Acquittal doesn’t mean freedom for falsely accused
Michael Davis walked out of Rensselaer County Court a free man Friday for the first time in nearly 11 months after a jury acquitted him of all charges in the death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter.
But as the eight men and four women pronounced the professional basketball player not guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, I couldn’t help but wonder if he will ever truly be free of the odyssey that began Feb. 26, 2015, when he found the lifeless body of little Viola Davis – whom he considered his own child after helping to raise her for about a year – in her bed in the 4th Avenue apartment they shared with her mother, Rebecca Parker.
“It’s a happy day for him,” Davis’ attorney, William Roberts of the Rensselaer County Public Defender’s Office, said outside the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was announced, “but it’s also very sad because he’s not the same man he was when he lost his daughter, and he’s going to have to deal with that.”
He’s also going to have to deal with the fact that despite 12 people unanimously agreeing he did not kill the child, there will always be a cloud hanging over him. Even though he was acquitted, news coverage of the case will be preserved for eternity thanks to the Internet, and there will always be the whispers of gossipmongers wondering if he was truly innocent or if he “got away with it.”
If you don’t believe that’s going to happen, let me introduce you to Paris Scott. I was introduced to the young woman via email last week, when she approached us about a story that ran on these pages more than four years ago.
On Feb. 18, 2012, the New Jersey native was a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who also had had small roles in movies including “Watercolors,” “Johnson Family Christmas Dinner” and “All Lies on Me.” On that day, though, she was arrested by Troy police after an RPI public safety officer said she backed her car into him and drove off when he asked her for identification after coming upon a group of students while assisting with a medical call on Albright Court.
Scott was charged with reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, improper signaling and unsafe backing. The charges were dismissed four months later – which was confirmed by Troy City Court officials – after the judge learned, according to Scott, that the officer had actually continued work after the alleged incident and was unable to produce any photos or medical records confirming the leg injuries he claimed he sustained when she allegedly hit him.
Scott said the weeks leading up to the dismissal were very difficult for her.
“I was a 3.4 average student at RPI, I was a resident director,” she wrote. “And because of one man’s false allegations, everything was stripped from me. I had criminal charges brought against me. Because of that, I lost my housing scholarship and was forced to move off campus. I was taunted
and tormented by my peers. I received soliciting letters from prison inmates because my name and address was in the paper and on TV.
“I was still allowed to finish classes while the school came to its decision, but just eight days before I was supposed to walk with my senior class, I was denied that right and put on a six-month suspension, even though technically my classes and exams were finished. And because of that suspension, I didn’t receive my diploma until January 2013.”
But while you would think having the charges dismissed would have brought the whole nightmare to a close for this young woman, it was only beginning. She said her attorney “pleaded” with the college to change the date on her diploma to reflect the fact that she was indeed a member of the class of 2012 and to remove the suspension from her transcript. The college refused, she said, because its decision came before the charges were dismissed.
And that’s just the beginning. The 26-year-old Scott now lives in Southern California and is pursuing a career in acting, but since finally graduating, according to the Internet Movie Database, she has only picked up small roles in a handful of low-budget television miniseries and films.
“So with everything you read I went through on false allegations and a case that got dismissed, I still go through emotional trauma when I reflect on this situation,” she wrote. “I haven’t had a steady job because I’m on Google . ... I just lost another job this week that I was certain to get because this report is still up based on false allegations.”
Meanwhile, back in the Collar City, Michael Davis is left to pick up the pieces of his life.
As he walked out of the Rensselaer County jail shortly after his acquittal, the 6-foot-10 Davis told WNYT-TV reporter Dan Levy that he hopes to resume a professional basketball career that had included a pair of short stints in the NBA Developmental League and an international travelogue whose last stop was in Uruguay.
Given the backlash Scott faced after her alleged confrontation with that public safety officer, I can only imagine the questions Davis will have to answer from any team considering adding the big man to their lineup.
“It’s tarnishing my reputation, my career, my livelihood,” Scott said in concluding one of her emails. “It’s been a rough 4 1/2 years, you have no idea. I just want a normal life. Please let me have that.”