Murder Conviction in George Floyd Case Draws Attention to Dallas Death
Four years before the death of George Floyd, a 32-year-old man named Tony Timpa died after a Dallas police officer knelt on his back and shoulders for more than 14 minutes in an encounter captured on body-camera footage. Now, Mr. Timpa’s case is likely to be the first major test of the lawfulness of “prone restraints” since former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering Mr. Floyd with a similar maneuver, criminal-justice researchers say.
In November 2016, Mr. Timpa’s family sued the Dallas officers involved in the encounter, claiming they asphyxiated Mr. Timpa, who had a history of mental troubles and was unarmed, handcuffed and barefoot during a struggle with police. He stopped moving minutes before the officer got off him, the footage shows. A federal judge in Texas ruled last summer that the force used against Mr. Timpa wasn’t deadly or clearly excessive, dismissing the suit. Mr. Timpa’s family appealed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to rule. A grand jury indicted three Dallas police officers in Mr. Timpa’s death, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges.
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Getting a federal appeals court to revive a case like Mr. Timpa’s is often difficult, but lawyers who aren’t involved say the Chauvin verdict could weigh on the court, even if nothing about Mr. Floyd’s death is entered into the record for the appeal. Several legal scholars filed amicus briefs supporting the Timpa appeal, which comes as Congress debates changing laws that have long protected police officers from litigation.
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The Aug. 10, 2016, incident unfolded in an industrial stretch of northwest Dallas, beginning with a 911 call placed by Mr. Timpa himself. He told an emergency dispatcher that he had schizophrenia and was off his medication. He then darted into a six-lane road and attempted to climb onto a bus, according to court records. When police arrived, private security guards had handcuffed him near a bus stop. In police body-camera footage submitted as evidence, Mr. Timpa can be seen rolling near the curb, kicking his bare feet and screaming. Police tried to calm him, but he kept thrashing. Officer Dustin Dillard is seen turning him on his stomach and kneeling on his back for 14 minutes, at times applying both knees. Mr. Timpa said “help me” repeatedly before going quiet and still, with Mr. Dillard’s restraint persisting for about another three minutes, the video showed.
The officers, who said they thought Mr. Timpa was snoring, can also be heard making jokes and laughing, pretending he was a snoozing child late for school. The plaintiffs stated in court documents that the snoring sound was Mr. Timpa gasping for air. Later, with Mr. Timpa on a stretcher, Mr. Dillard is heard saying: “I hope I didn’t kill him.” Paramedics told the officers he wasn’t breathing. The Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled Mr. Timpa’s death a homicide and blamed Mr. Timpa’s death on “excited delirium syndrome” attributed to cocaine found in his system and “physiological stress associated with physical restraint.” The examiner said it couldn’t rule out “an element of mechanical or positional asphyxia.”
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/murder-conviction-in-george-floyd-case-draws-attention-to-dallas-death-11622988002 (subscription)
