Tyler man faces 99 years in prison for crime he says he didn't commit

Late on the night of Feb. 7, 2019, Davis was stopped by police on Confederate Avenue in Tyler. Splitting his time between his two jobs, college classes and regular check-ins, and urine analysis with his parole officer, he thought he had no reason to worry.

Familiar with navigating police interactions, Davis agreeably provided his driver's license and consented to Tyler officers searching his car. Once out of his vehicle, an officer said Davis “put something in his mouth,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The officer reported he “grabbed (Davis), and attempted to stop him from further destroying evidence,” the affidavit states. The officer then “observed white residue on (Davis') tongue.”

CBS19 and Tyler Morning Telegraph requested body camera and dash camera footage of the traffic stop, but law enforcement denied the requests.

Although the presence of drugs was not recorded on the incident report, officers took Davis to a nearby medical facility where a medical report shows no tests were performed to check for cocaine. Davis said he insisted on the tests.

North Texas civil rights and criminal attorney Justin Moore said it's uncommon to be charged with tampering with evidence without the evidence being found.

The medical report, provided to the Tyler Morning Telegraph and CBS19, indicates staff performed a complete review of Davis' systems to identify the present illness, which was recorded as ingestion of cocaine and resulted in negative responses. The review showed he was alert, well-oriented, and responsive, with equal round, reactive pupils and average pulse rates, according to the report.

“If he swallowed evidence and that evidence was crack cocaine, you would imagine that there would be a chemical reaction that would have impaired his mental capabilities that would have been extremely visible,” Moore said.

When people take cocaine, their blood pressure goes up and their heart races, according to the Cleveland Clinic. During the exam, Davis had an elevated heart rate and high blood pressure. However, a person's heart rate can become elevated for a number of reasons, including anxiety, stress, emotions, caffeine, pain, et cetera. Davis also has a medically recorded history of hypertension — or high blood pressure — for which he takes medication.

Davis spent about three hours in jail on the tampering with evidence charge before he was released. Several weeks later, he was stopped for speeding through Huntsville, and a license check revealed a blue warrant for his arrest. He was rearrested and released in April 2019.

Soon, Davis started receiving mail addressed to a man with the same name, except a different middle name — Darryl Glenn Davis, of Tyler, who is in prison after he was found guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Smith County. Davis noted he gave the officer his driver's license at the stop. However, the police report for his arrest, obtained by CBS19 and Tyler Morning Telegraph, recorded a state identification number rather than his driver's license number.

Davis alleges when officers ran his license plate, he was misidentified as someone with the same first and last name. He believes that's why no toxicology report was done at the hospital – the officer knew he'd made a mistake by the time they arrived, according to Davis.

"Don't do a toxicology report on him because if you do, he may be clean, but throw him in jail because he is on parole," Davis thought.

Statistics show racial disparities when it comes to traffic stops and searches in the city of Tyler.

According to data from the 2022 Texas Racial Profiling Report, white drivers were more than twice as likely to be pulled over than Black drivers in Tyler. However, Black drivers were more than twice as likely to be searched.

Cases where a Black person, like Sandra Bland, loses their life after police encounters leave other people of color frustrated and fearful of law enforcement, said NAACP Tyler Branch President Lisa Williams.

Bland was a 28-year-old African-American woman who was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County in 2015, three days after being arrested during a traffic stop. Officials found her death to be a suicide. Her death drew outrage over the treatment of Black people by white police officers and was considered a turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the History Channel.

Police encounters can be traumatizing for people of color; that’s why civil rights organizations offer advice so they're hopefully less likely to experience a negative interaction, Williams said.

“You’re always on your P’s and Q’s, because you never know what you may encounter,” Williams said. “You always want to follow the rules and do what they ask of you because the main thing you want is to get home.”

CBS19's Brennon Gurley and the Tyler Morning Telegraph's Katecey Harrell worked jointly on this investigation. To read more from the Tyler Morning Telegraph about Davis' time behind bars, his upcoming trial and what second chances may be available to others in his situation, click here.

Katecey Harrell can be reached at kharrell@tylerpaper.com. Brennon Gurley can be reached at BGurley@cbs19.tv.