Six years in custody without trial: Black activists call attention to man in California jail
Harvest Davidson didn’t kill Dennis “Spike” Wright, but Davidson has spent past much of the past six years in jail awaiting trial in connection with the other man’s death.
Davidson, 26, of Sacramento is one of six men arrested on suspicion of participating in a robbery that led to Wright’s killing in January 2016. Davidson is one of the last two to go to trial, with the four others getting lengthy sentences of up to life in prison.
It’s uncontested that Davidson was not present when one of his co-defendants, Dion Vaccaro, shot and killed Wright in a South Lake Tahoe parking lot after a planned marijuana deal fell through.
But Davidson is facing a murder charge and decades in prison because prosecutors believe he knew more about a plan to rob Wright, an Amador County man who was in the area to sell 100 pounds of marijuana. Prosecutors contend Davidson was parked nearby as a “wheelman” for the crime while others confronted Wright.
All six of the defendants in Wright’s death are people of color. Recently, activist groups have been highlighting the lengthy sentences handed down in the trials, contending the men have been mistreated by prosecutors in a largely white county.
The Greater Sacramento NAACP, Black Lives Matter and other organizations held a rally in Placerville on Monday for Davidson, urging his release.
Tanya Faison, president of the Sacramento chapter of Black Lives Matter, said Davidson should not be behind bars and there’s a “huge injustice” going on in the El Dorado County Jail.
“Harvest was arrested for something that he did not do and whenever a person goes to a county jail, they’re not supposed to be there for more than one year. He’s been there for over a year now, almost six years,” said Faison.
Davidson’s supporters also say a recent change in California criminal law should benefit him. Former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 signed a law that restricts when prosecutors can file murder charges against suspects who did not actually kill someone, a change that Davidson’s supporters say should apply to him.
Davidson in 2019 and Teverez Lopez, another codefendant who was not present at Wright’s killing, filed petitions arguing charges against them should be lessened because of the law Brown signed.
Davidson “was parked around the corner from the parking lot where the confrontation between Vaccaro and Wright took place, and thus could not have seen the shooting, done anything to stop it, or rendered aid to Wright,” Jennifer Mouzis, Davidson’s attorney at the time, wrote in 2019. Davidson “could not be said to have acted with ‘reckless indifference to human life’ by fleeing the scene with (two codefendants) after hearing gunshots.”
El Dorado calls new felony murder law unconstitutional
But El Dorado County countered, contending the new law is unconstitutional because it conflicts with voter-approved tough-on-crime initiatives.
The county in a brief filed at the Third District Court of Appeal in 2019 also described evidence that it said suggested Lopez and Davidson were in on a scheme to rob Wright, meaning prosecutors believe Lopez and Davidson helped create conditions that led to Wright’s death.
Courts sided with El Dorado County, leaving Davidson and Lopez to face murder charges. Lopez was convicted of murder in November and is awaiting sentencing.
Much of prosecutors’ evidence comes from one of the codefendants, Tristan Batten, who cooperated with the investigation before backing out of a plea deal in 2020.
Like Davidson, Batten was not directly at the scene of the killing. He drove a codefendant, Andrew Adams, away from the shooting, according to court records. Batten was sentenced to 26 years in prison, according to local news coverage of the trials.
Family seeks more evidence
Davidson’s mother, Tina Perry, says Davidson is not guilty and she believes there’s more to his story than what is being told in the El Dorado Superior Court. She said her son should be set free because there was never “a full set of discovery,” or evidence provided.
Davidson’s current attorney, Hayes Gable, is seeking more evidence after finding gaps in page numbers, according to court documents.
“The dilemma here is that this case has been pending since February 2016. Complete discovery should have been proven years ago,” Perry said at the rally on Monday.
El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Casey Mandrell declined to speak about the evidence because the trial is still pending, but said Perry’s claim about missing evidence is “unfounded.”
“All of the defendants in this case have been provided the discovery that they are entitled to. We did determine that some of the written discovery was misnumbered, creating gaps in the pagination. These gaps do not represent missing discovery or missing evidence,” Mandrell said in an email to The Bee.
Perry, with the support of others, is asking for an explanation for the “gaps.” She has asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to oversee the case and investigate the practices in El Dorado County Court.
Leia Schenk, founder of Sacramento nonprofit Empact, joined Perry when they protested for the release of Davidson at the El Dorado District Attorney’s office in December.
“Mainly, it is his freedom. That’s what we’re asking for,” said Schenk. “The biggest push right now is to get him released and get him out of there. He’s not safe.”
Davidson has not been offered bail in the six years he’s been in custody.
“It’s frustrating,” said Davidson to The Bee in December. “The district attorney’s office and their paralegal may have no explanation for the remaining missing documents, but I still get to sit here while everybody’s enjoying their Christmas holiday parties and nothing is being done.”
NAACP Sacramento branch president Betty Williams says Davidson has been unjustly held in jail in a county unfavorable to Black people, especially Black men. At the rally Monday, supporters chanted and held signs that read “free Harvest Davidson.”
“You have a young man that doesn’t have a criminal background, that has a steady working history, and has never been involved in this type of crime,” said Williams. “Allow him the opportunity to reunite with his family and to fight this court case.”
Davidson’s next hearing is Friday and available to view and comment through El Dorado Superior Court’s livestream on YouTube.
