Robert Davis (New Orleans)
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Robert Davis (b. 1941) is a retired elementary school teacher and resident of New Orleans who was beaten by four police officers during his October 9, 2005 arrest, which was filmed by the members of the Associated Press.
Although Davis is an African American and the two officers who assaulted (while two others held him down) him are white, Davis maintains that the incident was not racially motivated. Davis, who has been charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery, and public intimidation, plead not guilty on October 12. [1] The officers have also been charged with battery and are accused of using extreme force. [2] Recalling an incident in 1980, Davis says after a night of drinking, he woke up the next morning with no memory of how he came home and discovered his car had two flat tires. Davis claims that since then, "I haven't drank in 25 years."
Davis said he returned to view and possibly rebuild his family's six properties that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He went out during the night to buy cigarettes in the French Quarter and was informed by a policeman that a curfew was in effect. Davis disputed the curfew and another officer entered the conversation.
- "This other guy interfered and I said he shouldn't. I started to cross the street and... bam... I got it. ... All I know is this guy attacked me and said, 'I will kick your ass,' and they proceeded to do it." (Davis)
The police union and a lawyer for the accused officers challenge Davis' version of the events. According to their account, a drunken Davis walked into a police horse, and belligerently resisted officers who confronted him.
As Davis was arrested, Associated Press producer Rich Matthews was jabbed in the stomach and shoved into a police cruiser by a third officer who shouted, "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep fucking alive. Fucking go home."
Officers Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist, and S.M. Smith were released on bond after appearing before a judge to make their not guilty pleas.
The policemen's trial has been set for January 11, 2006. Davis' trial is scheduled to begin January 18. [5]
Davis' mugshot shows stitches beneath his left eye and a bandaged left hand, and sustained injuries that were not life-threatening.
On October 12, 2005, Davis revisited the site saying, "Is that my blood? It must be. I didn't know I was bleeding that bad."
On December 21 Stuart Smith was suspended for 120 days and Robert Evangelist and Lance Schilling were fired for their participation in the beating. [6]
It should be noted that although the video shows four "officers" involved in the beating, two of them were not New Orleans police officers. They were federal agents, and curiously, they were neither indicted nor investigated by their parent agency for their involvement in the incident. Stuart Smith was the officer shown assulting the AP producer.
An update is available from the New Orleans Times-Picayune Nov. 18, 2006. By Susan Finch, Staff writer
HEADLINE: Ex-N.O. police to face trial in beating; Officers caught on video in Quarter
Two former New Orleans police officers will go to trial March 12 on a felony grand jury indictment stemming from their involvement in the videotaped beating of a retired teacher in the French Quarter last fall, a Criminal District Court judge decided Friday.
Robert Evangelist, 36, and 29-year-old Lance Schilling, veteran cops both fired after the incident, could draw sentences of up to five years behind bars if a jury in Judge Frank Marullo's court convicts them of second degree battery for the Oct. 8, 2005, beating of 64-year-old Robert Smith. The jury will also decide if Evangelist is guilty of false imprisonment, a charge that carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years behind bars. ...A third 8th District officer, Stuart Smith, [will be tried] for simple battery, a misdemeanor, in the Davis arrest.
Smith, back on the police force after a 120-day suspension earlier this year, was accused by the grand jury of cursing and jabbing his finger in the chest of an Associated Press news producer whose crew was among those taping the incident.
Charges against Davis were dropped in April 2006. Two of the agents involved in the incident were FBI agents, and it was unclear whether they would be asked to testify in the case.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Verhovek, Sam Howe. (October 12, 2005). "Man in Video Beating Baffled by Incident". Los Angeles Times, p. 14.
- ^ Mount, Harry. (October 11, 2005). "New Orleans police beat up black man Force's poor reputation sinks lower as TV crew films assault". Daily Telegraph, p. 15.
- Finch, Susan. (November 18, 2006). "Ex-N.O. police to face trial in beating; Officers caught on video in Quarter". New Orleans Times-Picayune, p. 8.
