This case is one reason that the death penalty is , jusifiably, controversial.
If the facts are as presented in the story, this is a miscarriage of justice on an unbelievable scale.
If the events transpired as presented, Cory Maye was correct in taking the actions he did, I would have done exactly the same thing. I think that the OIC of the raid should have been the one facing charges, not Mr. Maye.
Mr. Maye acted within his rights of self defense as a citizen. I believe that racism and cronyism played a part in this conviction...Maye is black and the officer he shot was white, and the son of the police chief of the town where the incident occurred; the jury was all white. I'm not one that has much patience with the "race card" in most instances, but I feel in my bones that race was a deciding factor in this case.
The OIC of the raid is guilty of neglegence leading to a death at the very least.
As a former LEO with over twelve years on the street, I believe that I am qualified in making this opinion. The officers conducting the raid were not properly tacticly informed of the situation of the site prior to the raid, and allowing a non-team member to accompany them, even if he was a LEO, is against every procedure I've ever been taught. Another thing that really bothered me was that Officer Jones entered the premises as part of a drug raid and WASN'T ARMED. This is a breakdown of procedure that is totally inexcusable. It was a situation where the police were almost asking for one of their own to get injured.
Officer Jones is a victom of what we used to call "tombstone courage"; using improper procedure and overreaching his capablities in a deadly situation. The OIC should have insured that this could not have happened as it did. As it stands, Mr. Maye is going to pay the price for that series of misjudgements.
What I really want to know is, WHERE are all the Hollyweird celebs? They sure seem capable in coming out in droves in defense of a TRUE criminal, but they seem to have a total silence in this case, where it is OBVIOUS that a miscarriage of justice is occurring. Maybe because Mr. Maye hasn't the celebrety cachet of a true gangster, as in Mr. Williams case.
After all, Mr. Maye was just exersizing his 2nd Amendment rights in the defense of his 18mo old daughter, and we all know how the folks in Tinsletown regard that "outmoded" concept.
Thats probably why the ACLU hasn't gotten involved either...don't want to encourage those gun nuts ya know....SELF DEFENSE?!? Don't want the plebian masses to know that they can do that!
Posted by Delftsman3 at December 9, 2005 06:32 PM | TrackBack