Cops lie to get no-knock warrant, kill 92-year-old lady, cover it up, now plead GUILTY!

[piedmont]

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=96052
cross-posted in LBN http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2824918

Hours after the release of an indictment that charged them with felony murder, two Atlanta police officers pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges in the death of a 92-year-old woman last November. A third officer indicted on lesser charges in the case did not plead guilty.

Typically, the officers would have a confidential informant go to the house and make a buy but they did not. Instead, Officer Smith went to a magistrate judge and, in order to get a no-knock warrant, lied by claiming that an informant had made a buy and that surveillance cameras were positioned outside the Johnston home.

When the officers went up to the house after dark, it took them about two minutes to pry the burglar bars off the front door. By the time they got inside, Johnston had a .38 revolver which she fired one time at the officers. The bullet did not strike any of the officers, as had been previously reported, and was found in the roof outside the house.

After the shooting, Smith and Junnier met and concocted the story that the informant bought cocaine at the house. They also told the informant to lie to investigators, but he later admitted that he never bought drugs at 933 Neal Street.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The poor lady fired one shot, into the air as a warning. Then they killed her and covered it up. Bastards.

[ecstatic]

1. I knew it!!!!!!!!!!

Never believed their story... not for one second!!!
:mad:

[Irreverend IX]

2. More proof that only police can be trusted with guns.

It must be great being a cop. If a civilian shoots the wrong person, they'll spend years in prison for manslaughter. If a cop shoots the wrong person, he gets a week-long vacation with pay. The brutal murder described in this story would probably get a civilian put away for life, while the cops get 10-12 years.

[LisaL]

6. Even the police, who are trained to use guns,

apparently shot each other. So, of course, untrained civilians would do a lot better.

[Irreverend IX]

7. Most civilians train a lot more than police.

Cops are required to do a half-hour handgun qualification class every six months (every year in some places), and that's all most of them ever do. Police gun training is aimed at the lowest common denominator; pretty much anyone who can load and fire a gun can pass it. Most civilian shooters practice much more frequently than cops, and many attend advanced shooting classes at firearms training centers. A small minority of police pursue advanced gun training, but most of them have no personal interest in shooting and just see their guns as another bulky piece of equipment to carry.

[lonestarnot]

3. Sons a bitches gona get what's coming to them.

[Blackhatjack]

4. Their entire story lack credibility from the beginning....

I do not understand the prosecutor taking manslaughter pleas in this case where there were obvious lies told to get the warrant, the 92 yr old lady was shot and killed, and they both tried to arrange a cover story and an alibi with another person.

This goes way beyond the accidental killing of another without criminal intent.

And just how much press is this getting?

[LisaL]

5. Cause apparently the grandmother did shoot her gun-although

she did not hit anyone.

[RebelOne]

13. According to the news reports, she did hit them.

[LisaL]

14. Read the article.

[RebelOne]

24. Read this report from WSBTV.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10424057/detail.html

[piedmont]

47. That report is old. They just said yesterday that her shot embedded in the roof. A warning shot.

[pitohui]

70. oh my god, that poor woman

they murdered her, they really did

i don't understand how a manslaughter plea could be accepted, w. evidence of this quality that the officers invented the whole thing, served the warrant on the wrong house, and lied like a dog on the rug after shooting a helpless old lady -- including trying to smear her memory by making her out to be some kind of gun-totin' drug dealer!

how is this not cold-blooded murder?

[Richard Steele]

34. And we now know that those reports were false. nm

[conscious evolution]

10. The story made front page of the AJC. nt

[Canuckistanian]

8. You know what would have solved this problem? MORE GUNS!

Sure! the neighbors could have guessed what was going on and rushed the cops! Yeah, that's it!

And the old lady should have had two guns! No, wait, a handgun AND an Uzi! She couldn't miss!
It's child's play!

Ok, I'm done.

[okieinpain]

18. no silly, a shotgun and a hand gun for in close fighting. it's obvious

you don't play a lot of video games. :~)

[Pushed To The Left]

9. I'm glad the truth came out, and I hope these murderers are brought to justice.

One more reason to oppose the "war on drugs" which is actually just a war on civil liberties.

[RebelOne]

11. I have been following this story from the beginning.

Let's hope these assholes are put away for a long, long time. And since they are undercover cops, they will not be too popular with the prison inmates. They will take care of them.

[wicket]

12. Let me just say....

screw those DUers who defended this fucks when the story first broke!!!

DU thread from last November

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[LostinVA]

15. Yup, I remember that thread

[wicket]

16. I wonder where all of the loudmouths are now?

:grr:

[LostinVA]

23. Exactly what I was thinking

It smelled fishy from Day One.

[wicket]

30. But, the 92 year old woman was asking for it!!!

:sarcasm:

[LostinVA]

42. She shot three cops who were just doing their jobs!

[Carolina]

57. WTF

Imagine you're in your house and someone breaks in ... that's what they did ya know. You defend yourself ...

My sister-in-law's neighbor had this happen: the police came to the WRONG house, literally terrorized the inhabitants and their neighbors. :shrug:

[LostinVA]

58. Errr -- did you actually read this subthread?

I guess not.

[piedmont]

59. The poster was being sarcastic.

Look as her/his other posts in the thread.

[LostinVA]

73. Thanks!

[slampoet]

87. They were just doing their jobs until they planted that weed......

....form that moment forward they are guilty of Murder One and not just obstruction of justice. If the cop who lied for the warrant doesn't come forward, they all should fry.

[iverglas]

28. maybe you could name some

I know I sure could ... but I don't think they'd be the same ones. If you can name any at all yourself.

I do recall a number of people pointing out that the warrant in question was issued by a judge, and suggesting that it might be wise to wait until all the facts were known ...

[wicket]

29. I can't, as it would be against DU rules

Calling out and such. But anyone can see for themselves at the old thread.

[ReadTomPaine]

31. "These were not rogue cops bashing around a neighbourhood."

"It's nice to hear they were doing their jobs (as I suspected)."

"It was a lawful police action"

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the old lady was afraid of the person who obviously had drugs in her home and HIS friends. The cops announced themselves and came in. She had no right to shoot the cops."

"There is no way she could have not known they were police - I don't blame them for acting in self defense"

"Basically I don't see where her getting shot is an issue. I dont' blame the cops a bit. Thank god they took her out."

"Granny got what people get when you shoot at cops."

How nice.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2626452

[iverglas]

32. gee, and they weren't

I'll repeat the full text for you, if you like:


I'll try again.

These were not rogue cops bashing around a neighbourhood.

As MADem pointed out below as well, they had a warrant, and the warrant was issued by a judge, after a prosecutor reviewed the police evidence and applied to a court for a warrant.

The rules governing the execution of warrants were not made by the cops in question.



I think it is extremely unfortunate that an elderly woman (would this be different had it been a 23-year-old man?) chose to shoot off a firearm when the police entered her home. Had she not done that, she would be alive. Unlike most DU denizens, I don't interpret what I just said as BLAMING the woman for what happened to her, and I don't interpret it as ABSOLVING the police officers of blame for what happened to her.

I do find it really quite difficult to imagine that the police chose this home for a search for no reason at all, even if they did do everything wrong, and unacceptably, in pursuing their end.

I'll still be waiting to hear what the actual circumstances were, and what their actual reason for selecting that home for search was.

How amazing that some people commenting in the thread in question did so on the basis of the facts as they had been reported at the time. Why, no one would ever do that in the case of someone claiming justification for shooting someone else who turns out to have had no justification whatsoever and ultimately pleads guilty to homicide ... Boca Raton ... Hallowe'en prank ... kid shot in back while running away ...

Until all of the facts about this tragic incident are known, I don't plan to comment any further on it myself.

[ReadTomPaine]

35. "blah de blah blah blah"

"Oh well, I'm too disgusted by your blah blah to bother dignifying it with a response that it would not deserve."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2626452#2627491

[wicket]

38. Nice!

:thumbsup:

[Forkboy]

67. LOL

:rofl:

[JanMichael]

94. Thanks it's always nice to see who the "nice" DU'ers are.

Those Dudley Do-Wrong fuckwits.

[nini]

50. I was one that said I'd wait until all the info was out to pass judgment

The info is out and may they burn in hell.

[iverglas]

51. wasn't that easy?

Strange how so many seem to have such difficulty understanding that simple concept.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. Am I supposed to believe...

that you would have "waited for all of the facts before passing judgement" if the victim had been an elderly retired police officer, and the shooters were inner city black drug dealers?

Because I don't.

[iverglas]

55. am I supposed to believe

that you don't believe that I would have "waited for all of the facts before passing judgement" if the victim had been an elderly retired police officer, and the shooters were inner city black drug dealers?

Because I don't.

And I know you don't either.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. It's a shame they're still around.

[wicket]

56. Indeed - they need a clue-by-four upside the head

:evilgrin:

[Forkboy]

68. Oooo...I'm nicking that term!

:)

[wicket]

75. Awesome!

:D

[Tatiana]

83. Oh that's thread is a real doozy!

"If she didn't want to get shot, she shouldn't have shot at three officers."

Hmmmm.... At least there were some sane folk that realized if three strange, unidentified men, break down one's door violently, the resident of said home might think they were about to be a victim of a home invasion and defend themselves.

Stories like this come out time and time again. Yet some insist on thinking cops are not humans like the rest of us and can do no wrong.

[okieinpain]

17. and this is the reason dumb asses use to promote the "don't snitch"

crap.

[Zywiec]

19. I love it!

Maybe this will strengthen the 4th amendment a little. What a bunch of bastards breaking down the door in the middle of the night looking for drugs. That war was lost years ago.

Cheers

[NNN0LHI]

20. This should piss everyone off to no end

Could have been any one of us. Bastards.

Don

[wicket]

21. As well it should

But when this story first come out there were plenty of DUers running to the cops defense :eyes:

[shenmue]

22. They're going right to hell.

:grr:

:cry:

[wicket]

33. They certainly are

:grr:

[NNN0LHI]

25. kick n/t

[BlooInBloo]

26. Fucking cops. And fuck those who say, over and over "it's just a few bad apples".

[Occulus]

36. I personally like the "wait for all the facts"

Damn codespeak. That's what it is.

[BlooInBloo]

37. Good call.

[iverglas]

39. perhaps you can interpret my words for me

I guess I just can't do it for myself. What code should I apply? Wait, I know. The one where what somebody says gets twisted and spindled and pooped out the other end into the alternate universe where words just don't have meaning, and anybody who says they do is "playing semantics" ...

Time for this thread to return to the dark hole whence it sprang, I think.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ReadTomPaine]

53. It's my pleasure.

Nothing I've said here is untrue. Indeed, most of the words you've been reading from me have been your own. What I know perfectly well is that you've dug this cesspool you are in yourself.

You apparently know it as well, thus your charming non-replies here and elsewhere. However rather than admit your mistake, you'd rather sink deeper in the ordure and claim the fault is everyone else's rather than your own. It's not. The smell in here is coming from you.

[BlooInBloo]

61. It's hard to take someone seriously when they defend murderous cops...

... and call those who are against murderous cops a "piece of shit".

[wicket]

64. Amen

n/t

[treestar]

27. This is one of the dangers of the no knock warrant

To the cops. They could have gotten killed themselves.

If they think there is someone in there destroying evidence, you've got to wonder why they would risk their lives over that. Someone gets away with a drug crime. Happens every day.

[iverglas]

41. so, what I wonder

I wonder where all the people calling for the "root causes" of these tragedies to be addressed are today.

When young African-American men are killed in droves in firearms violence in the cities of the USofA, they want us to do something about the "root cause" of the violence. Never, ever to do something about the weapons that are the only reason it is possible, and the only reason that the whole "war on drugs" that they blame for the violence could ever have been waged in the first place.

What about the "root causes" of little old ladies having firearms on their persons in their homes?

I don't actually think this one had armed herself against the possibility of cops breaking down her door. I actually think she had armed herself against the possibility of criminals breaking down her door.

Criminals breaking down the door of little old ladies aren't acting on ill-got warrants, or pursuing nefarious plots against victims of the war on drugs. They are criminals. They are acting out of intent to harm, intent to deprive of property, or both. And they are whom this woman was afraid of. And that is the "root cause" of this tragedy.

Let's hear it now. Let's not get sidetracked by incidentals like the irrelevant and, gosh, totally unavoidable deaths of victims of firearms violence. Let's hear what everybody's got to say about the situation that prompted an elderly woman to arm herself with a firearm in her home.

[NNN0LHI]

45. The cops were the criminals in this case unless I am missing something

Maybe we should address that further?

Don

[iverglas]

46. yeah; you're "missing"

what I said.

Colour me surprised.

[ReadTomPaine]

48. Can't defend the murderers, so you try to shift the topic and hijack the thread.

This is rich. They shot her down in cold blood and they've plead guilty. I'd rather hear you apologize for defending them frankly. A mea culpa from you is in order. Not that I expect anything as civilized from such a foul mouthed reprobate.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iverglas]

62. can't tell the truth

so you make shit up. Always fun to watch.

[ReadTomPaine]

63. My my, but you like that bone, don't you?

One rolled up newspaper to the nose over this isn't enough is it. Your question has already been answered by me elsewhere in the thread. If you really want to have fun, go fetch.

[pitohui]

71. there had been a rape of a woman in her 70s in the area

if i remember the original news reports of case correctly, there had been a rape of a woman in her 70s, and this older woman was wheelchair-bound

i don't blame her for having a gun, who among us in the same situation would not get a gun and training? and it sounds like she deliberately fired up, a warning shot, she was not trying to kill a police officer

i do blame the cops for lying to get a warrant to invade the home of someone who was doing no harm, apparently the entire "drug sale" story was a total fabrication and the cops have now admitted it, they invaded her home to no known purpose at all -- makes you wonder if they themselves were terrorizing the neighborhood by stealing or worse

[benEzra]

95. Real problems...

Criminals breaking down the door of little old ladies aren't acting on ill-got warrants, or pursuing nefarious plots against victims of the war on drugs. They are criminals. They are acting out of intent to harm, intent to deprive of property, or both. And they are whom this woman was afraid of. And that is the "root cause" of this tragedy.

Let's hear it now. Let's not get sidetracked by incidentals like the irrelevant and, gosh, totally unavoidable deaths of victims of firearms violence. Let's hear what everybody's got to say about the situation that prompted an elderly woman to arm herself with a firearm in her home.

And criminals breaking down the door of little old ladies would be OK as long as they were armed with knives or bludgeons? Since the real problem here is OBVIOUSLY that the little old lady in question was allowed to buy a gun after passing a background check, rather than the insane war on non-approved herbs, and the concomitant inner-city blight it engendered, that brought three violent felons (as it turned out) to her door in the first place.

And, of course, if the law had disarmed HER, the criminals who raped her elderly neighbor in the past would have OBVIOUSLY gone to Dartmouth and chosen productive career paths instead.

:sarcasm:

The point of this thread is that three officers of the law lied to obtain a type of warrant that is constitutionally questionably to start with (when applied to routine drug raids); executed that warrant in plain clothes, without clearly identifying themselves or giving her a chance to verify their identities; shot her to death in her own home, when she had done NOTHING illegal (and nothing many DU'ers wouldn't have done, in the same situation); and then lied to cover it up, planted drugs in her house, and tried to intimidate/bribe others into backing their story.

Yes, the REAL problem is that little old ladies are allowed to own guns in this country, all right...

[suffragette]

60. Hutchins wants a memorial to Johnston expanded into a park for children in her neighborhood to play

I hope this will happen.

I'm glad that the truth was uncovered and hope no one else will ever have to go through this.

[indepat]

65. Damned dirty rotten lying sons-of-bitches/bastards: who is watching the Amurikkkans who

can wantonly kill everyday citizens and most often get away with it?

[jmg257]

66. Proof once again NOT to trust the cops with your security. Again, most are nothing special! Just

people like the rest of us, with a little more training on things like laws, use of force, how to fill out reports, etc.

[Forkboy]

69. I stopped reading after the word cops.

Just that first part of the sentence speaks for me.

[pitohui]

72. so why did they invade the home in the first place?

this is extraordinary effort to get a no knock warrant under false pretenses and to remove the burglar bars and then go guns blazing into the home of a 92 year old wheelchair bound woman

they knew there were no drugs -- they fabricated the story of the drug sale themselves and got some informant (who broke down) to go along

so why?

there were no drugs there, no criminals, just a helpless old woman

the blood chills trying to figure out just what the hell they were doing there, other than just killing for a thrill?

is it really believable that they would go to all this effort because a man caught with drugs pointed a random finger at a random house as the place where he bought the drugs? the first lesson of dealing w. addicts is addicts lie

this smells and makes me wonder if these police officers had been terrorizing this neighborhood on other occasions

[midnight]

74. It maybe reality teaching. Take these cops to neighbor hoods

were they can practice their authority/police work. But I guess they didn't expect to be meet with a gun, and they crossed a line.

[piedmont]

76. It really underscores the amazing lack of local knowledge...

These creeps didn't know a damned thing about that neighborhood. They collared a local and asked "where are the drugs?"-- if they had been patrolling on foot, getting to know the people, instead of driving around in their cruisers with the windows rolled up and the A/C blasting, they'd have KNOWN the house wasn't what he said it was.

[billbuckhead]

77. So when are you joining the police force in south Atlanta?

I'm sure they have a "bulletproof" vest just your size.

[piedmont]

78. Just in time to take up another goofy position, bill. You want to defend these cops? Have at it. nt

[billbuckhead]

90. Want to complain about cops? Sign up if you're so great.

The cops are US.

[Forkboy]

79. You know,if you hurry there's still time to make it to the station to catch the Logic Train.

Alllll Aboooaard!

[piedmont]

81. Still waiting for your defense of these cops. nt

[billbuckhead]

85. Cops are scared of a heavily armed population

So when are you signing up?

[piedmont]

86. Oh, these poor cops. Lying, planting evidence, killing an old lady,

because they're scared that an armed populace might try to defend themselves in their own homes after dark in a city notorious for home-invasion robberies.

[billbuckhead]

88. I've never met anyone who was home invaded but I've known 8 domestic shootings

and 5 suicides, 4 that definitely shouldn't have happened. One time an evil wife made sure a dumb husband on the way down got whacked by his own gun. Plus, I know a business owner that got whacked with his own gun as well. Maybe these macho guys wouldn't haved survived no matter what, but if they had it to do over again, they might not have guns so handy.

I have family in law enforcement that clean up gun inflicted messes and death. Put down cops all you want but they're living proof a gun doesn't keep you from getting killed or from being a target. You can sign up whenever you want to prove that wrong.

[Jonathan50]

91. Robert A Heinlein

The guy that wrote "an armed society is a polite society" in _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ also wrote in _Tunnel in the Sky_ that a gun can very well get you killed by making you stand and fight when you really should be running away as fast as you can.

I've seen the syndrome personally more than once. My brother's wife started carrying a 9mm some time back and her behavior changed markedly after that. She was driving home one day down the deserted dirt road that leads to their house in the woods when she saw a car parked on the side of the road with several men gathered around it. Normally, without a firearm, my sister in law would never even think of stopping on a deserted road for such a situation but with the firearm she felt confident enough to stop and give the men a hard time and tell them that she was going to go home and call the cops.

Unless you are well trained with a firearm and have it in your hand at the time you actually need it, the weapon is essentially useless. You are just as likely to blow your own foot off as you are to hit an assailant.

[BlackVelvet04]

97. And your point is what???

Your sister in law is a moron?

[entanglement]

80. This poor lady was murdered, plain and simple - I hope the bastards rot in prison for ever

n/t

[aikoaiko]

82. I wish she had had a rifle and better aim. nt

[billbuckhead]

93. Why so more people could be killed in this incident? How boodthirsty

This is a perfect example of how some of the gun enthusist crowd is leading society amok and trying to destroy democracy. The cops might might be incompetent and have poor intelligence but they are on our side and certainly don't deserve the death penalty.

[wicket]

84. kick

:kick:

[RedCappedBandit]

89. i'm surprised the pigs left dunkin donuts

then again, they never do pass up an opportunity to kill an innocent

[billbuckhead]

92. "then again, they never do pass up an opportunity to kill an innocent"

I just don't what to think anymore about my fellow Americans.

[BlackVelvet04]

96. .......

"Instead, Officer Smith went to a magistrate judge and, in order to get a no-knock warrant, lied by claiming that an informant had made a buy and that surveillance cameras were positioned outside the Johnston home."

It's a damn shame the 92 year old woman's bullet didn't lodge in smith's brain instead of the ceiling.

The war on drugs strikes again!