A Real Tragedy, and A Real Cause

It would be nice if all the people working for clemency on behalf of notorious gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams (including the celebrity idiotocracy of Hollywood) spent some time working on cases of true injustice. Say, like this one, reported by Radley Balko...

Over the course of researching my paper, I came across the case of Cory Maye. Maye today sits on Mississippi's death row, convicted of capital murder for shooting police officer Ron Jones. It's probably worth mentioning that Jones is white, and Maye is black. It's probably also worth mentioning that at the time of his death, Jones' father was police chief of Prentiss, Mississippi, where the shooting took place. It's probably also worth mentioning that the jury who convicted Maye was white.

...Sometime in late 2001, Officer Ron Jones collected a tip from an anonymous informant that Jamie Smith, who lived opposite Maye in a duplex, was selling drugs out of his home. Jones passed the tip to the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force, a regional police agency in charge of carrying out drug raids in four surrounding counties. The task force asked Jones if he'd like to come along on the raid they'd be conducting as the result of his tip. He obliged.

On the night of December 26, the task force donned paramilitary gear, and conducted a drug raid on Smith's house. Unfortunately, they hadn't done their homework. The team didn't realize that the house was a duplex, and that Maye -- who had no relationship with Smith,-- rented out the other side with his girlfirend and 1-year-old daughter.

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. The door was actually a door to Maye's home. Maye was home alone with his young daughter, and asleep, when one member of the SWAT team broke down the outside door. Jones, who wasn't armed, charged in, and made his way to Maye's bedroom. Because police believed Maye's side of the duplex was still part of Smith's residence, they never announced themselves. Police said at trial that they did announce themselves before entering Maye's apartment -- Maye and his attorney say otherwise... Maye, fearing for his life and the safety of his daughter, fired at Jones, hitting him in the abdomen, just below his bulletproof vest. Jones died a short time later.

Maye had no criminal record, and wasn't the target of the search warrant. Police initially concluded they had found no drugs in Maye's side of the duplex. Then, mysteriously, police later announced they'd found "traces" of marijuana and cocaine. I talked to the attorney who represented Maye at trial. She said that to her knowledge, police had found one smoked marijuana cigarette in Maye's apartment. Regardless, since Maye wasn't the subject of the search, whether or not he had misdemeanor amounts of drugs in his possession isn't really relevant. What's relevant is whether or not he reasonably believed his life was in danger. Seems pretty clear to me that that would be a reasonable assumption.

It apparently wasn't so clear to Mississippi's criminal justice system. In January of last year, Maye was convicted of capital murder for the shooting of Officer Jones. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

There's no doubt that the dispute over whether the cops announced themselves is important, but there's still a huge question as to why this guy is sentenced to die. Look, I know a cop was killed, and as the only death penalty opponent who thinks Mumia should be sento the world beyond as soon as possible, I understand that the murderers of cops should be among the first lined up to receive capital punishment, if it should exist.

But take a look at this case, and tell me how fair it is. A man's asleep at home with his baby daughter, and someone breaks into his home. Whether they announce they're the cops or not, what would a law-abiding citizen do? The normal person would probably be fearful of what these men are doing here, and why they're here. In a moment of fear, they reach for the gun they own -- one they keep near the bed for expressly this type of situation -- and fire at the intruder that they believe is about to do them harm.

Yes, a great tragedy resulted in this case. But I find it hard to fault Maye here. Even if he should be found at fault for committing a crime, I find it impossible to believe that the offense is a capital one. Perhaps he deserves jail time -- although the facts as presented don't warrant it in my opinion -- but there's almost no way I can believe he should be sentenced to die. Officer Jones' death is a terrible tragedy. I can't see how compounding that tragedy by executing another man serves any purpose.

Instapundit has far more here. In the meantime, somebody call Snoop Dogg and tell him there's a real tragedy taking palce in Mississippi.