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Maricopa County
Judge Michael O. WILKINSON
Current Assignment:
Criminal, Special Assignment
Posted on 12/02/2004 10:26:57 AM PST by SmithL
PHOENIX -- A judge threw out key evidence against a man accused of assaulting a police officer during a drug raid on an alleged Hells Angels clubhouse, noting the raiders waited only a few seconds to move in after an early-morning knock on the door.
Judge Michael Wilkinson chastised members of a multiagency crime task force and ruled they illegally entered the building on July 8, 2003, violating search-and-seizure laws.
Wilkinson said it was understandable that Michael Wayne Coffelt, 42, came to the door carrying a handgun. The knock on the door came around 4:45 a.m., and officers then waited just six seconds before using a diversionary grenade and breaking a window to enter the building.
Carrying the handgun "would appear to be reasonable behavior, given the hour and the fact that the house was under attack," he said in an order issued Monday.
Coffelt is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 5 on charges of aggravated assault against a police officer.
Officer Laura Beeler wounded Coffelt with a rifle, saying that he had fired his weapon at her first. Investigators later concluded Coffelt never fired.
Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld said Wednesday that the judge's order effectively gutted the prosecution's case. A spokesman for the county attorney's office said no decision had been made on whether to appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Who was standing there holding a stop-watch? An ACLU communist?
"Officer Laura Beeler wounded Coffelt with a rifle, saying that he had fired his weapon at her first. Investigators later concluded Coffelt never fired."
Whoops!
at least they knocked.. here they do no-knock raids.. Ended up picking the wrong house one day and busted through the door. the home owner thinking he was being robbed grabbed a gun and they shot him dead..
Happens here in NJ also. But what I really want to say is your profile has one of the funniest animations I've ever seen in my life.
A whole six seconds?! Take a peek at any of the COPS episodes that feature police raids and in most if not all instances the police break the door down quicker than six seconds after the initial knock. The liberal take on this: Not all Hell's Angels members are criminals (sarcasm) and it is obvious they were profiling this poor man.
Do you support police being able to violate basic constitutional laws?
Just because they are Hell's Angels does not mean they are exempt from the Constitution. If the police had wanted to execute a No Knock warrant they could have asked a judge to grant it and I'm sure it would have been granted. But since it was not a No Knock warrant the police have to play by the rules.
Unlike the man under charges I definitely would open fire on someone bursting into my home at 4:45 am. I don't care if they scream "POLICE!!" while they are breaking in, they are still breaking in.
The police are indeed fortunate that the man was not better prepared for such a happenstance. Next time they might wait for someone to answer the door before they, the police, break the law they are sworn to uphold.
RE: "Who was standing there holding a stop-watch? An ACLU communist?"
I believe I remember seeing video tape of this raid on the news here in Phoenix. So the timing was preserved for all to see (unlike Waco where the BATF destroyed the tapes shot from the house across the street so that they couldn't be used against them to show who fired first).
Ping the Hooligans!
Do you fire them then prosecute them or prosecute them then fire them?
Either way this trigger happy liar needs to be familiarized with the gray-bar hotel.
In fact the whole bunch needs to go back to Cop-School 101.
The Angels don't need the ACLU. They have their own team of lawyers.
I noticed there are no other charges other than aggravated assault. I guess Coffelt had no drugs, either.
That would be silly. All this Judge really expects is for someone to stand outside the door and count "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi....
:)
They knock on the door at 4:45AM, wait for 5 or 6 seconds, then smash a window and toss in a grenade.
When someone responds to this assault by arming himself, some cop shoots him and then claims the homeowner fired first.
These 'cops' need to be fired and then prosecuted for violations of civil rights and filing false reports.
There's a lesson in here kids. If someone smashes your window and tosses an explosive device into your home, don't walk out to investigage what's going on armed with a pistol.
Arm yourself with a rifle and wait for the perps to come to you.
Then shoot them all dead.
L
At the arraignment over 100 officers showed up.
Life will not be good for the 14 HA's in the area.
81's have never been wholesome. But we do have a Constitution that governs everything we do, so little miss rifle shooter with a badge needs a long vacation co-habitating with Martha Stewart.
Or, just put her on a waste filled dunk tank at the next 81 annual. :-)
My son is a cop.
If police ever want to search my house they can show up with a warrant, ring the bell and wait. After I have read the warrant, I will make them coffee while they search.
If anyone ever kicks in my door I am gonna kill some of them before they kill me, because I have a right to assume they are not police, but criminals, and it would be imprudent to ever believe otherwise.
So9
Sometimes I feel that the police love to ram thru a door. Makes for good film footage and also shows their machoism. If they have reason to suspect something and have a search warrant why do they wait until the suspect is inside before taking action? It would seem that it would be more safe to nab the guy outside the house before he goes in. But if they don't do it this way they can use all those techniques that they learn in their schools. Also, many times it seems like the police wait until a suspect is in a congested area before making an arrest. Why? Once again, is it because of good film?
How many seconds are they supposed to wait?
Click image for information
Maricopa County
Judge Michael O. WILKINSON
Current Assignment:
Criminal, Special Assignment
It's unfortunate but true. Most cops lie.
Given the number of home invasion robberies...and perps who are dressed like police often with windbreakers that say police on them...who break in and handcuff the victims who are then robbed raped murdered...
Why would you do anything else....
Although I try to be as pro-police as possible, cases like these make it hard. The cops are out of control and usually figure they could lie their way out of these things figuring that they are more believable than the Hell's Angels.
Until it has happened to you, the constitution is there for a reason - RESPECT IT!
Who was standing there holding a stop-watch? An ACLU communist?
2 posted on 12/02/2004 10:29:49 AM PST by DH
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at least they knocked.. here they do no-knock raids.. Ended up picking the wrong house one day and busted through the door. the home owner thinking he was being robbed grabbed a gun and they shot him dead..
4 posted on 12/02/2004 10:30:27 AM PST by scab4faa (There are 3 types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't...)
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A police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in the non-fatal shooting of a man last year during a raid on a Hells Angels clubhouse.By a 5-0 vote, the police Use of Force Review Board determined that the use of deadly force by Officer Laura Beeler was justified and within policy.
Officer Matt Brown, a Glendale police spokesman, said Monday that neither the officer nor other police officials will comment on the decision, handed down Jan. 7.
Prosecutors also have concluded there was no wrongdoing, said Bill FitzGerald, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Michael Wayne Coffelt, 41, a Phoenix resident and prospective member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, was wounded by Beeler on July 8. [2003]
The shooting took place during a raid on a north Phoenix clubhouse that was part of a law-enforcement sweep throughout Arizona.
Beeler, 33, a nine-year member of the Glendale force, told investigators she opened fire when Coffelt opened a door, took aim at her and fired once.
However, Phoenix investigators later determined that a handgun recovered from Coffelt was fully loaded.
He was charged with aggravated assault and assisting a criminal street gang.
The charges were thrown out Nov. 6 [2003] when a judge ruled Coffelt was denied justice.
The government should have informed a grand jury that Coffelt never fired at Beeler, the judge said.
On Jan. 21, a grand jury returned a new indictment against Coffelt, according to Superior Court records.
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 27, 2004 12:00 AM
should have waited til 5:01am too.
another one of the 95% that gives the other 5% a bad name
There's two types of cops in the world --those who've been caught in their lies and those who have not yet been caught.
Maybe she'll just join a police force in another city in another state.
We had a case in Stockton, CA just in the last couple of years where the police busted into the WRONG house and when the homeowner came out with a gun they shot him something like nineteen times. Then they beat the hell out of the family and tossed the house looking for drugs all while the homeowner lay on his floor handcuffed and bleeding to death while the family begged for the cops to call an ambulance. The poor man died.
The DA had the utter gall to press charges against the family. Those charges were dropped when the family sued San Joaquin County for a few million bucks and then won.
Considering the abhorrent behavior unbecoming of the law enforcement people I know and respect it is a damn shame that an innocent man died and the officers involved got off scott-free by calling it a mistake.
"Then shoot them all dead."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
It is crap like this which is why we have a Second Amendment - to defend ourselves from the avarices of our own government.
Ping
(Your goose steps here)
The Police Review Board decision only means she can keep her job.
He should still be able to bring civil charges against her (even though the city would probably wind up paying it)
Even if the guy wins a civil suit, the cop won't pay. The taxpayers will be the ones to get it in the shorts. I've long maintained that there are never any consequences to police no matter what they do, and this is just more evidence of it.
I pinged one of the more mouthy jackboot lickers to come and defend his little tin gods. Maybe we'll get some lively discussion if he does :-)
As a member of a multi-county drug task force in the Midwest, I am part of the entry team doing search warrants in many different political subdivisions. We follow whatever the local courts mandate.
In some cases we knock and wait 5-6 seconds and knock the door down. In other areas we wait 20 or even 30 seconds after the knock. Remember we are after drugs. If we wait more than a few seconds, we very often hear the commode in operation and there goes our evidence.
When the dopers hear the cops at the door shouting "PLOICE SEARCH WARRANT" they know exactly what to do if they are given enough time.
Our system isn't perfect and there may be some who abuse the system, but the vast majority of cops are honest troops trying to do a very difficult job
Perfectly reasonable IMHO as well. Anyone knocking on my door at 4-5AM had better not want trouble.
Tell that to the victims of the trigger happy bad ones.
You can't bring back the dead. But it seems the Review boards like to make sure no one in uniform is held accountable.
Like I said, In the middle of the night your gonna dodge lead if you pull this crap on me. Do it in broad daylight, and announce yourself with enough time for me to get to and OPEN the door nothing lethal will take place unless Lon Horuchi is with you.
If I ever sit on one of these Juries there aint no way I find any fault on the Home owners part.
Now as to the trigger happy cop, I say find a tree. There's is no excuse for abuse of power.
I forgot about him and then there's afvet81. In fact there are a whole bunch here who should have been born in Germany in 1920.
Sorry, but you failed to convince me.
First of all, if the amount of drug is so small that it can be flushed down the toilet, then you should not be taking any doors down. The risk of killing innocent people is too high to offset retrieving a joint or a small amount of cocaine.
Second of all, I don't buy the excuse of flushed drugs being the same as no evidence. Have you ever heard of pulling the toilet bowl and looking into the P-trap and other S-shaped pipes just below the commode? Tampering with evidence will be an additional crime in such cases.
Furthermore, the house water can be cut off very easily from the outside, the same way the utility company does it to people who fail to pay their water bills. Therefore, only one flush will be available to the house residents. It's hard to flush any evidence very far with one flush.
At any rate, there are many ways to serve warrants and retrieve evidence that do not involve killing startled people. Use your imagination instead of buying into the herd mentality.
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