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Len Davis

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Not to be confused with Len Davies.
Len Davis
Davis during his time in the NOPD (1990s)
Born (1964-08-06) August 6, 1964 (age 60)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other namesRoboCop
Desire projects terrorist
Occupation(s)Former police officer, New Orleans Police Department
Criminal statusIncarcerated
ConvictionsDeprivation of rights under color of law resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 242)
Conspiracy to deprive rights (18 U.S.C. § 241)
Conspiracy to distribute cocaine (21 U.S.C. § 841 and 846)
Use of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime (18 U.S.C. § 924)
Criminal penaltyDeath; commuted to life imprisonment
Details
VictimsRondell Santinac, 19
Kim Groves, 32
DateAugust 22, 1994
October 14, 1994
StateLouisiana
LocationNew Orleans
Date apprehended
1994
Imprisoned atUSP Terre Haute

Len Davis (born August 6, 1964)[1] is a former New Orleans police officer.[2][3] He was convicted in federal court of depriving civil rights through murder by conspiring with an assassin to kill a local resident who'd reported him for abuse of power after seeing him beat a 17-year-old boy whom he'd mistook as the suspect in the shooting a police officer. He was also convicted on drug trafficking charges.[4] Davis became the first on-duty police officer to be sentenced to death for federal civil rights violations. His sentence was commuted to life in prison by departing President Joe Biden in December 2021.[5]

Years after his conviction, it was found that Davis had framed at least five people, sending them to prison for a combined total of over 140 years, in three separate murder cases. One of the men, Dwayne LeBlanc, had ironically been the original suspect whom Davis had been searching for.[6] It is now believed that Davis himself was responsible for one of the murders for which he'd framed three people.[7]

Police career

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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.[8] 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.[9]

In 1994, an FBI sting caught Davis enforcing a protection racket upon the city's cocaine dealers.[10][11] Davis had extorted protection money from a drug dealer who was an FBI informant.[12] Nine other police officers, including two who would later testify against Davis, were later indicted for being part of a criminal conspiracy with Davis.[13][14] 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.[13] Davis would later be convicted of additional drug-related charges, while the other officers pleaded guilty.[11]

Murder of Kim Groves

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In 1994, Davis and another officer, Sammie Williams, beat and pistol-whipped 17-year-old Nathan Norwood in New Orleans, mistaking him for Dwayne LeBlanc, the suspect in a police officer's shooting.[15] 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.[16] Davis was tipped off about the complaint by another officer and then conspired with a local drug dealer, Paul Hardy, to kill Groves.[17] Hardy shot and killed her on October 14, 1994, less than one day after she filed the complaint. He was driven away by Steve Jackson.[18] A fourth man, Damon Causey, participated in the planning of the murder and later hid the murder weapon, a 9mm pistol.[19]

Trial and conviction

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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. In December 1996, Davis was sentenced to life in prison plus five years for his involvement in a cocaine ring in which other NOPD officers had participated.[20]

Neither Davis nor Sammie Williams were ever prosecuted for the initial beating of Nathan Norwood. Along with Steve Jackson, Williams agreed to become a star witness for the prosecution against Davis and Hardy in exchange for leniency in other pending criminal cases against him.[21] On August 26, 1998, Williams was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The judge called Williams a disgrace, but thanked him for helping convict Davis and Hardy.[22]

The Fifth Circuit reversed Davis's death sentence when his conviction for witness tampering was thrown out. A subsequent jury imposed a death sentence, and Davis was formally sentenced to death again on October 27, 2005.[23][24][25] Davis is currently imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.[26]

Hardy was convicted of conspiracy to violate Groves' civil rights and of witness tampering.[27] The witness tampering conviction would be later overturned.[26] 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.[28]

Causey was convicted of federal conspiracy charges and violating Groves' civil rights.[29] He was sentenced to life imprisonment after rejecting a plea bargain that would have given him six to nine years in prison.[19] His conviction was upheld on appeal.[30][needs update]

Aftermath and later developments

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In 2018, the city of New Orleans settled a lawsuit with Groves' three children in the sum of $1.5 million.[16] Davis lost his final appeal in October 2021.[31]

In October 2022, three men, Bernell Juluke Jr., Leroy Nelson, and Kunta Gable, wrongfully convicted of the August 22, 1994, murder of 19-year-old Rondell Santinac, based on false testimony from Davis, were released after 28 years of incarceration.[32][33] Davis has been linked to Santinac's murder as well.[7] In December 2022, another man, Sherman Singleton, who was wrongfully convicted of the August 8, 1990, murder of Bruce Vappie based on false testimony from Davis, was released from prison after 32 years.[34][35][36] In 2022, Dwayne LeBlanc, the man whom Davis had originally been searching for, was released from prison after 24 years after his convictions for second degree murder of the August 27, 1994, slaying of Richard Borden and attempted first degree murder were overturned. LeBlanc said he was living in California, over 2,000 miles away, when the murder occurred.[6]

On December 23, 2024, Davis's federal death sentence was commuted to life in prison after outgoing President Joe Biden granted sentence commutations to 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row.[37][38] A week later, Davis and fellow former death row inmate Shannon Agofsky filed a motion to block the commutation, as courts examine death penalty cases more closely for errors during appeals.[39] The motion was rejected.[40]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Baumgartner Death Sentences 22 Sept 2019". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Len Davis sentenced to death for murder of Kim Groves". The Times-Picayune. April 27, 1996. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  3. ^ "Officer Len Davis, two others, charged in death of Kim Groves". The Times-Picayune. December 6, 1994. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  4. ^ "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. LEN DAVIS". FindLaw. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "President Biden commuted 37 inmates, including convicted former NOPD officer, Len Davis". wwltv.com. 2024-12-23. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  6. ^ a b "Dwayne LeBlanc – Centurion". Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  7. ^ a b Forges, Darryl (2022-10-26). "New Orleans wrongfully convicted men crime Len Davis now free". WDSU. Retrieved 2022-12-26. 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.
  8. ^ Stacy Dittrich (2010). Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill. Prometheus Books, Publishers. pp. 339–. ISBN 978-1-61614-053-3.
  9. ^ "Law & Disorder - Timeline: NOPD's Long History of Scandal". FRONTLINE. 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2018-10-18. He was RoboCop to some people, historian Leonard Moore tells FRONTLINE. But then he was, I would say, Officer Friendly to other people
  10. ^ "IN THE BIG EASY, SCANDAL IN BLUE". Washington Post. January 3, 1995. Retrieved October 18, 2018. 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
  11. ^ a b "Len Davis convicted of running cocaine protection racket". NOLA.com. September 13, 1996. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  12. ^ "Len Davis, eight other New Orleans police officers, charged in drug sting". NOLA.com. December 8, 1994. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  13. ^ a b The Associated Press (December 8, 1994). "9 New Orleans Police Officers Are Indicted in U.S. Drug Case". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  14. ^ "Len Davis convicted of running cocaine protection racket". NOLA.com. 1996-09-14. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  15. ^ "A murder 20 years ago marked low point for NOPD". The Advocate. October 15, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  16. ^ a b Lane, Emily (April 25, 2018). "City to pay $1.5M to Kim Groves' children, 24 years after NOPD officer had her killed". Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  17. ^ "Len Davis sentenced to death for murder of Kim Groves". NOLA.com. 1996-04-28. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  18. ^ "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Damon Causey, Defendant-appellant.united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Paul Hardy, Also Known As P, Also Known As Cool; and Len Davis, Defendants-appellants, 185 F.3d 407 (5th Cir. 1999)". Justia Law. 1999-08-16. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  19. ^ a b "Len Davis, triggerman convicted of capital murder in death of Kim Groves". NOLA.com. 1996-04-26. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  20. ^ "Shielded from Justice: New Orleans: Incidents". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  21. ^ "A Chilling Trial: Part 1 -- The Prosecution Attacks — The Desire Terrorist — Crime Library". www.crimelibrary.org. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  22. ^ "The Death Sentence — The Desire Terrorist — Crime Library". www.crimelibrary.org. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  23. ^ "Ex-officer convicted for 1994 hit wants federal judge back". Seattle Times. December 29, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  24. ^ "Jury Sentences Killer Cop to Death". Fox News. August 9, 2005. Retrieved February 14, 2019. A federal judge will formally impose the sentence later.
  25. ^ "FindLaw's United States Fifth Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw. March 31, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2019. The district court sentenced Davis to death on October 27, 2005.
  26. ^ a b "Murderous ex-cop has no fool for a client: An editorial". The Times-Picayune. July 6, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  27. ^ "Len Davis, Petitioner v. United States of America" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. April 19, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  28. ^ "Hit man who killed Kim Groves in 1994 is sentenced to life in prison". The Times-Picayune. December 21, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  29. ^ "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Damon Causey, Defendant-appellant.united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Paul Hardy, Also Known As P, Also Known As Cool; and Len Davis, Defendants-appellants, 185 F.3d 407 (5th Cir. 1999)". Justia Law. January 12, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  30. ^ "UNITED STATES v. CAUSEY". Findlaw. March 31, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  31. ^ "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  32. ^ "National Registry of Exonerations". University of Michigan Law School. 2025-03-22. Retrieved 2025-03-22.
  33. ^ Whitcomb, Dan (2022-10-20). "Three Louisiana men freed after 28 years in prison for wrongful murder convictions". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-12-26. 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.
  34. ^ Fairbanks, Brian (2024-04-24). "The Hidden Victims of a Killer Cop". The Atavist Magazine. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  35. ^ "USA TODAY". USA TODAY. 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-26. 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.
  36. ^ DeSantis, John Kelly; Courier, The (2022-12-14). "Houma man freed after 32 years in prison for murder advocates say he did not commit". The Courier. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  37. ^ "President Biden commuted 37 inmates, including convicted former NOPD officer, Len Davis". wwltv.com. 2024-12-23. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  38. ^ "FACT SHEET: President Biden Commutes the Sentences of 37 Individuals on Death Row". White House. December 23, 2024. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024.
  39. ^ Ortiz, Erik. "Two death row inmates reject Biden's commutation of their life sentences". NBC News. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  40. ^ Simerman, John (2025-01-19). "Len Davis, notorious ex-New Orleans cop, can't stay on death row, federal judge rules". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2025-07-01.

Further reading

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