[SummerChild]

From the limited info in this post, the verdict is bogus. Yet another reason that the DP should be removed in all states. He is on death row, probably, b/c the guy was a cop. States often have increased penalties when they are killed. Of course, other factors may have come into play - race, the idiosyncracies of the members of the jury, including the power dynamic in the jury room (which I have seen firsthand), etc.

Further, if the warrant was not for his apt. then the cop was completely out of line for coming into his apt. That doesn't mean that the cop should be killed but it's just another example of problems in our justice system - just like in any other system.

If MS does have a separate offense of killing a cop, I wonder if the state even provides self-defense as a defense to the offense. Even still, whether he was using self-defense may be questionable if he didn't even wait to see if the person was really acting with an intent to inflict bodily harm on him. Further, SD only gives the right to use the force coming at you - so not deadly force if the person isn't threatening deadly force or serious bodily harm (so you can't shoot someone who is coming at you with an open hand to slap you for instance). Still, on general principles of life and fairness, it seems like you ought to be able to shoot if someone's in your house and still coming .... It doesn't make sense to me.

Removing the fact that he was a cop, this definitely doesn't seem like the type of facts that should lead to a death sentence. Adding in the cop factor, MS probably has some kind of increased penalties for that and that's probably partly why. Anyone of us could have made this same mistake.

Originally posted by GodlyAspiringDr
what do people think about this situation? I saw this posted on another forum...


http://www.keithboykin.com/

The Strange Case of Cory Maye
Picture this. You're a black man asleep in bed at home in Mississippi. It's the night after Christmas 2001, and no one else is in the house but your 18-month-old daughter. You hear a loud thud and suddenly the sound of feet stomping on the floor outside your bedroom door. You grab your gun. A white man bursts into your bedroom with a gun. You shoot first. He dies. Is this self-defense or murder?

Let me add a few facts in favor of the prosecution. The white man lying on your bedroom floor is a police officer. Moreover, he's the son of the police chief. And his fellow officers say he identified himself as he was conducting a lawful warranted search of the apartment for drugs. Police say they found traces of drugs in the apartment.

But here are the facts in favor of the defendant. Even if the police officer did identify himself, the defendant was asleep and never heard it. The warrant the police used did not list Cory Maye as a suspect but instead listed a different suspect in a different apartment in the building. There were no drugs found in Maye's apartment that day, although the police later changed their story to claim that they found traces of drugs. The defendant had no prior criminal record. As a black man in Mississippi, he feared for his life and the life of his young daughter. Yet the defendant was convicted of murder by a mostly white jury and sentenced to death. The defendant, Cory Maye, now sits on death row.

....to find out more -- you can contact the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP at (601) 353-6906 or you can contact the Region V NAACP offices in Atlanta at (404) 688-8868 to talk about the national office response and how you can join in the struggle.