LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Three more plaintiffs are set to join a lawsuit against the city of Little Rock over police use of “no-knock” warrants in drug raids.
Lawyers for Rodderick Talley say at least three more people have similar stories where a team of officers used explosives to burst into homes looking for narcotics and in their cases, not finding what they were looking for.
Talley has home security surveillance video that shows the raid on his apartment in 2017. He was arrested but all charges were later dropped. He has worked since then to expose what he says are serious problems with how the unit conducts its raids.
“The cover-up will not be able to last,” said Ben Crump, who along with Mike Laux represent Talley and the three new clients, each with a similar story.
“I would have been head over heels not knowing what would happen in my situation because I didn't know why I was being targeted,” said Derick Davis, who thanked Talley for pushing the case. “For me, it was basically him saving my life and giving me the opportunity to tell my story."
“I was facing some serious time for something I didn't do,” said Juanglecio Boykins. “They claimed that I was operating a drug premises and which I wasn't.”
Both Davis and Boykins say they had never had run-ins with the law before the raids. Like Talley, they blame a rouge confidential police informant for passing along bad information to officers. Talley claims his surveillance footage shows the man ringing his doorbell days before being served.
“What we are seeing is a police force aggressively pursuing members of an already disenfranchised population,” said Laux, who is also involved with other civil rights and employment cases against the LRPD.
While he and Crump see racial disparities in who is being targeted, they brought up a fourth person, Candice Caldwell, a white woman, to broaden their case. Like Talley, she has video and played it at the news conference.
“Please don’t kill my dog,” Caldwell said on the video as police flood into her home.
A loud bang and her scream can be heard as they use explosives to open doors. She showed pictures allegedly of the damage including shattered glass and a hole in the ceiling. In her case, she said one officer accused her of hiding drugs and a large sum of money. None was ever found and like her fellow plaintiffs, all charges have since been dropped.
Laux said the city has offered nothing toward repairs, but the plaintiffs said it's about more than money.
They want change.
“I initially just wanted justice and after they kept closing the door in my face the only thing I could think then was to get their attention,” Talley said. “So now that I have their attention I still haven't thought of numbers. I just completely want justice for the most part.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 24 the city had yet to officially be told the new plaintiffs had joined the case, so they held off on commenting beyond a statement by city attorney Tom Carpenter made Oct. 15, that said they stand by the validity of the process and some of the warrants - including the "no-knock" kind.
Judge Hugh Finkelstein signs most of the warrants in the city but said he could not comment on anything related to ongoing cases.
Laux said the plaintiffs have a deadline of Nov. 27 to inform federal judge J. Leon Holmes of any other people joining the case. They hope enough come forward to allow it to be brought as a class action.
“While we think there are hundreds of people in the city who could come forward, we’re not sure enough of them will [for the judge to create a class],” Laux said.