On a day in 2009, Henry Davis, pictured here, was captured by Ferguson Missouri police in an effort to execute a warrant. Pulled over for being stopped on the highway after missing his exit, his name was similar enough that he was brought in to the police station. Once presented the Ferguson police department realized his middle name, social security number and age did not match the warrant he was arrested on. The police, it seems, had made a mistake. They had arrested and brought in the wrong Henry Davis, and that is only the beginning of where things went wrong.
As Davis arrived in the local jail, he was escorted to a cell that did not have a mat or anywhere to lay down; upon objecting to this arrangement and asking for a mat from a nearby empty cell, Davis was beaten by the officers.
The officers, realizing that this wasn't their man, weren't quite done yet.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
He was driven back to the jail, where he was held for several days before he posted $1,500 bond on four counts of “property damage.” Police Officer John Beaird had signed complaints swearing on pain of perjury that Davis had bled on his uniform and those of three fellow officers.
The remarkable turned inexplicable when Beaird was deposed in a civil case that Davis subsequently brought seeking redress and recompense.
“After Mr. Davis was detained, did you have any blood on you?” asked Davis’ lawyer, James Schottel.
“No, sir,” Beaird replied.
Schottel showed Beaird a copy of the “property damage” complaint.
“Is that your signature as complainant?” the lawyer asked.
“It is, sir,” the cop said.
“And what do you allege that Mr. Davis did unlawfully in this one?” the lawyer asked.
“Transferred blood to my uniform while Davis was resisting,” the cop said.
“And didn’t I ask you earlier in this deposition if Mr. Davis got blood on your uniform?”
“You did, sir.”
“And didn’t you respond no?”
“Correct. I did.”
Michael Daly's coverage for The Daily Beast of this event has followed the case from the beginning, offering transcripts and data.
The courts had originally rejected Henry Davis lawsuit, saying that his injuries weren't permanent and despite him being bound the officers could have acted accordingly. Now, in a reversal of that ruling, the courts have given Henry Davis lawsuit standing again, and his case of excessive force against the police department moves forward.
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6:12 PM PT: Update
This was someone who did not LIVE in Ferguson, rather a nearby community, got lost and was arrested by Ferguson police. This error was in a few places when reading the article and correct elsewhere; thanks to those below for pointing this out.