Len Davis (born August 6, 1964) is a former

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

police officer. He was convicted of depriving civil rights through murder by conspiring with an assassin to kill a local resident.

Police career

Davis was known in the community as "

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" because of his large size and the "

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of aff ...

terrorist" due to his aggressive policing style. 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. In 1994, an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

caught Davis enforcing a

protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

upon the city's

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

dealers. Davis had extorted

protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

from a drug dealer who was an FBI informant. Nine other police officers, including two who would later testify against Davis, were later indicted for being part of a

criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance o ...

with Davis. 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. Davis would later be convicted of additional drug-related charges while the other officers pleaded guilty.

Murder of Kim Groves

In 1994, Davis beat a young man in New Orleans, mistaking him for a suspect in a police officer's shooting. 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. Davis was tipped off about the complaint by another officer and then conspired with a local drug dealer, Paul Hardy, to kill Groves. 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.

Trial and conviction

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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts in the following United Stat ...

, 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. Davis is currently on federal death row and is imprisoned in

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. Hardy was convicted of conspiracy to violate Groves' civil rights and of witness tampering. The witness tampering conviction would be later overturned. 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. Causey was convicted of federal conspiracy charges and violating Groves' civil rights. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after rejecting a plea bargain that instead would have given him six to nine years in prison. His conviction was upheld on appeal.

Aftermath and later developments

In 2018, the city of New Orleans settled a lawsuit with Groves' three children in the sum of $1.5 million. In October 2022, three men wrongfully convicted of murder, based on false testimony from Davis, were released after 28 years of incarceration. Davis has been linked to that murder as well. Then, in December 2022, another man was released from prison after more than 30 years who was also convicted based on false testimony from Davis.

Police career

Murder of Kim Groves

Trial and conviction

Aftermath and later developments

See also

References

Further reading