Well, since it has been a few days since PakRat has stirred the pot, I thought I would give it a go.

The link will take you to a blog on Cory Maye who sits on death row for shooting and killing a police officer. What makes this a topic for discussion is the circumstances in which the officer was shot.

The police were executing a no-knock drug raid and got the wrong duplex. Maye's, home alone with with his 18month old daughter, defends himself against the intruder in his home.

As a result Maye now sits on death row.

The blog is here: TheAgitator.com

So, in your opinion, is this justice? Was Mayes justified in shooting the intruder? Should he be on death row?

There must be more to it than that?

Well, I did paraphrase, but that is pretty much the gist of it. The blog explains it further.

I've read a lot of this discussion on Packing.org.

I don't really agree with no-knock warrants. They may have their place. If they can't get the right house, then they really need to do more homework.

Are the police really executing a legal order, if they execute it on the wrong house? I don't think so. It boils down to a aggravated breaking and entry (home envasion). So, I think anyone is justified in shooting.

If this guy was the actual target of the warrant and he shot in "self-defense", then I could see the death penalty.

Why can't they grab these guys in more of a smarter way? Why does it come to a no knock warrant? SWAT/CERT/whatever name should have the cool gadgets like laser listening devices to see if the person is awake or asleep, then they could pick the lock and sneak in.

[de-liberalize]

We do only see the end result. They need to do better homework before they kick in a door. I'm not saying don't kick the door, I'm saying if you kick the door on the wrong house be prepared. Well, they were prepared, and a cop still got shot.

The drug dealer may not have had a gun, but the wrong door might have one.

I have read this isuue of Corey Maye and as I see it, amongst MANY others, the police department screwed up!! Let's put this in perspective, someone breaks down your door at Zero Dark Thirty, there are only you and your child in the house. The police don't announce themselves, they just come in like Storm Troopers and you fear for your life. You grab your bedroom gun and they bust in your "sanctuary", again un-announced, and at that point you make the critical decision to open fire. (Now, we all know there have been so-called "police raids" with the criminals dressed like police officers.) You release the round because these people are coming at you aggressively. Given the circumstances, I would probably open fire, too.

A wrongly executed warrant, a severe violation of the 4th Amendment, the police office was WHITE and the shooter was BLACK. The police officer killed was also the Police Chief's son. Rumors have it that a couple of the jurors were wanting to get home to dinner. All in all, it appears that the deck was stacked against Corey Maye. What bugs me about this and I cannot glean any info on it is why on Earth did the jury decide against Corey & sentence him to death ?? Futhermore, why hasn't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or even the ACLU gotten involved??

The red highlighted portion of your statement is the best question I have heard on the matter!

Only in the south could this happen today. Where none in the MSM or any of the usual suspects of the Hollywood Liberal Elite are interested.

He must have had a piss poor lawyer to help him Back many years ago in Minneapolis they did the same thing and Sgt.Mack was shot and die a few years later. That guy didn't do any jail time.

And he shouldn't have. Unfortunately, the reality is that if the police screw up bad enough and kick down the wrong door, and the person or persons behind that door are prepared to defend themselves, well, it is likely going to be a lose-lose scenario, as even a prepared homeowner who has experience under his belt is not going to win in a CQ gun battle with a swat team. Unfortunately, if that homeowner is me, well, I have no reason to be the target of a no-knock warrant, and I am not willing to bet that the people screaming "police" are not some punks who will rape my wife and murder me, so it would likely be lights out/game over.

FWIW, I think the justification needed to be granted a no-knock warrant should be much, MUCH higher than it is. As evidence to support my opinion, I only need to present the clusterf*ck at Waco where triple-digit numbers of people who didn't need to die were slaughtered due to a recklessly issued no-knock warrant, let alone the dozens of innocent people shot by police at the wrong house in the past few decades.

About 6 years ago I was a target of a no-knock warrant. I knew the first cop that came in and he knew me,this is why I didn't shoot him and he didn't shoot me. "opps wrong door"

That's the entire problem of this situation. This guy had no reason to be part of a no-knock warrant, either. The warrant was for one half of the duplex. In MY experience, duplexes have TWO addresses!! The police assumed that the other half was part of the warrant.

Let's say you live at 1234 Main St NORTH. A warrant is issued for 1234 Main St. SOUTH, but someone goofs up and goes to YOUR address. You don't have to be a criminal to be part of a mistake. I've seen many clerical errors or misreading errors in my life. I've even done one or two myself, especially when I was working cable tv.

You both got damn lucky. My door gets kicked in and I'm likely shooting. No one is hurting my kids without getting through me, I can't trust "police" outfits to be safe people in that situation.

A couple of notes about the Maye case:

The raid took place in a duplex. The police had warrants on both units of the duplex, including the side that Mayes occupied. The police had the legal authority to be in his home under the terms of the warrant, even though he wasn't a suspect.

Maye admitted in court that he knew of Jamie Smith (the drug dealer named in the warrant), and that he knew Smith was dealing from his side of the duplex.

I knew there had to be more to it. Thanks Squib_Joe for the info

Squib, I haven't read that Maye's side had a warrant. Do you have a link for that info?? Sometimes one has to dig for the truth. Now some light is being shed on the subject.

From what I've read, there was no warrant, the police did NOT announce themselves. I suppose someone could spin this they way they want.

That was taken from the same source

http://www.theagitator.com/archives/025962.php#025962

"As the raid on Smith commenced, some officers - including Jones -- went around to what they thought was a side door to Smith's residence, looking for a larger stash of drugs. (Note added on 12/12: This is Maye's first attorney's account of the raid. Police did have a warrant to both residences, though Maye wasn't named in either.)"

Link to the Maye warrant:

http://www.theagitator.com/maye.warrant.pdf

Link to the Smith warrant:

http://www.theagitator.com/smith.warrant.pdf

The police claim that they announced themselves. Maye claims that they only announced themselves after he started shooting.