[SevenMinusOne]

If these are the facts and the police did not declare themselves on the way in ...there is no way does this man deserve to even be in prison ...let alone death-row.

Additionally there seems to be a little "cowboy" attitude going on here - With only this 23 year old man and his young daughter in the house there seems to be no reason for a police assault on this house. It didn't call for it from what I have been able to read.

[Cyrano]

I remember reading an article about this awhile ago (can't recall where or how credible it would be) that talked about how there's been an increase in the police going in without announcing their presence. The thought is that by announcing, they give the bad guys a chance to destroy evidence, prepare a more vigorous defense, etc. Instead, they bust in relying on surprise as an inhibitor.

If that's true, and it's what happened here, then it would seem to be relevant to the defense.

[JimRed]

If these are the facts and the police did not declare themselves on the way in ...

And, who do we believe? Did he have a record? Criminals lie automatically, and LEOs are not always 100% truthful, especially when in the CYA mode.