Quanell X named in defamation lawsuit by Texas police officers

Following the local and national spreading of claims that Houston police brutally beat Marvin Driver Jr, the father of NFL player Donald Driver, the police have been cleared and are now filing a defamation lawsuit. Quanell X has been named in the suit.

Following the outcome of an investigation by internal affairs, police were cleared of any wrongdoing following a traffic arrest of the father of Green Bay Packer's player Donald Driver, Marvin Driver Jr. (56). Marvin Driver Jr. was arrested during a traffic stop due to outstanding warrants on November 17, 2008 at around 1:30 a.m. During transport to jail, Driver went unconscious and as part of a statement issued by the police department:

Upon arrival to the jail, our officers stated Mr Driver was unresponsive. One of our jail doctors examined Mr. Driver and advised officers to contact HFD paramedics. HFD then transported Mr. Driver to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The family repeatedly released statements that the police brutally assaulted the 56-year-old man, causing his brain to hemorrhage that landed him in critical condition at the hospital. They stated that doctors told them that Driver Jr. had bruising to the abdomen, consistent with being kneed in the stomach. They even claimed that police shoved cocaine down his throat. They said Driver wrote the events on paper towels and that according to the AP on November 20:

took him to a station, kicked him in the stomach, elbowed him in the neck and forced something down his throat.

On November 21, the NBC local reported that:

Driver Jr. says the two officers took him behind a local gas station, beat him and made him swallow something.

Witnesses in the area told a different story, saying that they did not see the elder Driver being beaten and that the officer that Driver and the family alleges to have repeatedly assaulted him actually remained in the police vehicle during the arrest. So while the story varied amongst family members and witnesses, an investigation into the allegations was cause to place two of the three officers on administrative duty. The outcome of that investigation came out in favour of the officers with the department stating that "the investigation could not prove or disprove Mr. Driver's allegations" but that the medical records evidence does not show that injuries sustained by Driver were consistent with a "recent assault." (see investigation statement in pdf.) With the officers back to normal duty and having suffered public humiliation based upon what is being called media "sensationalized" and "false claims," the officers have filed a defamation lawsuit against both Driver and Quanell X. The suit by the officers states that the lies made by the pair not only "smeared" their names, but also brought damages to their reputations and publicly humiliated their families in the process. Driver and his family ensured media publicity from the beginning, claiming that he was brutally beaten by the officers and that they forced cocaine down his throat. However, in the letter from the police union to the Harris County District Attorney's office calling for a perjury investigation into Driver and Quanell X, it is revealed that details in the case, including Driver's personal medical records were not consistent with the claims. (see pdf version of letter here). Quanell X denied that the statements he made in public were knowingly false, and said that what he knew was between him and the Driver family. He was quoted as saying "I have no reason to believe at this dispensation of time that Mr. Driver was not telling the truth." Quanell X, the leader of the reformed Black Panther's, was quoted in different news articles as making inflammatory allegations such that the police told Driver that he was going to see Jesus:

"They picked him up and took him behind a Valero station by a dark road, where he was beaten and forced to swallow something. What they gave him to swallow, he said that they made the statement that he was going to see Jesus. Told him to 'Swallow this. You're going to see Jesus,'" Quanell X said.

And in another article, he was quoted as saying that the doctors had

"clearly stated to us that Mr. Driver's injuries are from blunt force trauma -- that's what his injuries are from -- not from a slip-and-fall, not from a diabetic attack."

Quanell's attorney called the lawsuit an attempt by police to silence a "long-time critic." Marvin declined to comment on the lawsuit. Martin Driver Jr. apparently has a history with the legal system as he spent a few years in prison back in the late 80s for drug related charges. He also has a criminal history of being charged with robbery, felon in possession of a weapon and several charges of driving with a suspended license. See lawsuit document here.