NationStates Jolt Archive

Some of you might remember that I brought up the Cory Maye case a few months back. Long story short, under very shady circumstances the police raided the home of Cory Maye early enough in the morning that he was asleep, he had with no criminal record, they didn't announce that they were police, and the first officer into Maye's bedroom wasn't in uniform. Maye thought he was being robbed, he shot the armed intruder, when the rest of the officers announced that they were police he dropped his gun. Now hes on death row.

(all the vile details, including trial transcripts and PDFs of the search warrants can be found here: http://www.theagitator.com/archives/cat_cory_maye.php start at the bottom and keep going up until you feel sick)

Its a sad story, but it might be a bit better. As Radley Balko reports:
Cory Maye Update

I just got the okay to post that the D.C. firm of Covington and Burling will be providing pro bono assistance to public defender Bob Evans in the Cory Maye case.

Covington's a well-funded, very prestigious law firm, with offices in D.C., New York, San Francisco, London, and Brussels.

This has been in the works since December, when Abe Pafford, an associate there, read the first posts on the Maye case on the site you're reading.

Covington partner Michael Labson will be heading up the legal team, along with Pafford and a few other lawyers with considerable criminal justice experience, including a former federal prosecutor.

This is terrific news, and the firm deserves a ton of credit.

That sound you just heard was the DA over in Mississippi and the rest of his redneck buddies losing bladder and bowel control. Welcome to the big league, boys, you've earned it.

Wow thats fucked up.

Did they ever say why they were raiding the place? Was he actually found to have been doing anythign illegal after the fact? Did the officer he shot die (I'm guessing so if he's on death row)?


It's good to hear he is getting some good legal representation.

His next door neighbor was a drug dealer. Maybe. It was a duplex and the police might not have realized that it was really two unit when they first got the warrant (theres some chicanery going on with that).

All of the information about drugs in the duplex came from a confidential paid informant. The cop who was killed was the only person who knew the name of the informant and, though it is very against regulation, the police claim that they don't have records of the informant and that the dead cop didn't keep any notes.

No drugs were found in Cory Maye's appartment at the time of the raid. Several hours later police returned to his appartment and found "trace" amounts of marijuana in an ashtray.

Cory Maye was not charged with any crime except the murder of a police officer.

The medical examiner who testified against Cory Maye is known for being a friend of the prosecution and has, on numerous occasions in several different trials, made claims about physical evidence that no other professional could make (such as claiming that two people fired the same gun at the same time while holding hands with no evidence outside of the bullet).

The cop who was killed was not a part of the narcotics task force, was not supposed to be on that case, and had no dynamic entry training.

The dead cop was white, Maye was black, the cop was the son of the Chief of Police.

The Agitator has all of the details. There are quite a few fishy things about the case.

If they didn't announce they were police, then he ha every right to shoot an armed intruder. I'm not one for letting criminals off, but it seems that there was no crime committed.

I hope these creeps learn a few lessons while they're getting their asses handed to them in court. And I certainly hope the poor bastard on Death Row gets to sue each and every one of them into the next world.

Good on the firm taking the case!

So, boys and girls, what is the lesson here? If a group of armed strangers ever forces their way into your house, be sure to ask them whether or not they are the police first. Otherwise, you might go to jail for defending your family and home.

And this happened in Mississippi? Isn't that yeehaw gun country? You'd think they would name a bridge after him for exercising his 2nd Amendment rights.

You'd think they would name a bridge after him for exercising his 2nd Amendment rights.
Maybe they would... if he wasn't black.

Maybe they would... if he wasn't black.

ding ding ding!

Maybe they would... if he wasn't black.

The suggestion that Maye's race had anything to do with his current circumstances is offensive. We all know that the south doesn't have any problems with race relations these days...

Maybe they would... if he wasn't black.

Mississippi is known for inventing "death row" because they felt they had too many black people around. They named it after a hairdo that originated with African Americans: "corn rows". Clearly the mentality has not changed.

Mississippi is known for inventing "death row" because they felt they had too many black people around. They named it after a hairdo that originated with African Americans: "corn rows". Clearly the mentality has not changed.

I can't say I've ever heard, nor particularly believe, that.

The suggestion that Maye's race had anything to do with his current circumstances is offensive.
I agree.

Mississippi is known for inventing "death row" because they felt they had too many black people around. They named it after a hairdo that originated with African Americans: "corn rows". Clearly the mentality has not changed.

Whats your source?

The Good Ol' Boy law system needs its ass handed to it anyway.