I once heard a quote: "The beauty of living in a free country is that when there is a knock at the door at 3AM, you know it's the milkman."

That is no longer true in America. The war on drugs claims another innocent victim.



Source - ABC just published this for some reason, but after researching it a little the incident actually occurred in 2000. After learning that I wasn't going to post this but then I considered that man is still dead and no amount of time will correct that.  If anything I find this more relevant today than it was in 2000.

oops.

Those involved should be imprisoned for murder.

This department is  full of win.

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=12584778

Just FYI, Something similar to this happened at my old house. I had lived there about 3 years. It was 4 AM or so.Saw flashlight in the backyard and heard pounding on the front door. I grabbed a shotgun and headed to the door. It was FCSO looking for someone that hadn't lived there in 5-6 years.

A simple f'in google search would have revealed the house had sold twice. If you are willing to drive 20-30 Min from wherever they came from, its worth the effort to potentially avoid an incident. Cops don't think like that nearly as a rule. The guys were nice as could be, but in their heads they were just doing their job, the way they always do.

I am a freaking salesman and I do more research than that before I take the time to call someone.

It could have been avoided if he had just bought a dog.

No, they obviously didn't conduct the best surveillance.  I can't begin to count how many search warrants and raids I planned and/or participated in.  We never hit the wrong location and I cannot begin to grasp how one goes about hitting the wrong location.

Because of my background, I was usually the one that was tasked with pre-raid surveillance and intelligence gathering.  This is a very critical phase of a properly executed warrant service or raid.  

One of our rules was that the officer handling the case, that obtained the actual warrant and has actually been to the location, was always present when the warrant was executed.  This was usually the officer that either went into that location and observed the illegal activity, or the one that conducted the actual hands on surveillance.

Additionally, whenever possible, we would go by the location prior to the search warrant to put "eyes on", allowing us to put an actual physical location to the address on the search/arrest warrant.

On my unit, we would never, ever obtain a search warrant solely on the word of an informant.  One of us would have to actually observe the illegal activity that enabled us to obtain the warrant in the first place.  Most informants are POS dopers that are working off charges, while a small amount are POS dopers that are working for money.  Either way, they're POS dopers.......not exactly what I would call a reliable source of information, which is why one or more of us would have to witness the alleged activity.

The blame falls on the officer that obtained the warrant, for failing to verify the information and location he got from the CI.  If the officers who fired had nothing to do with the actual case, but were just the doorkickers serving the warrant, then I cannot fault them for firing when fired upon.  They should have never been there in the first place, but they were acting on "good faith" and the fault lies with the officer or officers that obtained the warrant and/or conducted the pre-raid surveillance.  Now, if they were actually involved in gathering intelligence, obtaining the warrant, and planning the execution of said warrant, or any part of that, then they need to burn for this.

Since this happened over a decade ago, does anyone have any information on the outcome of this crock o' shit?

Mucho fail.

Before executing a search warrant there are tons of things that can and should be done. One thing should be the physical description  of the residence on the warrant should be so simple and easy to understand that a 6th grader couldn't hit the wrong house. (I can understand a warrant you are going to execute with no one home but special care should be given to warrants you expect others to serve) Give directions from the pd. print out a map and highlight the route.  Check your tax assessors office for current ownership. Go take your own picture of it. Put the picture and maps withe the affidavit. Have a meeting before hand. Let everyone look at the warrant before hand. Go to the execution or drive the damn van. Send informants before hand have eyes on the house with photos. I could go on but there are steps that everyone could do to avoid this. These are things most of your local so's and pd's do every time the serve a search warrant.

And warrants based off of just a ci do not want (not sure if that's what they did just extrapolating)


If they had a policy outlining search warrants I'm guessing they violated it somewhere along the lines.

They got off easy and $400k was cheap.

It is good to know that your previous (and most) departments are careful but the consequences are tragic when they're not careful.  I agree the two officers who pulled the trigger are not at fault unless they were involved in the warrant process, it is not unreasonable to fire back when fired upon, if that is what happened.  Whomever was responsible for the warrant should be charged with negligent homicide.



We don't know the details of the trail so I don't want to judge without all the facts but it seems like an injustice if no one was held criminally responsible for this.

I can tell you how that probably went because it still happens now:

Deputy: Boss, this address is OLD, like YEARS old.

Boss: is it the most-recent address on file with court/in-house?

Deputy:  *sighs inside*  yes.

Boss:  then go knock on the g**damned door and make sure he's not still there.

Yep. A lot can be done behind a computer now a days but you still have to knock and talk for results.

Victim's name was John Adams.

I was gonna say, $400k you gotta be kiddin me...

Sounds like they knocked and shot.

did anyone even lose their job?

The Lt in charge of the op was fired and charged. The update said he was acquitted, but doesn't say if he got his job back or not.

So let's say the homeowner killed one of the cops and lived? He gets charged with capitol murder? Fucking one sided bullshit.

Similar to the weaver kids killing the US Marshal on their property.  They saw 2 guys in BDUs with M16s who just shot their dog so they shot back.

cobb county or marietta police?

btw, not too far away, in atlanta in 2006 a 92 year old woman was killed exactly the same way.. so its hit or miss with the various departments...

At least a few of the clowns in the Kathryn Johnson case are getting their sphincter a stretched in prison now.   One must wonder, how many times did they get away with it?

Shit sandwich.

very sad, very unprofessional for the LEO involved with obtaining the warrant & information.

for the door kickers....i guess they are just doing there job.



ETA: very scary situation for everyone invloved.