April 18, 2022April 18, 20221403

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Durham, NC – In December of last year, a federal jury awarded 58-year-old Darryl Howard a $6 million dollar judgment for a civil rights violation by a Durham police detective that led to him spending 23-years in prison. Now the Durham City Council has decided it wont pay. 

In 1995, Howard was convicted of killing 29-year-old Doris Washington, and her 13-year-old daughter and setting their apartment on fire. He was found guilty of two counts of second degree murder and arson and sentenced to 80-years in prison — two consecutive 40-year terms for the two murders and one 40-year term for the arson.

DNA testing later showed that sperm found in one of the bodies belonged to a convicted felon who had a history of drug dealing and violence against women.

Howard’s conviction was vacated in August 2016, after a judge acknowledged the presence of misconduct among authorities. He was granted a pardon of innocence by Governor Roy in April. 

In 2017, he filed a federal civil rights suit arguing that retired Durham police detective Darell Dowdy, the city, and others led to his wrongful conviction.

On December 1 a jury found that Dowdy fabricated evidence and performed an inadequate investigation that led to Howard being wrongfully convicted and awarded him $6 million in damages.

In a move that Howard’s and Dowdy’s attorneys described as unprecedented, the Durham City Council decided in a series of closed session meetings not to pay the judgment on Dowdy’s behalf, saying they will not indemnify Dowdy.

Although the city has spent more than $4 million on litigation against Howard, the reasoning say they will not pay out his $6 million settlement seems to be that the city will only pay out if its cops and other employees were acting in good faith when the violation was committed, not maliciously. Since Dowdy was found to be acting in bad faith, the city won’t pay the settlement.

The judgment marks the first time a jury has found “a bad faith finding,” against a Durham employee, City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg said. 

The city’s resolution states that it’s in the public interest to settle judgments against the city “if the facts and circumstances of the claim or the suit in which the judgment is entered show that the officer or employee was engaged in the good faith performance of his duties on behalf of the City when the act or omission giving rise to the claim or suit occurred,” Rehberg wrote in an email, in which she added an emphasis on good faith. “A jury of Mr. Dowdy’s peers determined that Mr. Dowdy engaged in fabrication of evidence and a bad faith failure to investigate,” she wrote. 

In addition to not paying Howard the $6 million he was awarded, the city has also indicated in legal filings that it will ask Howard to pay the legal fees of two city employees who were dismissed from the lawsuit.

Howard said Durham officers have fought him each step of the way.

“I proved my innocence. I went through every court,” he stated. “Every judge says what this was, even the governor.”

“I don’t understand that,” he stated. “Now I have to fight again.”

April 18, 2022April 18, 2022930

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Brookside, Al. – A 62-year-old woman from Alabama is suing the town of Brookside, its former police chief and two unknown officers, alleging that the officers stole her $5,000 life savings and her prescription medication after pulling her over for no reason. 

According to the federal lawsuit, Jeanetta Jones was pulled over in December by Brookside police when she was driving home around 2 p.m. When Jones asked why she was being stopped, one of the officers told her they could stop whoever they wanted, the suit says. 

“Then he asked me how can you afford to drive a car like this? I said cause God blessed me with it,” Jones said as she described the police encounter during a town hall meeting.

The officers detained Jones for more than an hour as they searched her car without her consent. Once the search was complete, Jones got back in her car and noticed her prescription pills and cash were missing, the suit alleges. 

“They took $5,000 from me and 120 Percocets,” Jones said.

The lawsuit says the $5,000 in cash was Jones’ life savings, and the pills were legally prescribed for pain. 

“She requested the return of her money and medication,” the lawsuit says. “They refused to return either and laughed at her, telling the plaintiff they could do whatever they wanted.”

The lawsuit, which marks the 13th filed against the tiny north Jefferson County town of Brookside, claims that Jones was falsely arrested and imprisoned, and that her rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. She’s asking for monetary damages.

Brookside Mayor Mike Bryan responded to the complaint via email saying, in part:

Mrs. Jones claims she was pulled over on December 20 between 2:30-3pm during the day. None of our canine officers with their canine works during the day at Brookside Police Department due to lack of resources.

Chief Irby is in the process of assessing complaints against Brookside Police Department. Mrs. Jones’ complaint cannot be researched without more information, such as providing the names of officers or witnesses to the occurrence.

April 19, 2022April 19, 2022459

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Orlando, FL. – Investigators in Florida reported Monday that the safety sensors on an amusement park ride had been manually adjusted to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, resulting in a 14-year-old Tyre Sampson to fall to his death from his improperly secured seat. 

According to a report from the forensic engineering firm hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the sensors on two of the seats on the Orlando Freefall had been modified so it could operate even though those seats had an opening almost twice as large as normal.  

The average opening for restraints on the seats of the ride was 3.3 inches, however, the opening of the restraints for the seat used by Tyre was as much as 7.1 inches, according to the report. 

That modification allowed Tyre to fall from the ride on March 24. The ride did not experience a mechanical or electrical failure, the report found. The safety harness on his seat was ‘still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped,’ according to a previous report.

“The cause of the subject accident was that Tyre Sampson was not properly secured in the seat primarily due to mis-adjustment of the harness proximity sensor,” the report said. “The mis-adjustment of the sensor allowed both safety lights to illuminate, improperly satisfying the ride’s electronic safety mechanisms allowing the ride to commence even though the ride was unsafe.”

The Orlando FreeFall is billed as “the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower.” Standing more than 430 feet tall, the ride elevates riders to the top, and tilts them forward before plunging down 400 feet at speeds of over 75 mph. 

The seats were adjusted “presumably to allow for larger riders,” Rep. Geraldine Thompson said at a press conference Monday, but it’s unclear who adjusted the seats and when.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried said the investigation is ongoing and the ride will remain closed indefinitely.

“There are many other potential contributing factors that may have played a role in the incident,” she said Monday. “While the initial phase of our investigation is complete, we are far from done uncovering all of the facts and factors at play that are needed to inform of the next steps.”