Police kick down the wrong door

Several years ago this actually happened. The cops were out to arrest a a man on robbery charges and had a warrant and an address. The police arrived at the apartment but were denied entry. The cops arrived at the apartment and got no answer to their request. They could hear voices so they decided to break the door down. As they entered one of the occupants came out of the bed room and shot one of the cops killing him. The occupant was then taken into custody. It was discovered that the police had the wrong address.My question is would the occupant be guilty of anything?

Corey Maye case?

Hasn't he been sentenced to death in Mississippi and is presently sitting on death row?

I would say a lot of that would depend on if the Officers were in plainclothes and did enough to identify themselves. I know nowadays even Home invaders will appear in uniform to gain entry, so it is a very tough situation to find oneself in....

I once defended a civil rights case where the search warrant described the wrong appartment. In executing the no-knock search warrant the LEO's broke down the door and entered quickly.

Conducting a "no-knock" search is serious business and exposes the LEO's occupants to extreme danger. Fortunately the LEO's acted quickly and no one was hurt. However, their conduct in executing the search was still subject to the test of reasonablness. To read the appellate decision following the first trial, see:
592 F2d 1336 Duncan v. Barnes | Open Jurist

Heck, here in MN, if the cops kick in the wrong door and get into a shootout with the occupant, they get commendations (for not killing anyone).

I can't make this stuff up.

If I sat on the jury in this case it would be a hung jury.

If I was on the grand jury I would vote NO-BILL.

No one has the right to kick in a door with out a warrant and proper ID as law enforcement.

Check this out from Fox News last year!!!

Prank 911 Calls Send SWAT Teams to Unsuspecting Homes

Prank 911 Calls Send SWAT Teams to Unsuspecting Homes - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

Here with all the Pseudo-Cop home invasions,the fact I don't do anything Illegal that would warrant a search warrant being served,If my door gets kicked in I'm slinging lead,then if I survive I'm filing a lawsuit against whomever violated my rights

I think the people in the apartment spoke Spanish only. This happened about five years ago in Daytona I never did find out what the out come was. It was the wrong address.

I think any time that happened, it could be bad for everyone involved ...

I've had a "fake cop" pull over once when I had car trouble... he had seen my wife, but not me. When he saw me, he quickly said something and left. When a Hwy patrolman pulled up about 10 min later I described the guy, his car (wasn't right at all), etc. and he radioed to check, and there was no County officer in that area at all. They soon had LEO's all along the highway, as they had a guy who was acting like a County Deputy who had been stopping women and then raping them.

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Originally Posted by Eagleks

I think any time that happened, it could be bad for everyone involved ...

I've had a "fake cop" pull over once when I had car trouble... he had seen my wife, but not me. .

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I think I had a similar but maybe opposite situation. While riding my motorcycle, in my PINK leathers (they were used and cheap) a cop from ohio, pulled me over while I was way out in the country 35 miles into Ky-- I was at that time very thin-. _why was he there IDK__ When I pulled off my helmet he was surprised that I was not a woman - What were his plans? Not sure, but he made up a BS excuse and got back into his car and backed down the road away from me.

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Originally Posted by dukalmighty

Here with all the Pseudo-Cop home invasions,the fact I don't do anything Illegal that would warrant a search warrant being served,If my door gets kicked in I'm slinging lead,then if I survive I'm filing a lawsuit against whomever violated my rights

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I have to agree with you on this. As bad as its sounds to the LEOs, Im not who there looking for.

That happened here in Minnesota a couple years ago. It was pretty tragic- a Hmong guy and his family, didn't speak English, SWAT team showed up at the wrong apartment, broke in his door. He's hiding in the bedroom with a shotgun and his family cowering behind the door, and wings a couple of them.

Realistically I think if you shoot a cop, even if they break down the door with no notice, you're gonna spend about 20 years in the steel bars hotel. Unless you able to drop a few hundred grand on a lawyer you're up the proverbial creek. The government really doesn't like it when someone questions their sovereignty.

That said I've done nothing to deserve such a visit from the police, so if someone breaks in without properly ID'ing themselves I'm going to have to defend myself and sort it out later.

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Originally Posted by Tom G

As they entered one of the occupants came out of the bed room and shot one of the cops killing him. The occupant was then taken into custody. It was discovered that the police had the wrong address.My question is would the occupant be guilty of anything?

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Claims can always be made. Right or wrong, the mere fact a huge powerful force has made them can result in the claims sticking. It's the nature of having a "legal" system instead of a "justice" system, which is the result of our being human and fallible.

So. Where does that leave someone who decides unknown invaders have threatened the family? On shaky ground, if the event turns out to be the cause of police "no notification / no warrant" type break-ins.

I'm no criminal. I know this, and it's a fact. Thus, I reasonably have no reason to expect police to be breaking down my door. If I cannot determine that legitimate law enforcement officers have a legitimate reason for being at my home, I'll defend against any such invasion of my home and family. Will that result in ugly false claims? Very possibly. Can't change that, except to refuse to defend against invasion and hope defense isn't necessary. But that is something I will not do. YMMV.

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Originally Posted by Laser Sailor

That said I've done nothing to deserve such a visit from the police, so if someone breaks in without properly ID'ing themselves I'm going to have to defend myself and sort it out later.

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Just so. :yup: