Legal Commentary

Questions Raised in Aftermath of Drug Raid Death

By TChris

From Radley Balko's first post about Ryan Frederick:

Officer Jarrod Shivers was shot and killed while executing a search warrant in Cheseapeake, Virginia Thursday night. ... [Frederick said] in an interview from jail he had no idea the undercover cops breaking into his home were police. ... Though the raid was apparently part of a drug investigation, police aren't saying what if any drugs were found.

Turns out they were searching for a large marijuana grow operation. They found only a small amount of pot.

Botched drug raids by SWAT teams that employ military tactics too often end in tragedy. Whether or not there was good reason to think Frederick was growing some weed, there are ways to address that crime without senselessly risking lives.

Today's post points to evidence that raises serious questions about the murder charge against Frederick : [more ...]

WTKR TV reports:

The hands of six Chesapeake detectives present at the botched marijuana raid on Ryan Frederick's house have tested positive for "primer residue," meaning they had traces of chemicals on their hands sometimes left behind when a person fires a gun, according to a lab report filed in court. The lab report also said the residue can be left if a person is near weapon as it fires, or if a person handles a weapon with primer residue already on it. Police have insisted no officers fired during the Jan. 17 raid where police went looking for marijuana.

There's also evidence that police plugged a bullet hole in the house and that a spent cartridge could have come from a police weapon, but didn't come from any weapon in Frederick's home.

Frederick tells his side of the story here.

You can read all of Balko's coverage here. You'll find many interesting nuggets of information. Particularly compelling is his takedown of the common "knock and announce" tactics that treat any motion in the house as a "threat" justifying a violent entry after the SWAT officers yell "police, open up!"

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).