Len Davis
Former New Orleans police officer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Len Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 6, 1964 |
| Occupation(s) | Former police officer, New Orleans Police Department |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Convictions | |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to life imprisonment |
Date apprehended | 1994 |
| Imprisoned at | USP Terre Haute |
Police career
Davis was known in the community as "RoboCop" because of his large size and as the "Desire projects 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]
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.[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]
Trial and conviction
Summarize
Perspective
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 imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.[19] In 2025, President Biden offered clemency to Davis and commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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][needs update]
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.[13]
In October 2022, three men, Bernell Juluke Jr., Leroy Nelson, and Kunta Gable, wrongfully convicted of murder, based on false testimony from Davis, were released after 28 years of incarceration.[24][25] Davis has been linked to that murder as well.[26] In December 2022, another man, Sherman Singleton, who was also convicted based on false testimony from Davis was released from prison after more than 30 years.[27][28]
On December 23, 2024, Davis's federal death sentence was commuted to life without parole after outgoing President Joe Biden granted sentence commutations to 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row.[29] A week later, Davis filed a motion to block the commutation, because courts examine death penalty cases more closely for errors during appeals.[30]
See also
- List of inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States prior to 2009
- Antoinette Frank - another New Orleans police officer sentenced to death
References
Further reading
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