Conviction nixed in deadly botched Ga. drug raid (Atlanta no-knock)

AP via Kansas City Star ^ | Jan. 15, 2009 | AP

[happinesswithoutpeace]

link only.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Not sure if this was posted already.

[doodad]

Heard that on the radio here this morning. So many things wrong with the scenario that unfolded. That poor old woman.

[rednesss]

"An appeals court on Thursday overturned the conviction of a former Atlanta police officer sentenced to prison for lying to FBI agents about the killing of a 92-year-old woman during a botched drug raid."

Move along. Nothing to see here. She was 92, she was gonna croke soon anyways....

[PalmettoMason]

Gee. I'm shocked.

SHOCKED, I tell you! /s

[driftdiver]

I see you found it.

[AnAmericanMother]

Interesting. I could see this having justification, or not. Court of Appeals is an intermediate court and generally rules pretty much straight down the middle on the law -- it's the Supreme Court that winds up legislating from the bench.

Have to read the opinion to see what Judge Miller based the reversal on. It appears that this guy was a minor player in the raid and did not fire shots or even enter the house.

Of course, if there IS a problem with the State's proof the guy shouldn't be convicted 'just because'. Once you let the State get away with that, then it's open season on the innocent as well as the guilty.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

ya I did a search on FR and didn’t see it so I put up the link.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Ya would like to read the court doc. Other articles say “prosecutors didn’t prove that the FBI office where Arthur Tesler lied to investigators was in Fulton County”

[Dead Corpse]

Always a lot of fun to be had when that thin blue line turns into a thick blue wall.

And LEO's wonder why we come down on them hard sometimes...

[InABunkerUnderSF]

What part of “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...” do our courts not understand?

To my mind, kicking in someone’s door in the middle of the night without so much as a knock is the very definition of “unreasonable”. Unless someone’s life is in immediate danger it should not be allowed.

[spunkets]

"It appears that this guy was a minor player in the raid and did not fire shots or even enter the house."

He was a part of the conspiracy by the cops to plant drug evidence and cover it up. He plead guilty to the fed charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights, under the color of law, that resulted in death.

[Red in Blue PA]

Agree. Outside of some extraordinary circumstance (bin laden is known to be in the neighborhood for instance) there is absolutely no way to justify this.

[AnAmericanMother]

True, but we need to wait to see if the minor players are disproportionately charged/sentenced vis a vis the major actors. All it takes to find yourself a party to a conspiracy is to nod "uh huh".

And even if he's guilty on the federal charge, if the state doesn't prove the state charge the conviction should be reversed.

The proper role of criminal defense lawyers is to make the state do its homework.

[AnAmericanMother]

OK - I got it. It's the venue issue. Essential element of the offense in GA.

The prosecutors know they have to prove venue, but you still have boneheads failing to ask the question, "Now, officer, the address where the incident took place, is that in Fulton County?"

[bronxboy]

I lived in Woodstock GA when this happened. I was always concerned with the fact that Marijuana was found in her home...a plant no doubt. This bothers me because any of us are vulnerable to this sort of thing. The war on drugs is a disaster and has reduced our freedoms-seizure of assets without due process, ability to plant evidence when the police screw up (expanded search powers)...disgusting.

[steve-b]

In tossing out Arthur Tesler's conviction on the state charges, the Georgia Court of Appeals said Fulton County prosecutors failed to prove where the lying took place.

What. The. Frack?

Is there a magical "Perjury Permitted" zone (a 100' radius around Bill Clinton's current whereabouts, perhaps) within which it is acceptable to lie to criminal investigators?

[Lurker]

So find out exactly where this a**hole DID lie and re-file the charges.

L

[AnAmericanMother]

See post 15. Gotta prove venue in GA.

It's because we have so many overlapping jurisdictions.

[AnAmericanMother]

IIrc, it's not a double jeopardy issue, so they should refile.

The other thing you have to understand is that the FTY prosecutor's office is pretty incompetent. They always have trouble with anything but routine cases.