(2014) She was wearing a blue T-shirt and gray sweatpants, her knees stained with blood. By then, a couple of those friends had talked to Thompson, and he had made it clear to them just what he thought of Lord: he said he would stake his career on his belief that she had killed him. In the taped interrogation, the detective asks Lord some general questions about what happened on the night that her boyfriend died then Thompson changed things up. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. On May 14, five days after the shooting, Lord finally left her mothers house to attend Burnsides funeral with her family and friends. Facebook gives people the power. Burnside had been involved in a couple of accidents. Do I feel an overwhelming feeling of guilt because I may have provoked something? Thompson and Lundberg drove to Rastegars house. In 2008, when the producers of The First 48, a reality series on the A&E network about homicide detectives in big-city police departments, came to Dallas to film some episodes, they were riveted by Thompson. She wanted to not only vindicate herself but also make sure the public knew just what Thompson had done to her. He can go so far as to lie to a suspect to try to obtain a confession. As for the question of blood spatter on Lords clothes, however, Quinton did have a definite opinion. She works at a clothing shop, making $14 an hour, far less than what she was earning when she was in the mortgage business. When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home after an argument with his girlfriend, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend, Olivia Lord, had pulled the trigger. And its going to come out.. She grew up in the Dallas area and after graduating from high school, she went straight to work, leasing apartments for a large real estate company and later selling cosmetics at Neiman Marcus in NorthPark Center. Lord seemed shocked. Lord claimed that Burnside, who was intoxicated, shot himself.Thompson rejected the theory that Burnside committed suicide and investigated the death as murder. Lord seemed to be trying to control her breathing. He insisted that what Rastegar told him in the homicide office was the same and consistent with what he said out on the porch. Dwayne Thompson and Kim Sanders are both grizzled veterans of the Dallas police homicide unit. . In the video, Rastegar initially seemed to confirm what he had supposedly told Thompson and Lundberg on the porch. When he finished, he left a packet of evidence that hed compiled for the grand jurors to peruse, including the results of two polygraphs that concluded that Lord had not shown deception when she said she had not shot Burnside. Which brings us to the story this week here in Dallas of Hephzibah Olivia Lord, who sued and won a civil lawsuit against a Dallas police detective for false arrest, reportedly in large part because the jury found that the detective had acted with malice (a legal term here) during his interrogation of Lord after she was arrested on a charge of murdering her boyfriend. A light drizzle was falling in the early morning hours of May 9, 2010, when detective Dwayne Thompsonpulled up in front of a modest home on Spring Grove Avenue, in a tree-lined neighborhood in North Dallas. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Every time she tried to answer a question, she said, he cut her off and called her a liar. He was convinced Thompson had misled him, and on September 22, Quinton changed the cause of Burnsides death to undetermined. Quintons new ruling was definitely a boost for Lords case, but it was hardly enough to guarantee an acquittal. Im just as baffled as you are, she said. And now hes dead, he said. By the end of the interview, Thompson had returned from his lecture and walked into the room. Okay, fine. Comments: Editor's Note: Plaintiff will probably file an application for attorney's fees and costs, which will be substantial. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); With more than 150 jury trials under his belt, Michael Lowe has strong and varied courtroom experience. All prosecutors know that almost every murder case contains inconsistent and sometimes contradictory evidence. If the detectives thought they had noticed the smell of chemicals on her, it must have come from the paint thinner and the floor stripper that she and Burnside had been using that day. The Dallas Police Department is featured in a national reality TV show on the A&E network called The First 48, (maybe youve seen it if not, watch episodes here) and the detective who interrogated Hephzibah Olivia Lord in a manner that justified Lords civil suit for damages was Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson, who has been seen frequently on this A&E show. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. Compared with Thompson, Lundberg was a quiet man who wore glasses and spoke slowly. Why, he wanted to know, would a man suddenly shoot himself after what seemed to be a routine argument with his girlfriend? Texas law enforcement officers (troopers, police officers, deputies) arrest people then interrogate them and take people into interrogation rooms for questioning as part of crime investigation routinely. Jaffe called Thompson back the next day and said that he had reached Lord. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. DallasJustice.com, Law offices of Michael Lowe, For a more complete description of the interrogation, check out Dallas Morning News coverage from the day that the jury was shown the interrogation videotape, Kim Sanders explained that the Lord interrogation was intimidation, Sanders also pointed out Thompsons failure to read Ms. Lord her Miranda rights, Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas, Salinas v. Texas: Your Silence During Police Interrogation Does Not Get 5th Amendment Protection, Can Be Used Against You As Evidence Of Guilt To The Jury. Whos that? Thompson asked, pointing to a man kneeling beside Lord in the front yard. But she never did: she kept saying that she loved her boyfriend, that they were happy together, and that he had taken his life for reasons she could not imagine. Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $800,000.00. Hed been as tall as Thompson, with a lean, athletic build. But there was one more turn in the story to come. Burnsides father showed up to let her in, and when Lord tried to tell him she had not murdered his son, he cut her off. Seriously, does anyone believe this story that Olivia tells about being in the bathroom and hearing something that sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen? Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. I cant undo what hes done.. . IMDbPro. She cooked, she cleaned, he was happy.. Edit. Lord, who is now 37 years old, still lives in the same apartment, and she has barely spent any of the money she won in her lawsuit. I work cases because thats what I get paid to do., Tittle asked Thompson why he didnt seem particularly disturbed that Burnside was drunk and had showed off his Beretta on the night of the shooting. "It was a good experience," Thompson says, "It kind of launched me into police work." But Tittle said the evidence simply did not point to that conclusion. Tittle then had the jurors watch Thompsons interview with Lord and Lundbergs interview with Rastegar. Nevertheless, as far as Thompson was concerned, that did not eliminate her as a suspect. Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. He spoke to her the way a loving father would talk to his daughter. Olivia, youre not telling me the truth, Thompson told her. I did start dating a guy not long ago, she said after the waiter left. Thompson said he had heard that Burnside was making money. When Shearin asked if he had told anyone that there was blood spatter on Lords clothing, he replied, I may have said it, but I dont know whether I said it or not. Shearin then asked about the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides skull. No, she said again. As one Dallas County prosecutor put it, They can, even for the most well-intentioned of reasons, get too focused on making an arrest at the detriment of the true story., Mitchell began evaluating Thompsons case against Lord. What other results could you have with the police policing themselves? she said. She walked to the front of the chapel to look at Burnside in his casket, and her legs nearly buckled as she said his name. But there was no corruption involved. Leave them blank to get signed up. Thompson misrepresented any of the facts that were provided by Witness Rastegar and that there were no signs of a criminal offense. Indeed, the report continued, Thompson did have probable cause to arrest Suspect Lord.. The lawyer was reluctant to open the door. Yes you did!. It was a stupid fight., Jaffe paused. When he wasnt solving murders, Thompson restored sports cars and tooled around in a black Corvette convertible. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. Thompson started his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. Her father, who lived in Californiahe and Lords mother had divorced when she was a childflew in to be with her. Shearin went to see Brandi Mitchell, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorneys office who was in charge of the Burnside case, and claimed that Thompson had perjured himself. Shearin called a friend in the homicide unit to ask about Thompson, whom he had never met. Nor did Burnsides parents invite her to the reception. Thompson acknowledged that without the statement regarding Lords confession, I wouldnt have filed a case. Tittle asked Thompson a series of questions about when he had actually written his arrest affidavit, which described Rastegar as making a recorded interview to the police about Lords excited utterance. Thompson was eventually forced to admit that he had typed up the affidavit before Rastegar had come down to the homicide offices to make his statement. Mitchell realized that the evidence against Lord was weak, but she wasnt prepared to say that Lord was innocent. Thompson is the one whos gotten away with the crime., Lord told me that she was not surprised to hear that the police departments Public Integrity Unit had ignored the civil jurys verdict and cleared Thompson. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. I had the impression that she told me that [Burnside] had nothing to do with it and she did it. But he refused to say, like he had said on his porch, that he had definitely heard Lord confess to the shooting. On May 9, 2010, plaintiff Hephzibah Olivia Lord, 36, who works in mortgaging, was alone with her boyfriend at his home, in Dallas. An expert witness with expertise as both a retired officer and homicide detective from the same police department, testified on Lords behalf. Its difficult to go out in public without thinking someone is saying, Theres the girl who killed her boyfriend., Right at that moment, a waiter walked up, clearly taken with her, and asked if she was ready to order. Thompson did his best to defend himself. I dont work cases for the sexiness of them, Thompson snapped. That she didnt mean to do it.. Police questioned Lord at the police station and then released her. Then Tittle fired back. An officer came over to Thompsons cubicle and handed him Lords and Jaffes cellphones. He was confident and charming, she said. Thompson asked if there was any chance that Jaffe had been carrying on a secret relationship with Lord. She said Burnside had been drinking heavily, and at some point, in the midst of the fight, he had walked into the kitchen and shot himself. Lord explained again and again that while she was in the bathroom, her boyfriend shot himself (they had been fighting, he was drunk). He was the life of the party.. Shearin ordered Lords cellphone records and received more good news: there was no seven-minute gap in her calls. The way Lord had described it, she and Burnside were deeply in love, and they had been talking about marriage. He allowed a few seconds to pass. And the bullet had exited toward the top of the left side of Burnsides head. I think Michael might have gotten the impression that I was going to leave him, she said. Police interrogations happen all the time here in Dallas, and over in Fort Worth as well as the rest of Texas and around the country. January 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? I hope you die in jail and burn in hell!. And a handful of Burnsides friends have reunited with Lord, saying they now believe that she had nothing to do with his death. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. For several seconds, the courtroom was quiet except for Lords muffled sobs. Why did you let my son bleed to death on his own kitchen floor? She added a detail about their relationship that she hadnt told Thompson, saying that she had been disappointed that Burnside hadnt proposed to her the previous Christmas. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson hunts for a band of carjacking killers that are terrorizing a neighborhood. Prior to her arrest, Lord had been known for her good-natured personality. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. Hephzibah Olivia Lord, distraught and sobbing, sat across from Detective Dwayne A. Thompson in the Dallas Police Departments interview room several hours after her boyfriend had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Im willing to accept that it might have been an accident. When Shearin called Lord with the news, she thanked him for all he had done for her, but then she said something else. In early May, word spread that the departments Public Integrity Unit had launched an investigation of Thompsons work on the Lord case. Olivia kept saying, I wasnt going to leave him. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. In his opinion, it was perfectly plausible that in the heat of the argument with Burnside, she had taken his pistol, slipped up behind him, and pulled the trigger. Theres no way my son shot himself,John said. She helped him with his finances, reminding him to pay his bills and to keep his spending in line. Look at it! Physical evidence can be more baffling than conclusive. Yes. Based on what we see, it looks like you got upset and shot him. Who cares? And youd say, you know, Thats not a toy., Jaffe said that Burnside had pulled out a gun that night. He actually turned to Lord and said, I know you didnt do it. He turned back to the jury and continued, But thats not the issue in this trial. 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