US Courts actually get it RIGHT for a change on self-defence!!!
 

Unknown men kicked down a man's door and ran into his room where his toddler was sleeping. To protect his child he used a gun and killed one of them. Unfortunately, they were the police. They didn't show him the search warrant, they were in the wrong half of a duplex, there were no badges, and they did not state that they were police. The man was sitting on death row, but now he is properly set free.

http://www2.newsadvance.com/lifestyl...de-ar-1195860/

"The day after Christmas 2001, a 21-year-old Maye was living in a duplex with his daughter and the child?s mother. A local sheriff?s deputy had gotten a search warrant that day for the home after an informant told him about a drug buy he had made from Maye?s neighbor. His lawyers, Pafford included, contend the deputy didn?t realize the home was a duplex until just before the raid. Instead of calling off the drug raid that night, Pafford said, the police kicked down the doors to both homes.

Just inside the door Prentiss police officer Ron Jones Jr. kicked in was Maye?s 14-month-old daughter sleeping. Maye, believing his home was being broken into, was armed with a .380-caliber pistol. He shot the officer as Jones rushed into the room, killing him.

Police testimony at the trial was inconsistent as to whether Jones announced he was a police officer as he crashed through the door, or whether the announcement could have been heard inside the house. Evidence showed he was dressed in combat fatigues and had no badge visible or police markings on the front of his clothing.

The problems with the trial were manifold, Pafford said. The medical examiner offered speculative testimony that shouldn?t have been allowed and was misrepresenting himself as a board-certified pathologist. The jury wasn?t properly instructed about Maye?s right to self-defense, he said, and the trial was wrongly moved out of the county where he lived.

But most disturbing of all, his daughter, (the lawyers daughter [sic]), was the same age as Maye?s. The idea of being separated from his daughter for trying to protect her was too much, Pafford said.

In 2006, the trial judge agreed there had been problems with the case and set aside the death-penalty sentence, leaving Maye with a life sentence with no chance for parole. Three years later, the state appeals court agreed Maye should get a new trial because the case was moved out of his home county. Prosecutors appealed, but the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last year that because of the problems with instructions about his right to self defense, he should get a new trial.

Pafford and the other attorneys from his former firm, as well as Mississippi attorney Bob Evans, were preparing for trial when they reached an agreement with prosecutors earlier this month. Rather than sit in jail for another trial, Maye agreed to plead guilty to negligent homicide in order to be released on time served.

The experience has left him a critic of no-knock military-style raids. While they?re appropriate in some cases, he said, the majority of the time, busting someone?s door down with the same techniques Special Forces soldiers are using in Afghanistan aren?t necessary.

?They say it gives them the extra 30 seconds to keep someone from rushing into the bathroom to get rid of the drugs, but how about giving the people inside those extra seconds to wake up, realize the police are coming in and do what you want them to do, which is to put their hands up and comply,? he said.

The outcome also bolstered his faith in the legal system.

?It reinforced for me that if you put time and the work in, even if the odds are against you, you can prevail,? Pafford said Thursday. ?If you have the truth on your side and you work hard, over time, you will get results.?

Nice outcome, definitely see a movie script out of this story ;-)

Good for him. Too bad it took awhile but it ended up OK.

The system is working?

US Courts "get it right"?

He was sentenced to death.

Bad example maybe?

through appeals, they got it right..

people are killed every year by police raids where a half asleep person makes an odd move and gets shot by police..

they should re think how these raid are conducted :2 cents:

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reminds me of that stupid ruling the supreme court just passed
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/1...rijuana-smell/

awesome story...Really though, why do we have to use the same style raids that we use in Afghanistan for people who haven't paid their taxes or who have sold marijuana? Pretty silly

Police should only use "no knock" warrants under extreme circumstances. The issue of "they might flush the drugs down the crapper" doesn't fly with me; If it's that damn important they can pull the fucking plumbing out.

This man thought he was protecting his house and his child. He did nothing wrong.

Sure, through the appeals process... What I am saying is that someones life was destroyed completely and he was put through absolute hell and believed he was going to die (possibly twice, if you count the first night).

Additionally, it typically takes over $500,000 for a capital murder defense, on average.

You guys are forgetting that this went to trial, the evidence was presented, the case was argued, he lost and he was convicted of murder and then sentenced to die. The chance of changing that on appeal are astronomical. Definitely not a process to trust your life to with any confidence, no matter what the facts are.

And yeah... cops should follow the letter of the law and proper procedure or they deserve to get murdered when kicking someones door in and running through their house screaming and yelling and waving guns around.

Sounds like a good dad to me.

I think the only reason that the legal system "worked" for him is because his lawyer had a little girl. Any other lawyer? This guy would be waiting for a needle.

so he did plead guilty...incredible. and i guess this means he can't sue the shit out of the state for putting him on death row and royally fucking with his head?

or can he still sue? he should if he can, they really screwed up this guy's life for a while.

Well.. he did have about a 1:90 chance in not being killed by the state once convicted for capital murder.

I see why that is perfectly acceptable and a "success".
:)

and yet still charged with homicide.. sad story, glad he's out

Was the guy black? if so, he basically won the lottery

Unless you are apprehending a violent criminal you should knock or even call the person's house.

On one hand the state gives me the right to defend my home with deadly force ... On the other it allows police to violently enter without warning. What's right?

Also all this happened on the word of an informant. One of the lowest forms of human life.

Those cops are criminals.

This man lost his youth. In prison from age 21 to age 31. He lost seeing his child growing up in those years. He now is out of jail with no income (but possibly money for the story?).

Everyone of those policemen that were involved...from the men who actually did it, all the way up to the officer in charge back at headquarters should all be put in prison for the exact same time period as this guy did.

And then he should sue the county for everything they have.

The other convicts probably treated Maye like a king for killing a cop.

Our cops are becoming more like the Gestapo every day.

... and all that for the " war on drugs " ...

Or you could call it the "war on freedom", the war on "freedom of choice", the "U.S. war on it's own citizens"... you know what I mean.

We are supposed to be a free country. And yet...gambling is illegal in most places, you can't buy a hooker, you can't smoke a joint...Hell, an 18 year old ADULT can not have a fucking beer anywhere... or even gamble in Las Vegas!

I turned 18 in 1979 and was "grandfathered" in down in Florida and just barely made it.

I feel sorry for 18, 19, and 20 year olds that have come up since then. I mean...those are THE years where you can actually live a little and have few responsibilities and have a good time. Make memories for the rest of your life.

Instead, they have to wait until they are 21 to go out to a nightclub and socialize. :(
By then, most of them are married with kids and bogged down with bills to pay.

It's fucking bullshit. "Free Country" my ass.... :disgust

Cops Gone Wild. Thank god the system FINALLY set things straight.

NICE OUTCOME??? A man spent 9 years in prison for committing no crime at all.

Yeah...and missed his 20's and missed his daughter's first decade of life.

Those fucking cops should all be in prison.

cops are generally stupid. sucks they have that power.

and yes how is this a great outcome? it's a worse crime than some bullshit drug charge.

I saw a movie starring Tom Selleck years ago "An Innocent Man" similar plot.


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