionin particular, that he had intentionally misrepresented the facts about Burnsides shooting and omitted significant exculpatory information that would have proved Lord innocent of any wrongdoing. Don't be scared to look at. 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. Alternative . 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. Stars Eric Barnes Monica Cordova Rick Duggan See production, box office & company info Watch on A&E Go to aetv.com More watch options He told the jurors that he didnt believe that Lord had shot Burnside. I cant say unequivocally whether the young woman did or didnt do the shooting because I wasnt there., At the same time, Mitchell and other prosecutors in the DAs office were not convinced Thompson had committed any serious wrongdoing. By the first of June, hed put aside Lords file to work on his other cases. Thompson picked up his cellphone and called Burnsides father, John, a successful Dallas business analyst. 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,. Its insane, he was overheard saying one afternoon at a restaurant near the police department. Your email address will not be published. She certainly had not used them to wash herself off, she said. Instead, he gave Brandi Mitchell everything he had.. Contact info; Agent info; Help contribute to IMDb. I dont work cases for the sexiness of them, Thompson snapped. Lundberg walked into the interview room, pulled his chair close to Lord, and played the role of the good cop. Ive talked to her many, many times, and if she is lying about what happened, shes a hell of an actress, said one friend, Eric Love. For the rest of the month, Burnsides father regularly called Thompson to get updates on the investigation. He said that he couldnt handle disappointing me on top of all the financial stress and tax problems that he was enduring.. View the profiles of people named Dwayne Thompson. Why wasnt that enough? 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? Was there a chance he was involved in the shooting? Why did you let my son bleed to death on his own kitchen floor? 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. When she flew back to Dallas, she went straight to Shearins office. I work cases because thats what I get paid to do., Tittle asked Thompson why he didnt seem particularly disturbed that Burnside was drunk and had showed off his Beretta on the night of the shooting. Thompson stormed out of the room and asked Lundberg to see what he could get out of Lord. Thompson asked if there was any chance that Jaffe had been carrying on a secret relationship with Lord. Trailer 0:21. Its so ridiculous. The Reid method has been challenged as being primed for pushing people to give false confessions and many argue that it should not be used by law enforcement agencies. You did! The officer shrugged. Yes you did!. 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. We were joking around about somethingI dont remember whatand I said, Hey, wheres your Beretta? And he opened up [a kitchen drawer] and said, Its right here.. | Editor The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. But Detective Dwayne Thompson testified Tuesday that nothing he has heard since his civil trial began last week has changed his opinion that Lord intentionally killed Burnside. A uniformed officer walked over and told Thompson that the house belonged to a man named Michael Burnside, age thirty. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. The trial finally began in a federal courtroom in downtown Dallas this past Januarynearly four years after the shooting. The towels had been on the floor to soak up the water that had spilled when the dishwasher valve broke. Thompson and Lundberg started talking. Her fight for justice here began around 3 years ago and ended with last weeks jury verdict. She had always insisted that she had not fled from the police. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. People drink all the time who own guns, Thompson said. She works at a clothing shop, making $14 an hour, far less than what she was earning when she was in the mortgage business. You think they are going to accept this bullshit you are giving me?, For the next hour, Thompson continued to berate Lord, trying to get her to crack. And youd say, you know, Thats not a toy., Jaffe said that Burnside had pulled out a gun that night. In his opinion, it was perfectly plausible that in the heat of the argument with Burnside, she had taken his pistol, slipped up behind him, and pulled the trigger. Thompson left the room, walked down the hall, and opened the door to another interview room. | Privacy Statement. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. He told Lundberg that he wasnt sure this was a suicide. Dwayne Thompson has spent over 18 years with the Dallas Police Department. And a handful of Burnsides friends have reunited with Lord, saying they now believe that she had nothing to do with his death. 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. 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. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. He was the life of the party.. 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 had on a dark fedora, a dark suit, a white shirt with a tie, and dress shoes. Lundberg then brought up the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides brain. 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. Thats what you did! he told a stunned and confused Lord, who protested her innocence. 1983 claiming that she was wrongfully arrested for a killing that she did not commit, which landed her in jail for nine days. But she was pointedly not invited to a get-together that Burnsides friends were throwing after the service at one of his favorite bars. A retired Dallas police officer acting as an expert witness for Lord told the jury there was no evidence that Lord shot Burnside. I hope you die in jail and burn in hell!. 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. She liked pampering him, waiting on him hand and foot so that he could focus on building his company. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Wearing a black dress and black heels, Lord came into the courtroom, followed by her friends and family. He knew it. She said Burnside had been drinking heavily, and at some point, in the midst of the fight, he had walked into the kitchen and shot himself. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson hunts for a band of carjacking killers that are terrorizing a neighborhood. Nearly a year after the shooting, a grand jury met and heard the evidence. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. His voice got even softer. This has been kind of a sexy case here: an attractive female shoots the boyfriend, you solve the crime. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. 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. Raised in Ohio, Thompson spent five years in the Army, earning the rank of captain and commanding a military police unit in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. He was not a depressed type of person at all. DALLAS Veteran Dallas police homicide detective Dwayne Thompson is on desk duty pending an internal investigation.Source: http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/W. Thompson formed his hand into the shape of a gun and pointed at his jawline, aiming upward at a 70-degree angle, which infuriated Shearin, who accused Thompson of wildly exaggerating the location and angle of the shot. After the First 48 (2008- ) More at IMDbPro. The officer identified him as Brian Jaffe, a thirty-year-old civil engineer who had been Burnsides best friend since high school. He insisted that what Rastegar told him in the homicide office was the same and consistent with what he said out on the porch. Thompsons interrogation of Lord was videotaped. Why, he wanted to know, would a man suddenly shoot himself after what seemed to be a routine argument with his girlfriend? 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. 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. For Thompson, there was no question about it: Lord was on the run. The arrest was based upon Thompsons affidavit. When the paramedics arrived, Burnside had faint vital signs, but he died shortly after reaching the emergency room at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. Or maybe the two had struggled for the gun before it went off, leaving residue on both of them. 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. Lord shook her head. HEPHZIBAH OLIVIA LORD She did her own interviews, speaking, for instance, with a firefighter who said he believed he had accidentally kicked the gun away from Burnsides body. Whats more, he said, Thompson had left out of the affidavit the fact that Burnside, who was right-handed, had been shot at point-blank range in his right temple, which would give a judge another reason to believe he had committed suicide. Lundberg said that there was a gunshot wound to his right temple, a contact wound where the muzzle had been pressed directly against his head, which is common in suicides involving a handgun. There was something else that didnt seem right: drops of blood leading into another room. No, said Lord. | Recent Lawyer Listings Jaffe told him that Mikey was a good ol boy who liked hunting and fishing. Lord seemed shocked. 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. 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 called Jaffe, who had also turned against Lord, to see if he could help him locate her. . The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a settlement of more than $1 million to a . On May 11, 2011, in the case of Texas v. Lord, the grand jury returned a no bill. I grabbed him and held him.. Thompson had also told him that he believed there was blood spatter from the gunshot on Lords clothes, which meant that she could not have been in the bathroom at the time of the shooting, despite what Lord had said in her interview. There was no sign that he had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his skin, no scuffed knuckles. 1983 claiming that she was wrongfully arrested for a killing that she did not commit, which landed her in jail for nine days. For several seconds, the courtroom was quiet except for Lords muffled sobs. Its psychological pressure as opposed to physical force, however many believe that the result, coercion, can be the same even though no blows are struck. Was it possible that he thought he was about to lose the woman he loved?. When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home four years ago, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend, Olivia Lord, had pulled the trigger. Then his own cellphone rang. Shearin then asked if she was included in Burnsides will or his life insurance policy. 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. A light drizzle was falling in the early morning hours of May 9, 2010, when detective Dwayne Thompsonpulled up in front of a modest home on Spring Grove Avenue, in a tree-lined neighborhood in North Dallas. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. See full summary . She had loved dogs and painting. Why did you wait seven minutes before calling 911? he yelled. Her voice shook when she spoke. Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. 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. Shearin asked if Thompson had mentioned that an inebriated Burnside had shown the Beretta to his friend that night. Shearin made his own presentation, about 25 minutes in length, laying out the case for his clients innocence. They couldnt get the dishwasher installed because of a broken valve, which sent water all over the floor, so they took a break. Thompson just happened to be standing at the detectives desk, and he was more than happy to talk to Shearin. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. But he stayed in the bedroom, pacing, walking around, yelling at me, screaming, angry. Finally, after he couldnt get her to respond to him, he left the room. We understand that people get upset, get scared, get angryand when all those emotions are happening at once, people do things., He paused and kept his eyes on Lord. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. But a Dallas County grand jury later declined to indict her. Thats the exact type of case that might have been portrayed on The First 48, right? Tittle asked. I loved my boyfriend.. Dallas homicide Detective Dwayne Thompson sits at his desk in 2010, looking over material he collected in the death of a 42-year-old mother who was shot in front of her home. Leave them blank to get signed up. Who do you fing think you are?. She had started dating Burnside, the co-owner of a company that retrofitted homes to make them energy-efficient, about a year earlier. Perhaps sensing that the jury had turned against the detective, Jason Schuette, another attorney for the City of Dallas, resorted to a surprise tactic in his final arguments. It was so hard for us to believe that she was doing this, said Jaffe. In an excited voice, he said that he had been told by his sons next-door neighbor that a neighbor who lived across the streetan attorney named Sheida Rastegarhad information that linked Lord to the killing. 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. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Det. The arrest affidavit had never mentioned that Rastegar had backed off during his interview. And now that he had a witness who was going to provide bombshell testimony about what had really happened that night, he was ready to go to trial. We loved our life together.. Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $800,000.00. As for the question of blood spatter on Lords clothes, however, Quinton did have a definite opinion. Then Shearin got his big break. Lord has just been awarded $800,000 in a jury verdict from a Dallas jury that has found Lord to be the victim of false arrest. Was she Miss Right or Miss Right Now? Thompson asked. | Link Errors But Sunday night, the deadly virus claimed his life. At around twelve-thirty, the officer continued, a woman had called 911 from the house. Add a bio, trivia, and more. Maybe he got dramatic and put the gun to his own head and said to Olivia, To hell with all this, Im just going to end it now. And then, accidentally, he pulled the trigger. Yes. texasmonthly.com No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. 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. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. 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. The detective told him that he was doing what he could. See production, box office & company info. He says he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he got the goods on Lordand she not only avoided prosecution, she made a lot of money. The officer pointed to a woman sitting on a chair in the front yard, her face in her hands. She has also enrolled in college for the first time. It was a stupid fight., Jaffe paused. Thompson asked Lundberg if he thought it was possible that a person who was much shorter than Burnsidesomeone, say, who was five feet two inches tall, the height of Olivia Lordcould have aimed the Beretta at a 45-degree angle toward Burnsides head and pulled the trigger? Come on., Lord closed her eyes when I asked her about those detractors who continue to believe shes hiding something. 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. Required fields are marked *. After going through perfunctory questions about what happened that night, Thompsons voice boomed without warning. In early May, word spread that the departments Public Integrity Unit had launched an investigation of Thompsons work on the Lord case. Tired of fighting, she stopped talking to Burnside and went into the bathroom to take off her makeup. The First 48 (2004- ) In Dallas, when a good Samaritan is gunned down trying . Thompson thanked John and told him he would be back in touch. Were missing something, he said to her. How are you going to explain that to his family? But Lord insisted he had a good heart. He allowed a few seconds to pass. Based on what we see, it looks like you got upset and shot him. I wasnt going to leave him., She then told me something she had not mentioned before. When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home after an argument with his girlfriend, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend, Olivia Lord, had pulled the trigger. Im willing to accept that it might have been an accident. By the end of the interview, Thompson had returned from his lecture and walked into the room. But Love also acknowledges that he is bewildered at the idea of Burnside shooting himself. However, the police may or may not let the person know about this right (remember the experts concerns that Thompson had not told Lord about her right to a lawyer). 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. (2014) Dont worry about it. Although the couple appeared to be joking, said Jaffe, you could tell they were serious., At that point, Jaffe said, he decided to leave, and when he returned after getting the frantic phone call from Lord, he found her in the front yard. He asked Thompson if he had told one of Burnsides friends that this was the case of a lifetimethe kind of case that could make him famous. Something is not right.. Shearin ordered Lords cellphone records and received more good news: there was no seven-minute gap in her calls. On July 15, the Public Integrity Units report landed on the desk of Dallas police chief David Brown. I did not kill my boyfriend. Scattered around the floor were a few bottles of household cleaning products. If you have or may be questioned by the police, know your rights. She helped him with his finances, reminding him to pay his bills and to keep his spending in line. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. . Thompson asked why there was so little blood on her hands and arms. Lundberg conducted the interview because Thompson had a prior commitment to teach a class at the police academy. He also said he had seen Burnside act recklessly with a gun only two or three times over the past fifteen years. In truth, she had called 911 seconds after she had tried to reach Jaffe. 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. Although she had her own apartment, she was planning to move in with him as soon as he finished remodeling the house. She had then grabbed the bottles of cleaning products from under the sink to wash away the blood and the gunpowder residue, which would account for the chemical odor he thought he had smelled on her. Why the bottles of cleaning products and the bloody towels? Lets solve some murders, my brothers, he would cheerfully bellow as he barreled into the office at the beginning of his shifts. On May 9, 2010, plaintiff Hephzibah Olivia Lord, 36, who works in mortgaging, was alone with her boyfriend at his home, in Dallas. 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. Kim Sanders, a more than 30-year veteran of the department who served as a homicide detective, said the interview amounted to intimidation. 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. Sometimes I want to walk inside, thinking he will be there. I had to cover my mouth I was so appalled, Judy Durbin, an accountant who was the foreman of the jury, would later recall. Ive never seen anything like it, Sanders said. It was Lundberg, who had gone to Parkland to examine Burnsides body. Sipping coffee at a Starbucks one afternoon, he went through various scenarios of what he thinks could have taken place after he left Burnsides home. Jaffe called Thompson back the next day and said that he had reached Lord. 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 jury watched it. I wasnt going to leave him. He was simply doing his job, he tells his friends, hunting for answers about a mysterious death. Thompson sat in another chair and asked about Burnside. When he wasnt solving murders, Thompson restored sports cars and tooled around in a black Corvette convertible. They can try too hard to make the existing evidence fit their theory as to who is guilty. He asked her why, after finding Burnside on the floor, she had first called Jaffe but then waited seven minutes before calling 911. An expert witness with expertise as both a retired officer and homicide detective from the same police department, testified on Lords behalf. Self - Detective; 2009-2014 2 eps; Credits. I want him brought down.. Thompson told Rastegar to go to the station and make an official recorded statement, which Thompson later used to obtain an arrest warrant charging Lord with murder. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. The jurors, however, werent buying any of it. I believe that with all my heart.. A lab technician had been unable to find any fingerprints on the Beretta because the gun had been covered in blood. Physical evidence can be more baffling than conclusive. Olivia, youre not telling me the truth, Thompson told her. And now you have this thing where he was spending a lot of money on his friend, but he didnt spend near as much money on your birthday. I wasnt going to leave him, she said, her voice breaking. 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. He thought he had a mild case of COVID-19. Several months later, when he called Lord to refinance his home, their other relationships had ended.
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