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Politics : The 2nd Amendment-- The Facts........ -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mark silvers who wrote (332)	8/13/1998 3:20:00 PM
From: The Street	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10167

Maybe we should start a thread on the 4th Amendment-- seems like no one has read it in a while: *** From today's USA Journal Online (http://www.usajournal.com) Warrantless Drug Raid Produces Fatality USA Journal Online <http://www.usajournal.com/warrantless_drug_raid_produces.htm> DALLAS -- Six members of a Houston police department gang task force have been suspended with pay after a raid they executed in mid-July resulted in the death of the suspect. Pedro Oregon, a 23-year-old Hispanic, was living at the address and, according to reports, had locked himself inside his bedroom after officers burst in through the front door. According to published accounts the officers decided to break down the bedroom door to get to Oregon. When they did, they sprayed the room with gunfire. Thirty-three bullets later, Oregon lay dead on the floor, shot a dozen times, including nine times in the back. A post-incident investigation, however, showed that the officers had no warrant to enter or search Oregon's premises. Further, the informant they used was not registered with the department -- in accordance with Houston PD rules covering drug informants -- and police ultimately found no drugs in Oregon's apartment. A gun officers said Oregon had pointed at them was never fired either, a later examination revealed. Tony Cantu, a Hispanic activist in Houston, told AP "They went knowingly and consciously in search of their own heroics and forgot to abide by the rules." Other critics say they're not sure if that rendition is accurate, but certainly the officers were required to get a warrant and to abide by departmental rules. One police officer, who spoke with USA Journal under condition of anonymity, says he's been involved with several of these types of raids. And, he says, no matter how bad you want the suspect, you've got to do it right or it will never hold up in court -- no matter what you find inside the apartment or home. He added that you could easily find yourself a defendant on a courtroom witness stand if you made the wrong decision. "As far as the gunplay is concerned," he said, "if the officers felt their lives were being threatened then they have a right to defend themselves." But, he added, if they had gotten the proper paperwork and better information, maybe they wouldn't have even raided the house in the first place. "It's frightening that officers would illegally enter a residence and shoot a man in the back," said Paul Nugent, an attorney Mr. Oregon's family hired. "Evidence seems to indicate that he was shot in the back while he was on the floor. We think he dove to the floor for cover when the police kicked in the door." "We hope there is a vigorous investigation," Nugent added. "The family is afraid there will be a whitewash and the officers' actions will somehow be justified." The Dallas Morning News reported on Saturday, August 8 that an unidentified Houston police source said "that one of the officers who burst into Mr. Oregon's bedroom around 1:30am on July 12 shouted that [the suspect] had a gun." Afterward, the paper said, an officer's gun went off and struck another officer, knocking him to the floor. The other officers, thinking Mr. Oregon was firing at them, opened fire. The wounded officer was wearing a protective vest and was not seriously injured. Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes, Jr. says "it's possible the officers could not be indicted for the shooting because under the law, a person may not resist an arrest, even if it is illegal," said the Dallas Morning News. He also told the newspaper that it would be proper for them to use deadly force against Oregon, under those circumstances [involving the victim's gun]. Attorney Nugent said Oregon had no criminal record, was a soccer player and coach, had a history of hard work and was drug-free. "They killed the wrong man, the made a mistake," he told AP. *