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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review the city of Dallas’ request to halt a civil-rights case against several Dallas police officers involved in the 2016 death of Tony Timpa, paving the way for the case to be heard by a jury without further court appeals.
Timpa, who had a mental illness, was handcuffed and pinned to the ground on Aug. 10, 2016, by Dallas officers shortly before he died. His family later sued, alleging excessive force. The decision allows the family’s suit to move forward.
“At least the Timpas will get their day in court,” said the family’s attorney, Geoff Henley, adding that the trial date hasn’t been set. “They want to be heard. It’s disconcerting for a family to have these esoteric appeals matters being handled far away and you don’t know anything about it. They want to be able to sit on the witness stand and tell their story.”
The Supreme Court ruling comes about a month after the city asked the nation’s highest court to reverse the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision allowing the case to proceed.
The city of Dallas is representing the officers named in the lawsuit: Dustin Dillard, Raymond Dominguez, Kevin Mansell and Danny Vasquez. Dillard, Dominguez and Vasquez remain on the force, and Dallas police promoted Dillard last week to Senior Corporal, a role that involves training rookie officers. Mansell retired in August 2019.
The city of Dallas declined to comment.
The 5th Circuit made the decision in December to reverse Dallas Judge David Godbey’s finding that the officers were shielded by qualified immunity. Civil rights experts said the 5th Circuit’s ruling was unusual for the conservative panel.
Dallas shortly afterward appealed to a federal appellate court, which declined to hear further arguments, and then again in April to the Supreme Court.
Henley said the “law of the land has spoken,” adding that the city has now exercised every option it had in the court system.
“It’s a relief to be at least back on track,” Henley said.
The Dallas Morning News first reported Timpa’s death in a 2017 investigation that showed Dallas police refused to say how a man who had called 911 for help ended up dead. In 2019, after a three-year legal battle, The News obtained the body camera footage from responding officers.
Timpa had called 911 from the parking lot of a Dallas store, saying he was scared and needed help. He told dispatchers he had a history of schizophrenia and depression and was off his medication.
The video showed that Timpa was handcuffed face-down as he yelled and begged for help more than 30 times. Officers put their weight on his back, zip-tied his legs and pinned him to the ground for about 14 minutes.
He lost consciousness, and the footage revealed that officers laughed and joked about waking him up so he wouldn’t be late for school.
In 2019, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot dropped three misdemeanor charges of deadly conduct against three of the officers, drawing criticism from civil rights leaders.
The Timpas have fought for years for the civil case to be heard by a jury. Henley said they now see “a light at the end of the tunnel,” although he said the case is far from over.
“We’re not done fighting,” Henley said. “Wars frequently have lots of battles, and while we’re relieved and happy about today, it by no means is over.”
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