NCJ Number
150767
Date Published
1993
Length
466 pages
Annotation
This book encompasses the criminal trials of Texan Cullen Davis, heir to a legendary Texas dynasty of oil and money and worth over $100 million, showing how defense attorney "Racehorse" Haynes fashioned a defense that persuaded a Fort Worth jury that he was innocent of killing his 12-year-old stepdaughter, despite overwhelming evidence.
Abstract
This story of Cullen Davis encompasses four criminal trials, grand jury investigation, numerous bond hearings and bond appeals extending to the U.S. Supreme Court, five civil suits arising out of the shootings, several investigations by government regulatory agencies, Bill Davis' Federal suit against his brothers and Kendavis Industries International, and a host of divorces. The research for this book included not only the transcripts of these proceedings but 6 months of interviewing and, in some cases, getting to know the principals in the drama. The book portrays Cullen Davis as a man who believed that money could buy anything and documents incidents and behaviors that show how he lived his credo. The story includes the saga of his wives and his domination of them. It reveals the murderous lengths to which his arrogance would take him when he was defied. The book climaxes with one of this century's most talked-about criminal trials, in which a skilled defense lawyer showed how the law and perceptions of evidence could be manipulated to persuade a jury that Davis was innocent of killing his 12-year-old daughter. Davis emerged from his trials as a hero to a Texas public that believe a man of his wealth and position could not possibly do those horrendous deeds of which he was accused.