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The judge never should have given a warrant, and to top it off, he had the wrong address given to the cops.

Didn't the police, based on the informant's tip, give the address to the judge? The judge's error seemed to be not giving proper oversight to the police.

From http://www.wnbc.com/news/2240319/detail.html:

A police raid on the wrong apartment that resulted in the death of a 57-year-old woman was caused by a communication breakdown between officers, according to an internal department report.

Alberta Spruill went into cardiac arrest after the May 16 raid, during which officers broke down her door, threw a flash grenade and handcuffed her. A police informant wrongly identified her Harlem apartment as one used by an armed drug dealer to stash cocaine and heroin.

~snip~

The 24-page Internal Affairs Bureau report, released Friday, says police did not conduct surveillance on Spruill's apartment to verify the informant's tip.

My understanding was that it was a typographical error on the warrant in question, and that even then, the initial warrant should never have been granted in the first place.

Based on a seperate incident, not involving this one (about the judge), the blame came back to the cops, the judge, and then back over again.

I.E. bad tip, plus judge giving warrant that should not have been given, plus a screw up on the address, wound up with one dead elderly woman.

Its the major reason why the press stopped dealing with the case and let it slide. It simply became a run around.

The IAB report is supposed to note something about the judge in vague terms, but from I understand, gave more recommendations then initial blame.