Watch the Capitol long enough and you might recognize the Dyers, accidental advocates...
Graham Dyer, pictured here with his drum kit in the background. The 18-year-old died in the custody of Mesquite police in 2013. Authorities there used what has become known as the ‘dead suspect loophole’ to stop his parents from getting access to information on how Graham died. When Kathy and Robert Dyer finally obtained police videos of that night from the FBI, the images told a story very different than what the Dyers had been told.
Over the course of four biennial legislative sessions, the Dyers would make multiple trips to Austin, retelling their story each time to a new cast of elected representatives. They watched as their hopes to reform a law that had caused them so much personal pain rose and fell with the politics of the moment. They became experts in the minutia of committees and calendars and floor debates and back-room maneuvering.
But in 2019, when Moody introduced another bill to close what became known as the dead-suspect loophole, the Dyers returned again to share Graham’s story. They arrived early to the Committee on State Affairs, where the proposal landed that year, and took seats directly in the middle of the front row.
As the 2019 session progressed, Moody’s proposal bumped along the uneven path bills often take on the way to becoming law. When it seemed to be dying, Moody convinced then-Sen. Kirk Watson, of Austin, to tack it onto one of his bills, where it seemed headed for passage. In 2021, bills introduced by two legislators – Moody and Dallas Sen. Royce West – would have done away with the loophole. But with the Legislature navigating the powerful crosscurrents of COVID, voting disputes in the wake of the bitter 2020 election and concerns over the power grid following the big freeze that February, neither got a hearing and the proposal died once again.
The Dyers took their customary place in the center of the room, close to the front. As usual, they were the first to testify. Robert rubbed Kathy’s back as she rose to speak.
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