Len Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 6, 1964 |
| Occupation(s) | Former police officer, New Orleans Police Department |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Conviction(s) | |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Date apprehended | 1994 |
| Imprisoned at | USP Terre Haute |
Len Davis (born August 6, 1964) [1] is a former New Orleans police officer. [2] [3] He was convicted of depriving civil rights through murder by conspiring with an assassin to kill a local resident. [4]
Davis was known in the community as "RoboCop" because of his large size and as the "Desire Terrorist" due to his aggressive policing style. [5] He had been suspended six times and received 20 complaints between 1987 and 1992, while subsequently receiving the department's Medal of Merit in 1993. [6]
In 1994, an FBI sting caught Davis enforcing a protection racket upon the city's cocaine dealers. [7] [8] Davis had extorted protection money from a drug dealer who was an FBI informant. [9] Nine other police officers, including two who would later testify against Davis, were later indicted for being part of a criminal conspiracy with Davis. [10] [11] Twenty additional New Orleans police officers were also implicated in the scheme, but the investigation had to be aborted due to the murder of Kim Groves. [10] Davis would later be convicted of additional drug-related charges, while the other officers pleaded guilty. [8]
In 1994, Davis beat a young man in New Orleans, mistaking him for a suspect in a police officer's shooting. [12] Kim Groves, a 32-year-old local resident and mother of three young children, witnessed the assault and filed a complaint with the New Orleans Police Department. [13] Davis was tipped off about the complaint by another officer and then conspired with a local drug dealer, Paul Hardy, to kill Groves. [14] Hardy shot and killed her on October 14, 1994, less than one day after she filed the complaint. A third man, Damon Causey, hid the murder weapon, a 9 mm pistol. [15]
Davis was convicted in 1996 on two federal civil rights charges for directing Hardy to murder Groves and for witness tampering. Davis was initially sentenced to death on April 26, 1996. The Fifth Circuit, however, reversed his death sentence when his conviction for witness tampering was thrown out. A subsequent jury also chose the death penalty for Davis, and he was formally sentenced to death again on October 27, 2005. [16] [17] [18] Davis is currently on federal death row and is imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. [19]
Hardy was convicted of conspiracy to violate Groves' civil rights and of witness tampering. [20] The witness tampering conviction would be later overturned. [19] He was initially sentenced to death, but in 2011, his sentence was commuted to life when he was found by a judge to be intellectually disabled. [21]
Causey was convicted of federal conspiracy charges and violating Groves' civil rights. [22] He was sentenced to life imprisonment after rejecting a plea bargain that would have given him six to nine years in prison. [15] His conviction was upheld on appeal. [23]
In 2018, the city of New Orleans settled a lawsuit with Groves' three children in the sum of $1.5 million. [13]
In October 2022, three men wrongfully convicted of murder, based on false testimony from Davis, were released after 28 years of incarceration. [24] Davis has been linked to that murder as well. [25] In December 2022, another man who was also convicted based on false testimony from Davis was released from prison after more than 30 years. [26] [27]
Antoinette Renee Frank is a former officer of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) who, on March 4, 1995, committed a violent armed robbery at a restaurant which resulted in the killing of two members of the Vietnamese-American family who ran the establishment, and fellow NOPD officer Ronald A. Williams II. She was aided by her probable lover, drug dealer Rogers Lacaze. Frank has been incarcerated since 1995 at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, the only woman on the state's death row.
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Lance Michael Africk is a senior United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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Henry Glover was an African American resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, who was shot to death on September 2, 2005. Glover's charred body was later found in a destroyed Chevrolet Malibu parked on a Mississippi River levee near a police station.
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The D-Block Boys, also known as DBG, was an African-American drug ring operating in Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana. The gang has been involved in criminal activity including drug trafficking and murder. According to NOPD, The "D-Block Gang" has a history of violations, along with involvement in violent crimes. This gang is not to be confused with the Dumaine Street Gang operating out of the 6th Ward of New Orleans, which is also called D'Block.
The "39ers gang," is a “hybrid” force of the Upper 9th Ward's G-Strip gang and 3-N-G, a notorious Central City drug gang named for its stronghold around Third and Galvez streets. Several of the alleged members also hailed from the Florida housing development. The gangs combined forces in early 2010 to press for control of the heroin trade in both areas, federal prosecutors allege, often through bloodshed against associates of rival gangs, such as "Ride or Die gang" from the 8th Ward of New Orleans and gangs associated with the former Calliope and Desire Projects. The gang is also held accountable for the double 2010 homicide in which the famous rapper Magnolia Shorty was killed. Authorities have connected the 39ers to over 45 murders.
The Metz Gang was a notorious drug ring founded by Glenn Metz and his brother Cordell "Jethro" Metz; Glenn Metz is currently serving life in prison. From 1985 to mid–1992, The Metz Gang distributed approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine in the New Orleans metropolitan area and, in furtherance of the conspiracy, committed murders, attempted murders, and other violent crimes. In 1993, Metz, his wife, and several of his henchmen were convicted and charged in a 22 count indictment with various charges arising from a narcotics conspiracy. In 2016, President Barack Obama commuted the life sentence of Danielle Metz, wife of Glenn Metz.
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The Hardy Boys was a criminal duo composed of brothers Wayne and Paul "Cool" Hardy. The brothers were implicated in a host of crimes including the slaying of Kim Groves in 1994. The slaying gained national media coverage due to the involvement of crooked officer Len Davis nicknamed the "Desire Terrorist," Davis ordered multiple hits, leading up to his conviction in 1996. The conviction resulted in an FBI sting "Operation Shattered Shield," which became one of the most high-profile busts of a crooked cop in modern history. In 1990, video maker and artist Dawn DeDeaux published documentaries titled "Urban Warrior Scrapbook" and "Drive By Shooting," documenting the violent life of Wayne and brother Paul Hardy during the height of their violent run.
He was RoboCop to some people, historian Leonard Moore tells FRONTLINE. But then he was, I would say, Officer Friendly to other people
This is a city where 40 police officers have been arrested in the last three years on charges ranging from bank robbery to rape, from bribery to auto theft
A federal judge will formally impose the sentence later.
The district court sentenced Davis to death on October 27, 2005.
That agreement also cites the presence at the crime scene of two New Orleans police officers who were later found to have helped cover up murders for drug dealers and to have manipulated evidence in the case.
This comes as all three were found to be wrongly convicted of a murder after new evidence linked the murder to former NOPD officer Len Davis.
Correspondence and court papers allege Singleton's arrest was based on false statements from a disgraced former New Orleans cop who is now on federal death row for murder and civil rights violations.
