Christopher Hess, a former Dallas police officer who was fired after fatally shooting a young mother in 2017 and later cleared in both criminal and civil proceedings, is seeking years of back pay.
A Dallas Civil Service trial board hearing for Hess, 59, is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The hearing was initially scheduled for Aug. 18 and 19, but was postponed after the hearing chair fell ill, Nick Starling, a city spokesperson, said at the time.
In August, Hess’ attorney, Adam Stone, of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, declined to comment on the hearing. Lawyers who represented Hess during his 2020 criminal trial said at the time he did not plan to return to law enforcement.
The trial board hearing — a process where employees can appeal employment decisions such as suspensions, demotions or terminations — could prove a pivotal turn in Hess’ years-long effort to clear his name.
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His more than a decade on the force ended with a criminal prosecution and civil litigation after an encounter in Old East Dallas while responding to a report of a suspicious person.
During the trial board hearing, a three-member panel will hear sworn testimony and review evidence before deciding whether to uphold, reverse or modify the employment decision. Such hearings are generally open to the public, but the employee may request that the hearing or deliberations be closed. Once a decision is made, either side can appeal the ruling to a state district court.
On Jan. 18, 2017, Hess fatally shot Genevive Dawes, 21, after she reversed an SUV into his squad car and drove forward into a fence — actions he’d say put him in fear of another responding officer’s life. Hess fired 12 rounds, hitting Dawes, while another officer fired one shot.
A photo of the late Genevive Dawes pictured with her arms around the Rosa Parks statue in Downtown Dallas. Dawes was killed by Dallas Police officer Christopher Hess.
Photographed August 25, 2022.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Dawes, a mother to two daughters, had been sleeping in the SUV before police arrived, her family said in court filings. The SUV had been reported stolen, though her family said she had bought the vehicle not knowing it was stolen.
Prosecutors argued no other officers were in harm’s way when Hess shot. A grand jury charged him with aggravated assault by a public servant, a first-degree felony, in June 2017 — making him the first Dallas police officer to face such a charge after a fatal on-duty shooting in more than 40 years.
Then-interim police Chief David Pughes fired Hess two weeks later. At the time, police said he violated the department’s felony traffic stop policy and use of deadly force policy and placed a person in greater danger than necessary.
Hess was acquitted by a jury in the criminal case in February 2020, with his defense arguing he feared for his fellow officers’ safety.
Before the trial, the Dawes family filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against the city of Dallas and responding officers, including Hess. The court granted summary judgment to the individual officers on qualified-immunity grounds in August 2022 — a ruling the Fifth Circuit affirmed in April 2024 while sending claims against the city back for further consideration.
On remand, the court later granted summary judgment to the city as well and dismissed the remaining claims with prejudice, effectively closing the case.
During his more than a decade on the force, Hess faced at least 10 internal investigations for alleged excessive force, including punching, tackling and injuring individuals, most of whom were minorities, according to a 2023 investigation informed by police misconduct records by The Dallas Morning News. He was cleared due to “insufficient evidence” in nearly every case, The News investigation found.