Man won't be charged in shooting death of Sheriff's Deputy during no-knock raid

[ArcadiaGP]

A Deadly Game of ?Gotcha.? | Gun Free Zone

McGee admitted to shooting Sowders before sunrise on December 19th while the deputy and other investigators were serving a no knock search warrant for drugs at McGee’s mobile home near Snook.

Magee’s Defense Attorney Dick DeGuerin says his client thought someone was breaking into his home and fired to protect his pregnant girlfriend and himself.

If law enforcement is going to utilize no-knock raids... and I can see why they would... they have to realize that they are at risk of legal retaliation.

Granted, I'd also like all raids to get the ****ing address correct before they're performed. But that's another story.

 

[Lebowski]

Regardless how you say you feel about this, let's see how you respond when someone is crawling through your window unannounced in the middle of the night. (Different article describes how officers or a officer used a window to enter his apartment)

It's quite unfortunate it happened, but I don't believe he should be charged either. Hopefully everyone learns from this.

 

[Mark 1911]

I'm sorry a deputy was killed but I don't disagree with the ruling either. No knock raids are becoming all too common - that needs to change.

 

[femurphy77]

That guy might as well pack up his stuff and his family and disappear now. Not saying there will be a concentrated effort at "payback" but wouldn't be surprised to see some serious harassment of him by said SD.

 

[mrjarrell]

Dupe.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...rged-killing-deputy-no-billed-grand-jury.html

 

[cce1302]

This is why no-knocks need to end.



Sadly, they won't end until the guys authorizing them are first through the door.

 

[Alamo]

The man's lawyer was Dick DeGuerin. He's a pretty big time criminal defense lawyer in Texas, has handled some interesting cases.

 

[CathyInBlue]

That guy might as well pack up his stuff and his family and disappear now. Not saying there will be a concentrated effort at "payback" but wouldn't be surprised to see some serious harassment of him by said SD.

Unlikely. All this did was reduce the number of felony charges he's facing and reduce his bond to $50k. He's still sitting in jail awaiting trial. They did, after all, find some disfavoured vegetable matter in his residence.

And the chances of the DA cutting him and his prego GF any slack whatsoever on those charges just evapourated with this grand jury no-bill. The DA's case will have to fall apart of its own accord for him to walk on this.

 

[g00n24]

The only legitimate reason I see of doing no knock raids is if you are trying to save a life. If they are worried about destruction of evidence in the amount of time it takes to announce their presence then there certainly isn't enough drugs there to warrant such dangerous tactics. And if there are a ton of drugs on scene then the police shouldn't have to worry about some getting destroyed while they announce their presence.

 

[femurphy77]

Unlikely. All this did was reduce the number of felony charges he's facing and reduce his bond to $50k. He's still sitting in jail awaiting trial. They did, after all, find some disfavoured vegetable matter in his residence.

And the chances of the DA cutting him and his prego GF any slack whatsoever on those charges just evapourated with this grand jury no-bill. The DA's case will have to fall apart of its own accord for him to walk on this.

Boy did I get ***** slapped back to reality for not reading the article!!!

 

[JB357Mag]

The only legitimate reason I see of doing no knock raids is if you are trying to save a life. If they are worried about destruction of evidence in the amount of time it takes to announce their presence then there certainly isn't enough drugs there to warrant such dangerous tactics. And if there are a ton of drugs on scene then the police shouldn't have to worry about some getting destroyed while they announce their presence.

Very well said!

Jimmy

 

[printcraft]

Boy did I get ***** slapped back to reality for not reading the article!!!

Just what are you alluding to?

 

[Movealongmovealong]

Very well said!

Jimmy

They were worried he was going to flush all 15 of his 6 foot tall marijuana plants down the crapper in 20 seconds.

Seems reasonable.... /s

 

[Paul30]

They were worried he was going to flush all 15 of his 6 foot tall marijuana plants down the crapper in 20 seconds.

Seems reasonable.... /s

That always seems to be the lame excuse. It's not that they can't turn off the water to the home giving the home owner a single 1 gallon flush of the toilet. How much evidence can you possibly get rid of with a single flush. If that's all they have, it's not worth terrorizing a family, risking the family's life, risking the officers life, and risking the neighbors life. Once a few magazines of 308 start zinging around, there's a good chance someone is getting hurt.

The real problem is a homeowner will react with fight or flight when paniced, and when someone kicks in your door in the middle of the night, you are going to react in a panic. I personally don't commit crimes, so I would automatically assume it is a violent home invasion and react accordingly. I have seen several cases over the years where home invaders impersonate cops to get the homeowner to cooperate and reduce their chances of getting shot. Since I don't commit crimes, I would assume anyone kicking in my door in the middle of the night yelling "POLICE GET ON THE GROUND!!!" would be such home invaders impersonating cops. If it continues, many people will set up their homes as dependable in a situation, and these guys may find more than one of them dead. Again, is the alleged reasoning that a person might get a single flush of evidence down the drain worth all that? Many cases would likely result in cooperation if they showed up during the day when someone is not half asleep to make decisions, and actually knock on the door.

This nonsense really needs to stop, people need to feel they are secure in their homes and have the right to shoot any armed intruder that enters, even if they have the wrong address on a search warrant.

 

[Indynic]

^^^^^^ Amen brother!!!!

 

[ModernGunner]

...Many cases would likely result in cooperation if they showed up during the day when someone is not half asleep to make decisions, and actually knock on the door...

I agree with the decision, and my condolences go out to the Deputy's family. And I agree no-knock raids need to be in strictly limited usage. Safer is typically better.

I wholeheartedly disagree that 'many cases would likely result in cooperation", regardless what time the LEO's show up, LOL.

Police: knock, knock, knock

MethLab Dude: "Yes, who is it?"

Police: Hi, we're your local Constabulary Representatives. We were just out making our 2:00 p.m. 'miscreant apprehension notifications', and we were wondering if you might cooperate and allow us into your home to arrest you, confiscate all your product for 'QC checks', and shut down your business? Would you be amenable to that, please?"

Meth Lab Dude: "Oh my, well of course Officers! Ya caught me at just the right time! I was just making a new batch and was hoping you'd pop by so I could be arrested in possession of the maximum quantity I could possibly create. I really want to look like a 'big timer' to all my Meth Lab competitors! Thank YOU!"

 

[Bill of Rights]

Or.... maybe bust the dude when he goes out to buy more Sudafed, and then raid the empty house? How would that be?

Admittedly, I'm not a LEO. There may be reasons not to do this. For the life of me, I can't think of any, but it's possible.

Blessings,
Bill

I agree with the decision, and my condolences go out to the Deputy's family. And I agree no-knock raids need to be in strictly limited usage. Safer is typically better.

I wholeheartedly disagree that 'many cases would likely result in cooperation", regardless what time the LEO's show up, LOL.

Police: knock, knock, knock

MethLab Dude: "Yes, who is it?"

Police: Hi, we're your local Constabulary Representatives. We were just out making our 2:00 p.m. 'miscreant apprehension notifications', and we were wondering if you might cooperate and allow us into your home to arrest you, confiscate all your product for 'QC checks', and shut down your business? Would you be amenable to that, please?"

Meth Lab Dude: "Oh my, well of course Officers! Ya caught me at just the right time! I was just making a new batch and was hoping you'd pop by so I could be arrested in possession of the maximum quantity I could possibly create. I really want to look like a 'big timer' to all my Meth Lab competitors! Thank YOU!"

 

[throttletony]

This is why no-knocks need to end.

Sadly, they won't end until the guys authorizing them are first through the door.

exactly. well said.
As others have said, I feel horrible for the outcome, and the deputy for being killed while doing his job, but the idea of a no-knock warrant seems ridiculous to me

 

[Motorhead302]

exactly. well said.
As others have said, I feel horrible for the outcome, and the deputy for being killed while doing his job, but the idea of a no-knock warrant seems ridiculous to me

+1