Remember the old lady in Atlanta who was killed

[Jerk]

in a no-knock raid by the local cops? I posted about this with the thread title "Another victory in the war on drugs!"

Good news..

Atlanta police officers charged in killing of woman, 88

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Three Atlanta, Georgia, police officers were indicted Thursday -- two on felony murder charges -- in the shooting death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid on Thanksgiving eve.

Fulton County Superior Court documents show Officer Gregg Junnier was indicted by a local grand jury on charges of three counts of felony murder, two counts of burglary and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Officer Jason Smith was charged with four counts of felony murder, two counts of false statements, two counts of burglary and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the indictments.

Junnier, who retired from the force after the shooting, and Smith are expected to enter into a plea bargain agreement when they appear in court Thursday afternoon, an attorney for one of the men said.

Officer Arthur Tesler has been charged with making false statements and false imprisonment, the documents show. His attorney has said Tesler, who had been on the force only eight months, will fight the charges.

No other details were provided.

All three were involved in the serving of a "no-knock" warrant on Kathryn Johnston's home November 21. Johnston's family gave her age as 92, but a medical examiner said she was 88.

The attorney for one of the men said all three will also appear before a federal grand jury investigating the shooting.

Police initially said that Johnston fired at them with an old pistol, and they shot back in self-defense.

Junnier, Smith and Officer Cary Bond, who was not charged in the shooting, sustained gunshot wounds in the incident. Tesler was not wounded.

A police spokesman an informant named "Sam" said he had bought illegal drugs at Johnston's home, west of downtown Atlanta.

Their story began to fall apart after the informant said he had never been to the home.

"The officers are saying one thing. The confidential informant is saying something else," Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said.

Investigators in November said a small amount of marijuana was found in the home after the raid.

Neighbors and relatives said the raid had to have been a mistake. Johnston lived alone and was so afraid of crime in the neighborhood that she wouldn't let neighbors who delivered groceries for her come in, they said.

www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/26/atlanta.indictments/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/26/atlanta.indictments/index.html)
---------------------------------

I wish this same thing would happen to Federal LEO's. They can kill a woman holding a baby with a sniper rifle and get away scott-free. Maybe it just depends on the race of the victim?

[olevetonahill]

Yup
Hell when I was cop , I in No way in hell could confuse and old woman with a threat .
The Bastages :mad:
Hope they get sent to General Population
:pop:

[Okla-homey]

I cannot fathom why a society as advanced as ours still puts people in jail for selling weed.

[olevetonahill]

I cannot fathom why a society as advanced as ours still puts people in jail for selling weed.
Homester
I wasnt selling
I was trying to bring it home .:D

[Okla-homey]

One day, our descendants will look on this "war on drugs" as disparagingly as we look on the Prohibition era. Look, I'm no Woody Harrelson, but dang-it, it's a plant people. It grows out of the flippin' ground. I just can't see why we feel we have to put people in the penitentiary for selling weed.

[olevetonahill]

One day, our descendants will look on this "war on drugs" as disparagingly as we look on the Prohibition era. Look, I'm no Woody Harrelson, but dang-it, it's a plant people. It grows out of the flippin' ground. I just can't see why we feel we have to put people in the penitentiary for selling weed.
Man, Made Booze , God, made Pot ;)

[Okla-homey]

Man, Made Booze , God, made Pot ;)

and I submit booze has ruined far more lives than weed, but you can buy booze at Quik Trip, right across the aisle from the :twinkies:

[olevetonahill]

and I submit booze has ruined far more lives than weed, but you can buy booze at Quik Trip, right across the aisle from the :twinkies:
Yea but every time I get stoned , I dont go to QT. I just pull a chair up, open the fridge door and say YUMMY :D
whats that green shat ? I dont care its got a flower or sompun growin it must be good .;)

[sanantoniosooner]

If everything was legal we wouldn't need lawyers.

[olevetonahill]

If everything was legal we wouldn't need lawyers.
There ya go
Outlaw Lawyers . :D :P

[Okla-homey]

If everything was legal we wouldn't need lawyers.

naw, we would still need them for all the civil lawsuits.

[sanantoniosooner]

naw, we would still need them for all the civil lawsuits.
if EVERYTHING was legal there would be no basis for a civil suit either.

[olevetonahill]

if EVERYTHING was legal there would be no basis for a civil suit either.
I disagree
see we need Homey .
to settle this dispute !

[Okla-homey]

if EVERYTHING was legal there would be no basis for a civil suit either.

It's not illegal to breach a contract, but you still get to sue over it.;)

[olevetonahill]

It's not illegal to breach a contract, but you still get to sue over it.;)
aint that what I said ?

[Vaevictis]

naw, we would still need them for all the civil lawsuits.

TRIAL BY COMBAT!

[Fraggle145]

Thumbs down! :eek:

[SoonerInFla]

and I submit booze has ruined far more lives than weed, but you can buy booze at Quik Trip, right across the aisle from the :twinkies:


I'd venture to say the gap is closing. The weed being produced these days is far superior to that us older folks were burning back in the day. The thc level is steadily increasing as growers are competing to make the best crops.

[Jerk]

More...it gets worse:

rom reason.com

----------------------

Two police officers in the Kathryn Johnston case have pled guilty of manslaughter. They face 10 and 12 years in prison, respectively. They pled in exchange for testimony about the "culture of corruption" among narcotics officers in the Atlanta Police Department.

As I've written before, I'm not particularly fond of felony murder in principle, so I think this is an appropriate charge. And if the plea helps to uncover more fundamental problems with the way Atlanta police its drug crimes, all the better. And it looks like it's doing exactly that.

We now know that Kathryn Johnston fired only a single bullet, through the door as police were trying to break in. They responded with a storm of bullets, which apparently both wounded Johnston and the officers themselves. When they realized their fatal error, they planted cocaine and marijuana in the woman's home. They then pressured an uninvolved informant to testify to having made controlled buys at Johnston's home to cover their tracks.

The New York Times is now reporting that the officers have told federal investigators that their behavior was not out of the ordinary. That corruption, planting evidence, and giving false testimony are routine at APD. That's not surprising. The only way these officers could think they'd get away with all of this is if they were operating within a system that routinely allows for—or even encourages—such behavior. APD's focus on arrest numbers and professional rewards for the big bust apparently incentivized such short cuts.

It's also important to remember that it's possible we wouldn't know any of this were it not for the uncooperative informant who admirably refused to help the cops cover their asses. Had he gone along with the plan, much of the public may well still think Kathryn Johnston was a geriatric dope pusher, and that her death was unfortunate, but a justifiable use of force by the raiding police. The failure here is not just with these three police officers. It's with their supervisors who failed to provide adequate oversight. It's with the prosecutors who failed to ask the right questions. And it's with the judges who, according to an investigation by the Atlanta Journal, routinely signed off on these types of warrants with no scrutiny at all.

[Okla-homey]

More...it gets worse:

rom reason.com

----------------------

Two police officers in the Kathryn Johnston case have pled guilty of manslaughter. They face 10 and 12 years in prison, respectively. They pled in exchange for testimony about the "culture of corruption" among narcotics officers in the Atlanta Police Department.

As I've written before, I'm not particularly fond of felony murder in principle, so I think this is an appropriate charge. And if the plea helps to uncover more fundamental problems with the way Atlanta police its drug crimes, all the better. And it looks like it's doing exactly that.

We now know that Kathryn Johnston fired only a single bullet, through the door as police were trying to break in. They responded with a storm of bullets, which apparently both wounded Johnston and the officers themselves. When they realized their fatal error, they planted cocaine and marijuana in the woman's home. They then pressured an uninvolved informant to testify to having made controlled buys at Johnston's home to cover their tracks.

The New York Times is now reporting that the officers have told federal investigators that their behavior was not out of the ordinary. That corruption, planting evidence, and giving false testimony are routine at APD. That's not surprising. The only way these officers could think they'd get away with all of this is if they were operating within a system that routinely allows for—or even encourages—such behavior. APD's focus on arrest numbers and professional rewards for the big bust apparently incentivized such short cuts.

It's also important to remember that it's possible we wouldn't know any of this were it not for the uncooperative informant who admirably refused to help the cops cover their asses. Had he gone along with the plan, much of the public may well still think Kathryn Johnston was a geriatric dope pusher, and that her death was unfortunate, but a justifiable use of force by the raiding police. The failure here is not just with these three police officers. It's with their supervisors who failed to provide adequate oversight. It's with the prosecutors who failed to ask the right questions. And it's with the judges who, according to an investigation by the Atlanta Journal, routinely signed off on these types of warrants with no scrutiny at all.

It does look bad, but remember, we're talking the New York Times here. Not exactly a reliable source. Now, had the story been in the Wall Street Journal, I'd be more inclined to accept its veracity.

[MamaMia]

If everything was legal we wouldn't need lawyers.Which is why we need to STOP voting for lawyers. Thats the whole problem right there!