On Saturday, May 17, 2003, at 05:49 AM, Major Variola (ret) wrote:
NYC Woman Dies in Botched Police Raid
NEW YORK -- A 57-year-old woman died of an apparent heart attack Friday after police detonated a flash grenade and handcuffed her during a raid on the wrong apartment.
[ Note that a Judge issued a warrant based solely on an informer ]
An informant said that Spruill's sixth-floor Harlem apartment was being used by an armed drug dealer to stash cocaine and heroin, police officials said.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers forced open the woman's door and tossed in a flash grenade, which creates a distraction by producing a loud noise and a blinding flash of light. Kelly said the grenade was used because it was believed there may have been guns and a dog in the apartment.
If a civilian does something illegal (such as raiding the wrong house) and causes a death, one of the various levels of manslaughter or murder is usually charged. Will these cops face murder charges? Of course not. The political animal always exempts itself from its own laws. --Tim May "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." --John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General