Cory Maye, sometimes spelt Corey Maye (born September 9, 1980), is a prisoner in the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was convicted of murder in the 2001 death of Prentiss, Mississippi police officer Ron W. Jones during a drug raid on the other half of Maye's duplex
At 11 p.m. on the night of December 26, 2001, Ron Jones along with other police officers and an agent employed by the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force, a four-county police agency responsible for drug enforcement, went to Maye's duplex for the purpose of drug interdiction. Jones, though not a member of the Task Force, had received a confidential tip that large quantities of marijuana were being stored and sold in the apartment of Jamie Smith, who lived in the other half of the duplex. The officers obtained search warrants for both apartments. Whether the warrants legally allowed for a no-knock entry is still not clear.
Smith was arrested without incident. Although some illicit drugs were found in his home, Maye's former attorney, Rhonda Cooper, says Smith was never charged with drug possession or distribution. Jefferson Davis County District Attorney Claiborne "Buddy" McDonald says he doesn't remember Smith being charged or convicted.
There is disagreement about what happened next. The officers then either served the warrant on Maye's half of the duplex (later, prosecutors would say both were served simultaneously) or entered what they thought was another door to Smith's in search of more contraband.
Four of the officers who took part in the raid testified they knocked on Maye's door and identified themselves as law enforcement officers. Maye testified he heard neither knocks on his door nor anyone announce themselves. Maye testified he was asleep on a chair in the living room when he heard a crash, prompting him to run to his daughter's bedroom and ready a .380-caliber pistol that he kept boxed and unclipped on top of a tall headboard. When Jones burst into the bedroom, Maye fired three times. Jones was wearing a bulletproof vest, but one bullet hit just below the vest, and the injury proved fatal.
But it's the details of Cory Maye's case that make it particularly compelling:
Cory Maye had no prior criminal record. He had no history of violence. Police found one gram of ashen marijuana in Maye's apartment (that's about a sixth of a teabag's worth). There was no "large stash," and Cory Maye was no drug dealer. In fact, Maye's name appeared nowhere on the search warrant, only his address and the phrase "persons unknown."
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Last edited by corduroy_blazer on Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:01 am Posts: 19477 Location: Brooklyn NY
We have one of the highest prison populations in the world, but too many people are on the system's payroll for any substantial change to happen soon. Plus Americans love CSI and Law and Order. The more people going into Criminal Justice, the more people need jobs.
_________________
LittleWing sometime in July 2007 wrote:
Unfortunately, it's so elementary, and the big time investors behind the drive in the stock market aren't so stupid. This isn't the false economy of 2000.
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:37 pm Posts: 7376 Location: Vlaardingen, Netherlands Gender: Female
that's true. The (relative) numbers of people imprisoned are ridiculous. But I can't prove it without research, it's just from what I heard and read earlier. Does anybody know a good site with statistics, per country or so?
groetjes, Mirella (lazy )
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Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:15 pm Posts: 25452 Location: Under my wing like Sanford & Son Gender: Male
I work with this little girl whose dad is in prison. I knew he had a ten-year sentence, but I didn't know for what. Turns out he was forbidden to contact his ex-wife, but she had been calling him non-stop for some reason, and the call records that the family obtained proved that. So the dad calls his ex-wife back, and is taken to jail for contacting her. For ten years. What?
_________________ Now that god no longer exists, the desire for another world still remains.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:51 am Posts: 17078 Location: TX
Orpheus wrote:
I work with this little girl whose dad is in prison. I knew he had a ten-year sentence, but I didn't know for what. Turns out he was forbidden to contact his ex-wife, but she had been calling him non-stop for some reason, and the call records that the family obtained proved that. So the dad calls his ex-wife back, and is taken to jail for contacting her. For ten years. What?
Last month, police in Kentucy went on a 24-hour drug raid blitz. According to local media accounts, the raids uncovered 23 methamphetamine labs, seized more than 2,400 pounds of marijuana, identified 16 drug-endangered children and arrested 565 people for illegal drug use.
That's quite a day's work. What inspired the blitz? Complaints from the citizenry? A vicious string of drug-related murders? An outbreak of overdoses?
No, none of that. It seems that they were concerned that the federal government is about to turn off the funding spigot.
"During 'Operation Byrne Blitz,'" a local television station reported, "state police and highway patrol agencies, local police and sheriff's departments, and drug task forces throughout the country conducted undercover investigations, marijuana eradication efforts and drug interdiction activities. The collaborative effort, named for the federal grant program which funds many of the anti-drug efforts, underscored the impact that cuts to this funding could have on local and statewide drug enforcement."
The federal grant they're referring to, the Byrne Grant is problematic for a lot of reasons. Chief among them is the way it warps police priorities by tying drug arrests to the federal teat.
The grants are often tied to arrest statistics, which encourage police officers to target low-level drug offenders instead of major dealers and suppliers. The grants often create multi-jurisdictional "drug task forces," which — because their authority extends across several counties — many times aren't directly accountable to anyone.
It was a Byrne-funded task force in Tulia, Texas, for example, that in 1999 arrested and prosecuted 46 people of drug crimes based on the word of an undercover police informant later found to have fabricated evidence.
Another task force wrongfully arrested and prosecuted 28 people in Hearne, Texas the next year, this time based on the word of a criminal police informant. In fact, the situation got so bad in Texas that the state eventually banned multi-jurisdictional drug task forces.
Because most Byrne grants are also tied directly to drug arrests, they encourage local police departments to use their manpower and resources on nonviolent drug offenses instead of more serious crimes like rape, robbery, or murder.
Surprisingly, it was the Republican-led Congress that started phasing out Byrne grants in the 1990s, a trend that has continued through the Bush administration, though they haven't yet been eliminated completely.
It's a good idea.
Even if you happen to be a supporter of the drug war, these grants do little to help fight it, and only serve to make local police departments less accountable and less transparent. Even the White House Office of Management and Budget has been sharply critical of the program.
Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats (and many Republicans) can't resist the easy, positive publicity that comes with a press release announcing the procurement of federal crime-fighting pork for the local police department.
Congress is now discussing bringing back Byrne grants in full force. One leading senate proponent of re-funding the grants is, unfortunately, Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama.
But let's go back to Kentucky.
Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Secretary J. Michael Brown told one local media outlet of the Byrne-grant bltiz, "The impact of our drug task forces can be clearly seen in the success of this one-day blitz. While combining these efforts in a 24-hour period makes a statement, it's important to remember that these types of activities go on every day, and are a critical tool in eradicating illegal use."
That's one way of looking at it.
But here's a different possibility: If police in Kentucky can go out and find 2,400 pounds of marijuana in 24-hours anytime they want, just to make a political statement, that might be a pretty good sign that the grants — and the drug war in general — aren't working.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Cory Maye, sometimes spelt Corey Maye (born September 9, 1980), is a prisoner in the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was convicted of murder in the 2001 death of Prentiss, Mississippi police officer Ron W. Jones during a drug raid on the other half of Maye's duplex
At 11 p.m. on the night of December 26, 2001, Ron Jones along with other police officers and an agent employed by the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force, a four-county police agency responsible for drug enforcement, went to Maye's duplex for the purpose of drug interdiction. Jones, though not a member of the Task Force, had received a confidential tip that large quantities of marijuana were being stored and sold in the apartment of Jamie Smith, who lived in the other half of the duplex. The officers obtained search warrants for both apartments. Whether the warrants legally allowed for a no-knock entry is still not clear.
Smith was arrested without incident. Although some illicit drugs were found in his home, Maye's former attorney, Rhonda Cooper, says Smith was never charged with drug possession or distribution. Jefferson Davis County District Attorney Claiborne "Buddy" McDonald says he doesn't remember Smith being charged or convicted.
There is disagreement about what happened next. The officers then either served the warrant on Maye's half of the duplex (later, prosecutors would say both were served simultaneously) or entered what they thought was another door to Smith's in search of more contraband.
Four of the officers who took part in the raid testified they knocked on Maye's door and identified themselves as law enforcement officers. Maye testified he heard neither knocks on his door nor anyone announce themselves. Maye testified he was asleep on a chair in the living room when he heard a crash, prompting him to run to his daughter's bedroom and ready a .380-caliber pistol that he kept boxed and unclipped on top of a tall headboard. When Jones burst into the bedroom, Maye fired three times. Jones was wearing a bulletproof vest, but one bullet hit just below the vest, and the injury proved fatal.
But it's the details of Cory Maye's case that make it particularly compelling:
Cory Maye had no prior criminal record. He had no history of violence. Police found one gram of ashen marijuana in Maye's apartment (that's about a sixth of a teabag's worth). There was no "large stash," and Cory Maye was no drug dealer. In fact, Maye's name appeared nowhere on the search warrant, only his address and the phrase "persons unknown."
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
i agree that he shouldn't get death for that, or life, but the guy also shouldn't have shot first and asked questions later. that was still wrong.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
well,
Quote:
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
corduroy_blazer wrote:
well,
Quote:
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
what would i have done? i wouldn't have had a gun, but even if i did, i wouldn't shoot as soon as my door flies open. that's just ridiculous.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
well,
Quote:
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
what would i have done? i wouldn't have had a gun, but even if i did, i wouldn't shoot as soon as my door flies open. that's just ridiculous.
well, he did live in a bad, sketchy neighborhood. i imagine he thought he was getting robbed. but i'm not sure why we're arguing anyway. at the worst, i think we agree he was guilty of recklessness.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
well,
Quote:
Cory Maye may well have been a recreational pot smoker. But then, possession of a misdemeanor amount of pot doesn't justify an armed home invasion. Cory Maye may also have fired his gun too quickly. But what would you have done? You have no criminal record. You aren't a dangerous person. You have no reason to think police would break into your home in the middle of the night. You awake to find that your home is under attack. The door flies open. Do you wait to see who it is? Or do you defend your family?
At the very worst, Maye is guilty of recklessness. It's horrifying to think he could be executed for an error in judgment, an error compounded by volatile circumstances, a frightening assault, and high-stakes drama, none of which were of his making.
what would i have done? i wouldn't have had a gun, but even if i did, i wouldn't shoot as soon as my door flies open. that's just ridiculous.
well, he did live in a bad, sketchy neighborhood. i imagine he thought he was getting robbed. but i'm not sure why we're arguing anyway. at the worst, i think we agree he was guilty of recklessness.
i think it's more than reckless to just shoot someone because they walk through your door, actually. i'd call that manslaughter, at best. i just don't get this shoot first ask questions later mentality. is the world really so terrifying that anyone coming through your door is going to harm you? i don't think the odds for that are high enough to justify owning a gun, let alone busting a cap in someone's arse.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:54 am Posts: 7189 Location: CA
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
vacatetheword wrote:
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
when someone has no good reason to be in your home they should not be there. the cops had no good reason. the man they arrested during the drug bust was never charged. they forced this wrong, pressure-laden situation on him and his daughter of only 18 months, laying right beside him.
he's in a bad neighborhood. he'd told his mother he was going to look to move soon. he had no record.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
when someone has no good reason to be in your home they should not be there. the cops had no good reason. the man they arrested during the drug bust was never charged. they forced this wrong, pressure-laden situation on him and his daughter of only 18 months, laying right beside him.
he's in a bad neighborhood. he'd told his mother he was going to look to move soon. he had no record.
and he ended a man's life, rather than ask questions first. a man's life. i'm not saying he should be drawn and quartered for it, but that's at least manslaughter.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
when someone has no good reason to be in your home they should not be there. the cops had no good reason. the man they arrested during the drug bust was never charged. they forced this wrong, pressure-laden situation on him and his daughter of only 18 months, laying right beside him.
he's in a bad neighborhood. he'd told his mother he was going to look to move soon. he had no record.
and he ended a man's life, rather than ask questions first. a man's life. i'm not saying he should be drawn and quartered for it, but that's at least manslaughter.
i'm not sure what the manslaughter jail sentence would be so i can't say i accept with it or not.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
when someone has no good reason to be in your home they should not be there. the cops had no good reason. the man they arrested during the drug bust was never charged. they forced this wrong, pressure-laden situation on him and his daughter of only 18 months, laying right beside him.
he's in a bad neighborhood. he'd told his mother he was going to look to move soon. he had no record.
and he ended a man's life, rather than ask questions first. a man's life. i'm not saying he should be drawn and quartered for it, but that's at least manslaughter.
i'm not sure what the manslaughter jail sentence would be so i can't say i accept with it or not.
yeah, fair enough. i just can't abide by this shoot first ask questions later mentality.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
simple schoolboy wrote:
Isn't it fairly safe to assume that someone breaking down your door intends to do you harm? You see a violent act, do you really stop to consider who is perpetrating it?
i don't think it's necessarily safe to assume that- these were cops- but it doesn't justify shooting someone.
when someone has no good reason to be in your home they should not be there. the cops had no good reason. the man they arrested during the drug bust was never charged. they forced this wrong, pressure-laden situation on him and his daughter of only 18 months, laying right beside him.
he's in a bad neighborhood. he'd told his mother he was going to look to move soon. he had no record.
and he ended a man's life, rather than ask questions first. a man's life. i'm not saying he should be drawn and quartered for it, but that's at least manslaughter.
i'm not sure what the manslaughter jail sentence would be so i can't say i accept with it or not.
yeah, fair enough. i just can't abide by this shoot first ask questions later mentality.
what if you're certain a situation could possibly, perhaps probably, end in your death, and perhaps your daughter's too?
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
what if he waited and that guy was some thug looking to kill and rob him? the cops had no good reason to be in his apartment that night. maybe maye didn't even fathom it was the cops. if you awoke to noises, would you assume it's cops?
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
i don't think the probability was high enough, given the little information he had at the time, to justify the action he took.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
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