Right up front, it’s fair to say that I’m a supporter of Capital Punishment. For some things, I think the appropriate response is to pull someone’s ticket for riding on the planet. There are many areas of debate on the matter, such as what constitutes action heinous enough to gain someone ultimate outcast status, and about the processes used to determine when it should be applied.
But in this case, probably brought to wider attention because it does involve a sentence of death, the death penalty isn’t the issue. The main issue is that Cory Maye ended up in jail at all. There is an expression “there but for the grace of god go I” - and it is really hard to read the particulars of this case without having that thought, or one which expresses the same sentiment, cross your mind.
There is no question that the events of the night of 26 December 2001 in Prentiss Mississippi were absolutely tragic. A police officer who probably thought he was doing his duty to protect his community lost his life. And a man who probably thought he was defending both his 18 month old daughter, as well as his own life, is now being made to “pay” for the tragedy, thus compounding it exponentially.
This case will no doubt be in and out of courtrooms over the next several years, but there is no guarantee that ‘justice’ will ever be served by the process - particularly when the concept of ‘justice’ has apparently already been so thoroughly perverted. Future proceedings will be ancillary squabbles about procedures, technicalities, and points of order, but may never fully re-examine, holistically, if the ‘justice system’ got it right on this one. Despite that by all appearances, it did not.
So, an effort must begin to take the decision away from those, that by all appearances, have utterly botched it so badly to this point. It’s time that some of the governmental checks and balances mechanisms grind into action.
The Honorable Haley Barbour
Governor, State of Mississippi
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
(877) 405-0733Governor Barbour,
The purpose of this letter is to bring to the attention of your office the matter of Cory Maye. Mr. Maye is currently sitting in a Mississippi State Prison, under sentence of death. The circumstances of how he arrived there are, by all appearances, deeply disturbing.
Certain facts about the case are not in dispute. Prior to the events of December 26, 2001, Mr. Maye had no criminal record. On December 26, 2001, Cory Maye shot a police officer carrying out a search warrant. However, the warrant being served was not for Mr. Maye, nor for his residence. The execution of the warrant involved a ‘no-knock’ entry, late at night. Mr. Maye relinquished his weapon, and ceased resisting when it became obvious that the people that burst into his home were law enforcement officers.
Subsequently, Mr. Maye was charged with capital murder, for killing a police officer in the line of duty. A trial was held in Prentiss Mississippi, a jury convicted Mr. Maye, and sentenced him to death.
Although that description seems pretty cut and dried, there are a number of issues about this case that raise profound concerns about Mr. Maye’s conviction, and most certainly, the imposition of the death penalty. These issues raise the question of why Mr. Maye was even indicted and charged to begin with. These issues create the sense that the entire situation is one of a terrible tragedy (the death of the police officer), grossly compounded by a heinous miscarriage of justice.
The issues I refer to include the following -
- Apparent lack of intent - Mr. Maye apparently did absolutely nothing to place himself in the position of killing a police officer other than to be in his own home, asleep, on the night of the incident. Mr. Maye’s residence was a duplex, collocated with the residence specified in a search warrant being executed. The police entered Mr. Maye’s residence due to a mistake on their part - an act that they were not legally authorized to do, nor otherwise correct in doing.
- Intensely stressful and confusing situation - the police were executing a ‘no knock’ warrant, a procedure that involves a quick and violent entry into a given location. It is entirely reasonable to believe that a man, awakened from a dead sleep, in the middle of the night, having his door broken down, could believe that his life was in danger. It is further reasonable to believe a man in such circumstance would react within his first few seconds of consciousness reflexively to defend himself and his family. Further, it is difficult to consider such circumstance without having thoughts similar to ‘there but by the grace of god go I’
- Apparently overzealous and misguided prosecution - Charges were brought and the case was prosecuted by Jefferson Davis County District Attorney Buddy McDaniel. Statements made by Mr. McDaniel to the media appear to indicate his actions may have been more motivated by some sort of desire for retribution, along the lines that a police officer is dead, someone has to pay, rather than a careful weighing and objective review of relevant fact and circumstance
“Those of us who work around law enforcement officers and their families see the danger that they face every day and the loss those families and the communities feel when they’re taken out and when they’re murdered and their lives are brought to a close in the performance of duty”“Every time they get in the car they don’t know whether they’re going to come back alive or not, don’t know whether they’ll be alive at the end of their shift or not. You can’t pay them enough, you can’t say enough about them. Having been with, having worked closely with them for thirty years, its not something that I can deal with lightly”
Now while these are steadfast and probably heartfelt sentiments, and it is true that police work can be very dangerous, they have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the question of wether this tragedy resulted from the mistakes the police made executing a warrant, or from actions with criminal intent by Mr. Maye.
- Did the jury vote based on their like/dislike for his attorney? - Post conviction discussions with the jurors that sat on Mr. Maye’s trial apparently included the following
She learned from them that the consensus among jurors was that Maye was convicted for two reasons. The first is that though they initially liked her, Maye’s lawyer, the jury soured on her when, in her closing arguments, she intimated that if the jury showed no mercy for Maye, God might neglect to bestow mercy on them when they meet him in heaven. They said the second reason May was convicted was that the jury felt he’d been spoiled by his mother and grandmother, and wasn’t very respectful of elders and authority figures.If either of these sentiments are even remotely close to the truth, is it justice that a man is sitting on death row because his mother and grandmother spoiled him?
- Extraneous ‘red flags’ - three factors not directly related to the events of the night of December 26th could reasonably be taken to have contributed to the outcome in this case so far. First, that a lot of the media reporting, the basis by which potential jurors would gain a sense of the event, admittedly or not, consistently omitted and/or misrepresented the circumstances of the incident, essentially parsing it to ‘cop shot during drug bust’, and he said/she said reportage of statements by the police and Mr. Maye. Secondly, the officer slain was the son of a local police chief - quite probably elevating the emotionalism amongst those involved with investigating the incident, if not aggravating a sense that ‘payback’ was in order. And lastly, Mr. Maye, a black man, was apparently placed, wearing a prison jumpsuit, in front of an all white jury, in the midst of all these other factors.
Aside from simply bringing the disturbing aspects of the Corey Maye case to your attention, Governor Barbour, I’d like to make the following recommendation, and make the request that you, and your office, act upon it with all due diligence. I would recommend that as Governor, you direct that a fresh, thorough, and as completely unbiased an investigation possible into all of the aspects of this case be conducted immediately. I further request that should that investigation reveal that there is substance to this apparently gross miscarriage of justice, that you bring any and all powers available to your office to bear to rectify the situation as expeditiously as possible. I’m making this request of you, in your capacity as Chief Executive of the State of Mississippi, as events to date, as I understand them, give me little reason to assume that the Judicial Branch of the Government of the State of Mississippi is capable of resolving this situation either expeditiously, or correctly.
I appreciate your time and consideration of this matter.
Respectfully
A hard copy version of this will be on its way shortly.
::Update:: The letter is on it’s way. I included multiple ways for the Governor’s office to reply, it’ll be interesting to see if there is an actual response, and if it’ll be more than a cursory form letter of some sort.
And Welcome to folks surfing in from Instapundit. Feel free to hit the main page have a look at some of our other offerings.
December 10th, 2005 at 4:47 am
Well said, and effectively covering the information as Radley Balko has described. I’ll post on my site as well.
December 10th, 2005 at 4:56 am
[…] Silent Running goes active with an open letter to the Mississippi governor about the Cory Maye case. Although that description seems pretty cut and dried, there are a number of issues about this case that raise profound concerns about Mr. Maye’s conviction, and most certainly, the imposition of the death penalty. These issues raise the question of why Mr. Maye was even indicted and charged to begin with. These issues create the sense that the entire situation is one of a terrible tragedy (the death of the police officer), grossly compounded by a heinous miscarriage of justice. […]
December 10th, 2005 at 4:56 am
There is a degree of irrationality that occurs when a policemna is killed. In our suburban community, a 17 year old girl was prosecuted for pulling out from a poorly visible intersection after which her car was struck by a motorcycle officer who may have been going too fast. She was devastated by the incident before she was charged. It was an abuse of power to do so but not unique.
December 10th, 2005 at 4:59 am
Excellent. This incident was a tragedy and must be mitigated before more tragedy ensues.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:04 am
I was a cop for 29 years. Some of it in Homicide, some of it in the narcs and some as a senior police commander. You are right…..If the facts are as presented, this is a miscarriage. I don’t like no-knocks and this is exactly why. I recognize that they are sometimes necessary for the safety of the officers involved and to insure that you get the evidence that you are looking for but you absolutely have to do your homework.
I have been involved in a lot of search warrant services and a few have gone sideways….almost always because we missed something in the prep. If you are doing a no-knock, you have absolutely got to know everythng you possibly can about your target and you have to practice and practice and practice until you can do it in the dark.
I hope this can be resolved….no police officer worthy of the name wants to see an innocent man in prison let alone on death row.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:05 am
No justice until Maye is Free.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:18 am
Well, you conservatives certainly have not only a bloodlust, contempt for legal niceties(no-knock warrants), but a kneejerk love of police officers that the Nazis would have recognized. Now, it’s bearing a fruit you don’t like!
December 10th, 2005 at 5:20 am
The Death Row Case of Cory Maye
The Mainstream Media, and the Hollywood Left, can’t get enough for their Free Mumia!, Spare Tookie, fixes , but how much are they concerned about one Cory Maye, a black man on death row in Mississippi, for killing a Cop
December 10th, 2005 at 5:36 am
I’m not a resident of Mississippi, but can a petition be started? This is awful.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:40 am
Not bad. Now, where’s the letter to the US Attorney for Mississippi asking for an investigation into the criminal denial of Maye’s rights?
December 10th, 2005 at 5:52 am
[…] The facts surrounding this death penalty case are all well and good, and deserve consideration on the part of the Governor. But the real question remains: does the convicted write books for children? If not, I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do. […]
December 10th, 2005 at 5:57 am
I think the biggest problem with the current analysis of this case is the question of “if the facts are as presented.” The case is currently on appeal, so the prosecution largely cannot comment. We do NOT KNOW what the evidence in the case was. We did not hear or see the witnesses. I have looked for the transcript and can’t find it on Westlaw and the case apparently has not yet been taken by the Mississippi Court of Appeals (I don’t know exactly what appelate procedure is in MS, it could go straight to the Supreme Court of Mississippi).
If enough evidence were presented at trial to show the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt when hearing ALL of the evidence, then the verdict is proper. Before deciding that the verdict was improper, it might be best to wait and see how the appelate record looks.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:00 am
I was outraged when I heard about this: I do not like ‘no-knock’ warrants, and I support a person’s right to defend their home.
But then, I asked myself if I was fitting this into my pre-concieved belief system… and maybe missing something important. In short, I applied critical thinking: something that people on this blog should have done before hyping it.
I’ve lived in a duplex: They are one house, usually seperated by nothing but a tissue-thin wall which does NOT keep noise out of the other side.
Now, there are obviously reasons to make a narrow, legal distinction between one side of the same house versus another. But that doesn’t magically transport it to the other side of the planet.
So, if there’s a frigging RAID on the other side of the house, a jury might concievably believe that any shouts of ‘police!’ uttered on the other side could be heard by the occupant. Sound doesn’t stop travelling because it’s meant for the other occupant. And police DO announce themselves even during a no-knock warrant… normally as they are bashing the door down.
Cory Maye was hiding in his daughter’s room with a gun. He must have heard SOMETHING to make him wake up, get a gun, run to another room, and hide. That something was probably the door on the OTHER side crashing in, at which point he SHOULD have heard a shout of “Police!”. Maybe the officers did not. Maybe they are all a bunch of dirty reprobate liars while Maye is the pinnacle of honesty. Or maybe not.
You do not know. You don’t even know who testified about the incident. Maybe even the occupants of the other room testified that the police did shout. Or maybe you don’t care who said what.
You don’t know what the layout of the house was, and weather a shout of “police!” would travel from one side to the other.
You don’t even know weather the room light was on in the bedroom: If you see a guy in riot gear with POLICE emblazoned on the front, it probably isn’t a mugger.
But hey, let’s all second-guess the jury who presumably DID know these things. We don’t know jack, but that’s never stopped us before!
And I have a great idea: lets impeach the original jury descsion because 2 of the jurors off record, anonymously, not under oath, through a self-interested third party made up this insane story about sentencing a man to death because he wasn’t “respectful of elders and authority figures”. And they only realized that they were being wildly irrational AFTER the verdict? Note to self: must stop the dispensing of free LSD to juries at trials. Drugs Kill.
More likely, they had second thoughts about executing a fellow human being (which happens all the time, even when the executee is guilty as sin). At least THIS theory doesn’t demand that you believe the jurors were tempoarily insane.
My god. ** Skepticism is Dead. **
But hey, go ahead, belive what you want to and never ever let the facts get in the way of a perfectly constructed morality tale.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:21 am
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0401/25/m14.html
Small correction: the trial actually took place in Columbia, Miss., in Marion county. I guess the change of venue was to ensure a FAIR trial…..Lordy.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:37 am
Good post. How about some of the energy being used to save a thug in L.A. (Tookie) gets diverted to a more worthwhile cause?
Nah..the poor bastard’s not a “celebrity”.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:41 am
Bah. Tookie must die. My only complaint is it’s not going to be done with a gunshot wound to the belly so he can die slow.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:58 am
Very compelling letter, I hope it helps.
Maye and his daughter, and the officer are just the latest victims of the War on Drugsâ„¢. There would be no such thing as “no-knock” raids if it weren’t for the WOD.
:peter
December 10th, 2005 at 7:11 am
[…] I suggested that people should contact Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi about this case. A couple of hours later a blog entry appeared where someone did just that. However, some of the facts in the letter may not be totally accurate. Today, Radley begs our caution in the presentation: But it’s important that we get all of the facts straight on the case. I’ve already seen a few misconceptions start to appear. I think this is in part due to conflicting accounts of the case as given by various media outlets in Prentiss and Hatiesburg, by Maye’s first lawyer, by the cops at the scene, and by the prosecution. It’s also probably in part due to me putting the first two posts up rather quickly, and perhaps not being quite as clear as I should have been. It’s important that all the facts are correct, because even if a 75% true version of the story starts getting cited in letters to Gov. Barbour, he can cite the 25% that’s wrong, and dismiss them outright as being ignorant of the facts of the case. […]
December 10th, 2005 at 7:34 am
Ryan Waxx, he didn’t go to his daughter’s bedroom, he and his 18 month old daughter were a sleep in the same room, you are yourself supposing incriminating circumstances contradicted by the facts of the case.
You wrote:
“And police DO announce themselves even during a no-knock warrant… normally as they are bashing the door down.”
If they luck into a house that seems empty, they generally don’t and sometimes they don’t because if they start shouting as they go through the front door, someone with ill intent has time to arm themselves in another part of the house. It’s the difference between how things are and how they should be.
“If you see a guy in riot gear with POLICE emblazoned on the front, it probably isn’t a mugger.”
He wasn’t in uniform, since he wasn’t a regular member of the drug task force, he had spare gear on, it was not complete.
“Maybe the officers did not. Maybe they are all a bunch of dirty reprobate liars while Maye is the pinnacle of honesty.”
Well, it tool them several days to claim they found one smoked marijuana joint butt, I suppose they may well not have planted it.
“You don’t even know weather the room light was on in the bedroom:”
I have never read a description of the events to say the light was on, the question has not been addressed. You continually imagine incriminating circumstances where no details or available or even when contradictory facts are in evidence.
“But hey, let’s all second-guess the jury who presumably DID know these things. We don’t know jack, but that’s never stopped us before!”
If you have any reason to doubt that the jurors spoke the truth, please spell it out. Your own suppositions as to their motives are entirely meaningless.
“My god. ** Skepticism is Dead. **”
Skepticism is alive and well, which is why this all but perfectly open and shut case of prosecutorial misconduct, a miscarriage of justice, is drawing–too belatedly–the attention it should.
A cop broke into the wrong place, crept around while armed, and got shot dead for his mistake–that’s a good enough outcome in my book, compared to what’s scheduled to happen to Cory Maye.
Please see Steve Alexander’s email at the bottom of this link.
http://instapundit.com/archives/027353.php
which reads:
“My brother and I (both military officers and strong police supporters) were just discussing “no-knock” raids last week. A citizen has every right to defend himself in his home to unknown intruders. Not too long ago, a family was the victim of home intruders posing as cops. I’d be hard-pressed to believe anyone barging in my home in the middle of the night, especially if I KNEW I wasn’t a criminal. “No-knock” raids should be illegal in all 50 states.
Further, why doesn’t the Hollywood crowd take up the cause of a truly wronged black man on death row, instead of real criminals like Tookie and Mumia?”
Yours, TDP, ml, msl, & pfpp
December 10th, 2005 at 7:49 am
This story amazes me on 2 levels:
First, it is tragic to imagine a man convicted under these circumstances. Truly, there - but for the grace of God - go any of us.
Second, I seriously doubt that a jury would convict based on these facts. In the newspaper articles at the time, the police claimed they announced “Police” upon entering and, if that is true, it may have been a no-knock entry but it was not an unannounced entry. At this point, I join John Jenkins in saying that we don’t know what happened. And it troubles me that so many have made up their minds without even reading the (apparently unavailable) trial transcript.
I can understand expressing concern and trying to raise awareness about the Cory Mayes’ case. But until we know the facts from the trial transcript, I can’t understand why anyone can be so sure the Mississippi jury was wrong for convicting Cory Mayes.
December 10th, 2005 at 8:00 am
With respect to a few points raised - For Stephen Gordon: Yes, it is important that the facts be straight - which is why the letter I sent is liberally sprinkled with qualifiers. At this point, no, I don’t know what the facts are, but there’s enough stink around this to suspect a dead fish somewhere.
For DRJ and John Jenkins: Hey guys, you’re both right, and we seem to be in agreement - we don’t know what happened, for certain. That would be the reason this isn’t a “FREE CORY” letter, but instead it’s a “Hey, Governor Barbour, can you please have your folks look into this” letter.
December 10th, 2005 at 8:18 am
Wind,
I qualified, too: “…some of the facts in the letter may not be totally accurate.” :)
The Maye story is a travesty of justice. We all (left, right, libertarian, independent) need to work together on this issue so that the apparent injustice can be corrected.
December 10th, 2005 at 8:32 am
What?!?! No movie stars champing at the bit to stop this particular faux paux of both police force and justice?!?! What if the poor bastard had started a gang and and gone through appeals for killing four people?
Maybe this poor bastard needs to change his name to, “tookie”…
December 10th, 2005 at 8:39 am
Another blogger called the county clerk, and got a copy of the original search warrant. The name of the suspect, Wilson, is listed in the warrant, but Maye’s name is not. Duplexes often have two different street addresses, but are sometimes designated by “A” and “B”. Apparently, the warrant simply listed the street address. So my question is, is the warrant void entirely because it was not sufficiently specific? Or is it valid for Wilson’s part of the building? Or for all the building? I’d like a good legal opinion on that. My uneducated guess is that it is void altogether, or that it is valid only for Wilson’s part of the duplex.
I recognize the value of a no-knock warrant, but on balance, I have to say they are a bad idea. They reek of Gestapo tactics. I’ll sacrifice a little efficiency in the war on drugs to be free from that menace.
If you are asleep when the police break down your door, and yell POLICE, they may have filled the letter of the law in announcing themselves, but they probably have not really informed you… you were asleep. This is reminscent of an old Roman practice. When an order was given to execute a family, children were exempt. So the soldiers would dress little boys in military uniforms, and deflower the little girls. Then, they were adults and could be…and were…executed.
December 10th, 2005 at 8:54 am
Tom:
“I immediately ran to my daughter’s room, got a pistol, put in a magazine and chambered a round,” said Maye, who is on trial for capital murder in Marion County. “As I laid on the floor by the bed, I heard kicks at the back door. I was frightened, I thought someone was trying to break in on me and my daughter.”
I guess Maye was lying, or you are misinformed. Which is it?
If they luck into a house that seems empty…
I notice you don’t even attempt to show that this was actually the case.
The ‘liars’ comment was about the testimony that they shouted ‘Police!’. And yes, it may take a couple of days for the lab to confirm that a cigarrette is pot. You want them to make public annoucenments based on visual observation of a alreay-consumed cigarrette?
I have never read a description of the events to say the light was on, the question has not been addressed. You continually imagine incriminating circumstances where no details or available or even when contradictory facts are in evidence.
And everyone else here is doing the exact same thing in the opposite direction. Meanwhile the people who DO have some clue as to what the facts were are villified. If ignorance is bliss, then we may need to classify this blogswarm as a bona fide hallucenogen.
Skepticism is alive and well, which is why this all but perfectly open and shut case…
My god. Read that sentence again. You don’t feel the whiplash between the first and second sections of that sentence?
Skepticism is indeed dead. Determine what you want to believe first, sprinkle with half the facts, discard the ones that are inconvienent, top with vivid imagination, serve without irony.
December 10th, 2005 at 8:57 am
Sorry about the poor formatting. I misspelled the blockquote tags as simpy quote. Too much used to VBB code :(
December 10th, 2005 at 9:03 am
Regarding whether the warrant would be good or not for a duplex: the answer is, unsurprisingly, maybe. There should also be an accompanying description of the premesis on the warrant affadavit. If they did not know it was a duplex, then a search of the other residence would not be valid. If there are connecting doors inside (which is not typically the case in a duplex beyond doors into the common area/stairwell) it could be open to argument. I’m talking based in Massachusetts law, which I am familiar with, no Mississippi law, though.
December 10th, 2005 at 9:28 am
Mr. Waxx states:
Well, that’s nice. All that I will have to do is shout “Police!” the next time that I burgle a home. After all, that’s a sufficient identification of yourself as a policeman in Mr. Waxx’s world. That should get the victim to delay long enough for me to get the drop on his ass.
December 10th, 2005 at 10:06 am
Did we forget to close off our bold html?
December 10th, 2005 at 10:21 am
If the warrant was misaddressed the Prosecuting attorney’s motives in the case may not have been pure, either. They may have been motivated by a desire to exonerate his department for part of the blame in this tragedy. If the police investigator accurately identified the address but the warrant was filed with a mistakenly inadeguate address, then prt of the blame belongs to the person who filed the request for the warrant.
December 10th, 2005 at 10:32 am
Wind Rider: Thank you for helping to bring this case to everyone’s attention. I live in the Magnolia State (in the Delta Region) and have yet to hear any substantive coverage of it on local news outlets - and I tend to follow local news rather closely. Your approach in the letter above seems exactly right to me - this case deserves a second look, not least because of the apparent emotionally-charged atmosphere in which it was first tried. This is a perfect example of what bloggers can do to make a substantive difference, in a way that traditional media either can’t or won’t. Once again, thanks.
December 10th, 2005 at 10:39 am
[…] To make matters worse, the police broke into the wrong house. The man was living in a duplex and they broke into the wrong half of it. With the hysteria around the case — usually justified when a police officer is killed — it’s highly unlikely that any reasoned thought was brought to bear in reaching this verdict. I hope Wind Rider is successful in his appeal to Governor Barbour. Silent Running » Blog Archive » An Open Letter Certain facts about the case are not in dispute. Prior to the events of December 26, 2001, Mr. Maye had no criminal record. On December 26, 2001, Cory Maye shot a police officer carrying out a search warrant. However, the warrant being served was not for Mr. Maye, nor for his residence. The execution of the warrant involved a ‘no-knock’ entry, late at night. Mr. Maye relinquished his weapon, and ceased resisting when it became obvious that the people that burst into his home were law enforcement officers. […]
December 10th, 2005 at 10:45 am
Mark,
Your argument would be more compelling if burglars, as a rule, sought to kill the occupants of a house they burgle. Generally they do not. They want to get in and out with the goods rather than adding murder to their rap sheet. The only time your position would make sense is if they were in fact assassins.
OK, one other possibility I can think of. The burglars dress as police officers and use the subterfuge to disarm the occupants before stealing from them. However, most criminals are not that smart. The ones that are generally go after large sums of money thaat can’t be found in the home of a man living in a duplex.
December 10th, 2005 at 10:57 am
A great letter and we hope Barbour considers the matter very, very carefully. For many reasons, the circumstances of this case do not warrant the death penalty.
Further, we echo the sentiments others have expressed on this thread. Namely, why aren’t Hollywood liberals throwing their weight behind this worthy cause, instead of defending a brutal mass murder who co-founded one of the nation’s most violent gangs?
Probably because it’s more convenient to jet up to Sacramento from Beverly Hills, and Tennessee is the last place limosine liberals want to visit. Should Cory Maye be executed? According to the facts as presented, no. On the other hand, should Tookie Williams die? Yes — and we’re still taking a poll: http://www.californiaconservative.org/?p=1680
December 10th, 2005 at 11:28 am
“But then, I asked myself if I was fitting this into my pre-concieved belief system… and maybe missing something important. In short, I applied critical thinking: something that people on this blog should have done before hyping it.”
Don’t flatter yourself.
“I’ve lived in a duplex: They are one house, usually seperated by nothing but a tissue-thin wall which does NOT keep noise out of the other side.
Now, there are obviously reasons to make a narrow, legal distinction between one side of the same house versus another. But that doesn’t magically transport it to the other side of the planet.
So, if there’s a frigging RAID on the other side of the house, a jury might concievably believe that any shouts of ‘police!’ uttered on the other side could be heard by the occupant. Sound doesn’t stop travelling because it’s meant for the other occupant. ”
Okay, how much critical thinking did you apply here? I’ve lived in a duplex as well. I can tell you that much of the noise of the neighbors next door came through muffled, albeit loudly. So this fellow on death row has lived in a duplex, and probably has gotten used to it enough that he can sleep through the night with some noise from the neighbors.
How alert are you when awakened from a “dead sleep”? Myself, not very. So the neighbors are getting raided on by a police team. How long do they keep shouting “Police!” as they are running through the complex? Applying some critical thinking you are so fond of, it is far likelier that the police identified themselves during the initial knock-down of the door… while Cory was still in a dead sleep or waking from it.
Your belief that an average person is instantly alert and can distinguish with total clarity sounds through walls, upon waking from what was probably REM sleep is… unique.
December 10th, 2005 at 11:45 am
It might be worthwhile to get some feedback to perfect your letter, then set up an email mailing script, like the one A.M. Seriano set up on his site to mail letters about the phoney Flight 93 redesign (which is STILL an Islamo-fascist shrine). You can check out Seriano’s effort here: http://www.amsiriano.com.
December 10th, 2005 at 11:59 am
Yes Alec, we are aware. Tom Paine covered it in last weeks SNN Podcast.
http://tuatara.blogmatrix.com/
December 10th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
How can I join my voice vs. this miscarriage. In a country that has so many worthy of the ultimate punishment, why do we continue to desecrate ita importance and value by tossing real people into the toilet?
December 10th, 2005 at 1:09 pm
The danger of no-knock police raids
A phenonemon I have tracked for more than ten years is the practice of home invasion robbers mimicking police no-knock raids. At first the practice seemed confined to home invasion robberies of drug dealers or of Hmong families (notorious for keeping cash at home instead of in a bank). But the practice has spread to the point that almost any run of the mill home invasion may follow this practice. The bad guys have even taken to wearing windbreaker ‘police’ raid jackets and flashing phony badges on occasion.
The bad guys aren’t all stupid. They are taking advantage of the too common practice of no-knock police raids. This police tactic may have began with the best of intentions, but I think it causes more harm than good. The Cory Maye situation is just one of the most shocking examples.
Bottom line, if you an innocent nobody and someone is smashing down your door while claiming to be cops, odds are equal they are bad guys instead of cops.
December 10th, 2005 at 2:57 pm
Maybe the police need to distinguish themselves more effectively - for example turning on the siren outside (after breaking the door if it is no knock).
As to the case - I am concerned that he seems to keep a gun in his daughter’s room. But on balance I can very easily see my self being in the same situation.
I also note that if the verdict is wrong it raises a wider question regarding whether we should trust jurys at all if we do not trust them in this case.
December 10th, 2005 at 4:35 pm
Not so unique, since that is PRECISELY what is expected of the target of the warrant. You think if his bedroom has good walls, he gets to shoot the officer?
You are drawing your objections so absurdly broad that you are beginning to invalidate all warrants.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
“You think if his bedroom has good walls, he gets to shoot the officer?”
I think an innocent man is entitled to defend himself as he believes the situation calls for and not have to worry about getting sent to death row for it.
“You are drawing your objections so absurdly broad that you are beginning to invalidate all warrants.”
Now you are being intentionally silly. If you think that is the outcome of my objection, lets extend the silliness of your own objections. Surely the outcome of your objections is to begin to invalidate the right to self-defense and possession of hand gun?
December 10th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
Hey look, thats what we have in New Zealand where if you defend yourself in your home or on your property if you’re a farmer you WILL be charged by the police… when they eventualyy show up.
You don’t want that, trust me.
December 10th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
From a Kiwi perspective where there is a lot less exposure to guns in a social setting, the whole situation is slightly surreal and very disturbing.
I don’t know whether lethal force in self-defence is legally protected in the US, but there are several factors which trouble me, namely:
- A black man convicted by a jury of his white peers? Or is such a jury make up statistically probable and its just coincidence?
- Murder as I understand is ‘premeditated’ or at least some sort of cognition that death will follow one’s actions. I would have been a lot more comfortable with a manslaughter conviction, because it recognises the death separate from the intent (at least, that’s a statute here in NZ).
- The highest death-related charge for a police officer? Surely, given the character of the defendant and the aggravating circumstances (middle of night, family home, children in the house, [darkness?]), a lesser charge would have been more appropriate.
Not to mention several other factors which in my view sound decidedly unsavoury.
What an awful situation to be in.
December 11th, 2005 at 2:55 am
Mellie,
Very well said and exactly what I was thinking. Without knowing all of the details, I certainly would not offer Maye to be totally innocent of a crime. However, capital murder is supposed to be the most difficult of charges to prove, and must include premeditation. Regardless of the details, the cops were in the wrong home, and Maye had no police record. He was an innocent man with no apparent motive to want to kill a cop, thrust into an impossible situation, with an 18 month old daughter in the home. Given these facts, at worst this should be manslaughter.
To those who feel that perhaps this is a just sentence, I ask this one simple question; what would be the motive of Maye to knowingly shoot a cop? Aside from the remains of a joint, there was nothing illegal found in the home. Maye had no criminal record, and the cops were in the wrong home. To receive the death penalty, premeditation must be proven. If Maye were a known criminal, I could accept that he had contemplated being in the position he found himself in, and his response to be somewhat scripted. But Maye is no different than most of us. He had never committed a crime. In the dead of night, with no reason to expect law enforcement to be making a no-knock raid, the mind can’t comprehend anything but intruder and danger.
This is precisely why I no longer support the death penalty. I can only pray that Gov. Barbour orders a full investigation and that this case gets the national attention it appears to deserve.
December 11th, 2005 at 4:44 am
I just wonder how long Ryan Waxx has been a law enforcement officer.
December 11th, 2005 at 6:22 am
You know straightarrow, recently we had a known lwftist troll on another site attack the New Zealand miltary claiming all soldiers will follow orders regardless of how illegal they were as none would dare but their career’s at risk but questioning their superiors.
His prime information input appeared to be having seen The Caine Mutiy and the fact that this film was for a time banned in the US has being bad for maorale.
Consequently I led the charge on kicking the crap out this very stupid asertion and was followed by numerous former or current servicemen whp, to a man, had all questioned orders at one time or another.
The troll in question finally admitted that he had NO military experience but felt this made him more objective then when on to speculate about my mental state and whether or not the Army had discharged me of psycological grounds. My question as to whether he arrived at this evaluation from having seen an episode of MASH as yet to be answered.
Between us, my father my brother and I have nearly 50 years of regular force service and another four years of national service for another country. My brother has the least consisting of his basic military training for the IDF. He still has infinately more military experience than some fool who saw a movie and can’t stand being made to look stupid by people who do actually know what they are talking about but don’t agree with him.
I retell this tale because you seem to be doing the same, you speculate based on nothing as to the quality of someone elses fisrt hand experience in an effort to undermine him when no matter how minimal his experience it’s infinately more than anyone whose knowledge is based on watching CSI.
I sugest you rework you response to involve questioning facts not leftist character assination techniques. I will not have people who serve have their service questioned by those who have an agenda on a site where I have editorial powers.
No doubt you’re new to SR so just to let you know I don’t play three stikes, I let you know when the ice is thin and thats the only warning.
December 11th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
As to Jenkin’s comments, the law here in MS is a defendant in death sentence case has an automatic right to an appeal to the MS Supreme Court. Maye doesn’t appear to have the best counsel available, but it’s sure that they’ll know about that.
I live here in Jackson, MS. I plan to do some digging around to see what I can find out.
December 11th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
I’m from a town about 70 miles from where this apparently happened but now living overseas so I am just hearing about the case. The interesting thing for me is that this case has not been presented, except in the last comment from a racial perspective. I’m not suggesting it should be but surprised in today’s world that this angle hasn’t been used. Perhaps it has been in other places but not via Instapundit or Silent Running.
The irony seems to be that by not invoking the racial angle, the case has been argued more on the facts and not on conjecture (except in some of the comments above). I’m curious as to how this is playing out in the black community.
I am about as unfamiliar as i can be on the case but from the description of what happened, Maye, at worst fired on an officer charging into his home while identifying himself. Where I sit, Maye could be guilty of manslaughter or even murder but premeditated murder seems to be an impossible charge for anybody to believe. If he did all the wrong things he’s accused of, then time in prison may be appropriate but I don’t see how the death penalty applies.
I’ll be watching this as close as I can to see how this case works out. Thanks.
December 12th, 2005 at 1:05 am
If Cory Maye is not granted a full pardon and compensated for legal fees and the past three years of imprisonment, some Marion County pigs, Jefferson Davis County District Attorney Buddy McDaniel, the scum from his office, and the members of the Prentiss, Mississippi jury that convicted him will need to be killed.
December 12th, 2005 at 3:24 am
Let’s just take race out of the scenario. I’ve brought this subject tomy friends, most of which are ex-military and they say they would have done the same thing as Corey Maye. Someone busts down my door, they will be facing a gun or two. If they don’t bother to announce themselves, I would be in fear for my life and would fire on the invader. IMHO, this looks like a severe breech of the 4th Amendment. I guess one’s constitutional rights just don’t exist any more.
My question is: what are we going to do about it ?? I can find no support sites for Corey Maye. Are we to allow America to become a police state?? This NEEDS to be stopped and forthwith!!!
December 12th, 2005 at 3:53 am
[…] One example of such a letter is here, and another was e-mailed to me by Steve Trinward: Dear Governor Barbour - I am not one of your constituents, only a neighbor from Tennessee, but I URGE you to give careful consideration to granting a full pardon, or at very least a commutation of sentence, to Cory Maye - a man who is about to be put to death for merely attempting to defend himself and his baby daughter from unknown intruders. If we do not affirm this right to self-protection, we have lost the entire foundation for claiming to be in any way a free society here in America! While I recognize the tragedy of the death of the police officer in this 2001 incident, the night after Christmas, nothing will be gained by executing this man now, and a great deal could be gained by setting him free to resume what is left of his life. […]
December 12th, 2005 at 6:10 am
Corey Maye – Where is the Outrage?
The Corey Maye case has been getting more and more attention in the blogosphere. I wrote about it here, suggesting it was “justice denied.” The blog BattlePanda has a compilation of blogs who have commented on the case. It is pretty extensive and wel…
December 12th, 2005 at 12:58 pm
“Where’s the skepticism?” I think you’re seeing a lot of skepticism. What you perhaps don’t realize..or can’t internalize…is that for a great many of us, LEO’s have used up all their benefit of the doubt. I am a law abiding citizen, but I go into defense mode any time I see an LEO. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw my pickup. I’ve watched too many of them sit smugly and make statements that I know for a fact to be bald-faced lies. And I know that a large number, if not a majority, see everyone not in uniform as an enemy and are ready to shoot at any excuse..or none.
To those LEO’s who are not like that, I offer my sympathy. But, as the old saying goes…You’re known by the company you keep.
December 13th, 2005 at 11:26 am
Don’t LEOs realize that enforcement will suffer if the informed public loses respect for their tactics? I say start firng them, cut their budgets, decriminalize pot, etc- the constitution has taken a beating with the WOD and Patriot Act- will someone PLEASE invade us and set up a democracy where elections can’t be rigged? I will follow this since it sure seems to lead to how near the end we are.
December 13th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
Elmers not here maaaaan.
Someone with a little less mind altering dugs in their system please translate.
December 14th, 2005 at 1:33 pm
My main gripe about capital punishment is that it ROLE MODELS that violence is sometimes a solution. To what? It doesn’t matter who does the violence, it resolves nothing. In the law of ONE, what effects the ONE, effects the whole. You kill Tookie or Maye or anyone, it is a form of violence on ME.
Sure I believe in healthy skepticism, but the skepticism to be applied here is to the irrational belief in an outdated medievel practice that should have been gone LONG ago.
There is no cost effectiveness to capital punishment (it ends up being 4 times more costly). There is absolutely no proof it deters crime. There is no evidence whatsoever is a worthy endeavor but is an exercise in racism and classicism more than anything else.
I get physically ill when an execution takes place. The gladiator aspect of this barbaric practice is totally uncivilized. Since the Gary Gilmore execution this whole practice gets grizzlier and grizzlier.
I can think of a few people who should be on trial who were spoiled by the mothers and grandmothers who are quilty of mass murder using WMDs, yet they are not even under indictment! I don’t even suggest capital punishment for them although their crimes against humanity are heinous.
I do hope many of you will go and round up people to demand a review of this case…
December 15th, 2005 at 4:54 am
It all comes down to one thing: the jury heard the evidence, and decided that Maye did know it was the police. Now juries have been known to get things wrong, but since none of us has heard or seen the evidence, how would we know? I think we have to presume that the jury got it right, until we see convincing evidence otherwise. Bradley Radko’s account of what Maye’s ex-lawyer told him the jurors told her won’t cut it. Nor will Radko’s snide racial insinuations, backed up by nothing but his own prejudices.
As for what those two jurors are alleged to have said, if I were on a jury and the defense lawyer, instead of presenting evidence for her client, tried to guilt me into acquitting him, my back would be up too. I’d certainly not be inclined to cut her client any slack. And having concluded that Maye is a deliberate murderer, I think it’s fair for the jury to attribute his having turned out this way to his poor upbringing.
None of this adds up to a miscarriage of justice.
December 15th, 2005 at 11:20 am
[…] Read this and realize this man and his child lived in what has tor be a rough neighborhood since a likely drug dealer shared his roof in the duplex he called home. […]
December 16th, 2005 at 2:06 am
[…] The winning non-Council post was Silent Running’s post, “An Open Letter”. The post is an open letter to the governor of Mississippi on the Cory Maye case. Maye is on death row in Mississippi for what does not appear to be murder. The second place post was Florida Cracker’s post, “Living Tribute”. I learned something from the post of which I was unaware: since 9/11 the TSA’s bomb-sniffing dogs have been named for victims of the attacks. […]
December 16th, 2005 at 2:45 am
> My main gripe about capital punishment is that it ROLE MODELS that violence is sometimes a solution. To what? It doesn’t matter who does the violence, it resolves nothing. In the law of ONE, what effects the ONE, effects the whole.
1) I’ve never seen anyone, anywhere, actually verb “role models”. LOL.
2) Violence doesn’t settle anything? Really? Go ask the city fathers of Carthage what they think of that. What? There is no Carthage? Well, I guess the Romans must’ve settled that issue with violence pretty damned well, didn’t they?
Violence OFTEN settles things. It is rarely the best choice and it is sometimes, perhaps not even often, the optimal choice, but it still tends to settle matters quite effectively.
The real issue for violence as a solution is whether the Ends justify the Means — despite the bad rap this notion has, the Ends CAN justify the Means — but you have to consider ALL THE ENDS, something most people are loathe to do (They usually only want to consider SOME of the Ends, the ones that let them do what they want to do or let them do what is easy)
In the case of a low-life such as Tookie, then, before his “redemption”, there is no question it was a suitable solution: He was a mad dog and it is certainly within the right of society to put mad dogs to sleep for its own protection. After his “redemption” is more debatable, since one must consider if he had done enough that one need not fear his subsequent acts should he have the opportunity to escape custody (one of the primary justifications for the DP), and what he would do while in custody to any other prisoners who were no threat to him (I don’t care about honest self-defense in prison, as far as that goes)
December 16th, 2005 at 4:54 am
Placing the power of life and death in the hands of the state (the same folks who do such a wonderful job at running the DMV and making tax forms easy to read) is inherently a bad idea. I’m conservative on most issues, but mistakes like this do occur. It’s inevitable. It’s only when injustices like this cannot be righted (i.e., after the innocent person is executed), that we implicate ourselves in a terrible wrong.
December 17th, 2005 at 4:44 am
Tookie Lives, Farrakhan’s Lies, Cory dies
Even though death penalty focus has now shifted to Cory Maye, the legacy of state executed murderer Stanley Tookie Williams is scheduled to live on in a grand memorial service in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will tak…
December 18th, 2005 at 3:16 am
The Council Has Spoken
Another week, another collection of excellent posts. The winning Council post: America’s Kids and Two Days of Infamy, by The Education Wonks, which is a sad and worrying look at the ignorance of our children of their own history. Second
December 18th, 2005 at 7:51 pm
[…] Follow-up: Silent Running has an open letter to Governor Haley Barbour and Orin Kerr at Volokh Conspiracy and Kieran Healy at Crooked Timber have some comments as well. […]
December 19th, 2005 at 2:01 am
[…] In the non council category first place went to An Open Letter by Silent Running. We had a tie for second place going to Living Tribute by Florida Cracker and To a Young One Who Is an Apologist For a Terrorist (UPDATED) by Baldilocks. […]
December 23rd, 2005 at 4:00 am
is there an email option for contacting the gov?
December 27th, 2005 at 1:43 am
[…] Non-council links An Open Letter - Silent Running Living Tribute - Florida Cracker To a Young One Who Is an Apologist For a Terrorist (UPDATED) - Baldilocks […]
February 4th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
I recall first reading the details of Cory Maye’s case and having a strong sense of “There but for the grace of God go I.” It seems to me that if someone busted into my house in the middle of the night, unidentified, then I too might take exteme measures to protect those I love.
Laura Denyes, myself, and some like minded people have been working on a petition asking or Cory Maye’s release. We’ve tried to word the petition in a manner that conservatives, libertarians and liberals would all feel comfortable signing it. We have it up now here:
http://www.whatisliberalism.com/index.php?pageId=87667
We hope to bring attention to the case of Cory Maye. At some point this spring, we intend to print this out and mail it to the Governor of Mississippi and to all the major newspapers.
If you feel able to sign this petition, please do. We hope to get at least 10,000 useable signatures (when I say useable, I mean signatures with reasonably full addresses. The signatures without addresses will probably be subtracted out before we send this to the newspapers).